Canowie or Canowie Station is a pastoral lease located about north west of
Hallett and south west of
Terowie in the state of
South Australia
South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...
.
William Warwick was appointed as manager of the property up until 1853 when he left to develop his own run,
Holowiliena Station
Holowiliena or Holowiliena Station is a pastoral lease located about east of Hawker and south of Blinman in the state of South Australia.
The sheep station was founded in 1853 by William Warwick and his wife Jennet. The couple were natives ...
.
Thomas Goode was made the manager of Canowie in about 1858.
Canowie station is situated midway between
Hallett and
Jamestown in an amphitheatre of green bald hills, which surround it on the western side, the eastern opening out into a broad valley. The country around is bare of timber, with the exception of plantations of various kinds of eucalypt planted around 1880. The estate consisted principally of rich land, well suited for agriculture, about 60,000 acres in extent, freehold, and depastured 60,000 sheep and about 1000 pure Shorthorn cattle.
[ This article goes into the history of Canowie stud animals in considerable detail.]
William Sanders acquired an interest in Canowie in 1869 along with his partners Frederick Hayward, R. B. James and J. B. Graham. Together the partners survived
drought
A drought is defined as drier than normal conditions.Douville, H., K. Raghavan, J. Renwick, R.P. Allan, P.A. Arias, M. Barlow, R. Cerezo-Mota, A. Cherchi, T.Y. Gan, J. Gergis, D. Jiang, A. Khan, W. Pokam Mba, D. Rosenfeld, J. Tierney, an ...
and land
resumption by the government. By 1894 the Canowie Pastoral company was formed and continued until 1910 when it began to sell off parcels of land with the last being sold in 1925.
Canowie was renowned for its hospitality toward
swagmen
A swagman (also called a swaggie, sundowner or tussocker) was a transient labourer who travelled by foot from farm to farm carrying his belongings in a swag. The term originated in Australia in the 19th century and was later used in New Zeala ...
which in around 1903 provided over 2,000 sundowners each year with their customary two meals and a bed.
The manager in 1919 was Mr. A. J. McDonald who introduced Derrimut blood into their
shorthorn cattle
The Shorthorn breed of cattle originated in the North East of England in the late eighteenth century. The breed was developed as dual-purpose, suitable for both dairy and beef production; however, certain blood lines within the breed always em ...
herd. Cattle from this herd fetched record prices at markets at the time.
The part of the property that remains is now known as Old Canowie Station. A
shepherd
A shepherd or sheepherder is a person who tends, herds, feeds, or guards flocks of sheep. ''Shepherd'' derives from Old English ''sceaphierde (''sceap'' 'sheep' + ''hierde'' 'herder'). ''Shepherding is one of the world's oldest occupations, i ...
s hut, known as Coolootoo Hut, that is situated within the property boundaries was placed on the South Australian Heritage Register in 2012.
See also
*
List of ranches and stations
This is a list of ranches and sheep and cattle stations, organized by continent. Most of these are notable either for the large geographic area which they cover, or for their historical or cultural importance.
West Africa
*Obudu Cattle Ranch
* SO ...
References
{{Stations of South Australia
Stations (Australian agriculture)
Pastoral leases in South Australia
Mid North (South Australia)