Koordarrie Station, often referred to as Koordarrie, is a pastoral lease that once operated as a

sheep station A sheep station is a large property ( station, the equivalent of a ranch) in Australia or New Zealand, whose main activity is the raising of sheep for their wool and/or meat. In Australia, sheep stations are usually in the south-east or sout ...

but now operates as a

cattle station In Australia and New Zealand, a cattle station is a large farm ( station is equivalent to the American ranch), the main activity of which is the rearing of cattle. The owner of a cattle station is called a '' grazier''. The largest cattle stati ...

. It is located about south of Onslow and south east of

Exmouth Exmouth is a harbor, port town, civil parishes in England, civil parish and seaside resort, sited on the east bank of the mouth of the River Exe and southeast of Exeter. In 2011 it had a population of 34,432, making Exmouth the List of town ...

and in the

Pilbara The Pilbara () is a large, dry, thinly populated region in the north of Western Australia. It is known for its Aboriginal peoples; its ancient landscapes; the red earth; and its vast mineral deposits, in particular iron ore. It is also a glo ...

region of

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

. Koordarrie occupies an area of and shares boundaries with Minderoo,

Yanrey Yanrey Station, often referred to as Yanrey, is a pastoral lease that operates as a sheep station. It is located about south east of Exmouth and south of Onslow in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. Yanrey occupies an area of and s ...

and Urala Stations. The property is composed of broad sandy plains with low dunes and alluvial clay plains that all make suitable grazing for stock. The property was established prior to 1912 when it was owned by Joseph McGrath, Frederick Wright and Frederick Lapthorn, whose company ran it until 1915 when Lapthorn retired and the partnership was dissolved. McGrath retained possession of Kooordarrie until he died in 1922. Albert King was manager of the property and in 1928 a total of 10,500 sheep were clipped during shearing, producing 202 bales of wool. In 1928 about 12,000 sheep were shorn. The 1936 shearing produced 123 bales from a flock of 7,000 sheep after a couple of poor seasons. King retired as manager in 1946 and was replaced by Bob Knowles. By 1949 Geoff French was managing the station when he left to run another nearby property, Warrambo. In 1951 the McGrath family put the station up for auction. At the time it occupied an area of . The property was passed in at auction for £15,000 then sold privately for an undisclosed figure. In early 1952 the property was struck by a freak storm, causing significant damage to the homestead and outbuildings. Michael Stroud and his family settled on the property shortly afterwards and the station manager, Mr. Wardell-Johnston, left Koordarrie in 1952 to take over

Wooramel Station Wooramel Station is a pastoral lease and sheep station located east of Denham, Western Australia, Denham and south east of Carnarvon, Western Australia, Carnarvon in the Gascoyne region of Western Australia. The property occupies an area of ...

. In 1978 the property was carrying 7,269 sheep and was estimated to be able to carry up to 24,000 sheep. The homestead was later abandoned and the property was run as part of a neighbouring station since the early 1980s. Rory and Kristie de Pledge acquired Koordarrie and switched to cattle production. The property was running a herd of 4,000

droughtmaster The Droughtmaster is an Australian breed of beef cattle. It was developed from about 1915 in North Queensland by crossing zebuine cattle with cattle of British origin, principally the Beef Shorthorn. It was the first Australian taurindicine h ...

cattle in 2013.

References

{{Stations of the Pilbara Western Australia Pastoral leases in Western Australia Stations (Australian agriculture) Pilbara

See also

References