Greetings fellow Foxies,
I recently visited a couple of ruined dwellings on a farm south-west of Williams that has a relatively long history.
George and Ted isbister were first settlers in this area in about 1902 and developed their holding before dissolving the partnership. Ted remained and married (Edna?) who had a daughter Jessie, who married (?) Smith and had two daughters, Pam who never married, and Maxine.The farm was passed down to Maxine and her husband Ted Spragg, who enlarged the holding until it was sold. Ted Spragg  was a well respected farmer, and long serving councillor at the Williams shire. He was an elected member of the Shire from 1969 to 1990 and President from 1972 to 1987.  

​I was shown two abandoned houses.The first house was on a spot called Stockers Block.This was the Stocker family home that was later used by the local pony club. Like many early houses it has a higgly piggly design, probably due to additions as more children arrived in the family.
The centre of the house is a single room with rammed earth walls on a local granite foundation. The wooden board formwork for the walls can still be seen on one side. This may have been the original cottage The rest of the house is constructed of sawn beams clad with corrugated iron and jarrah slats for the ceiling. The house must have been searingly hot in summer days, but cooling down quickly in the evening, and freezing in winter. Judging by the refrigerator the house was occupied until the 1950s-1960’s. Of particular interest is a ceiling mounted gas or kerosene light. 
A couple of vehicle shells remain further downslope; an FX Holdenand half a truck. The truck is a Thames Trader. These were manufactured by the British arm of the Ford Motor Company between 1957 and 1965.

A block that Ted Spragg bought from George (?) Moore has an old  house with walls of granite blocks and mud mortar. The beautiful and precise construction indicates it had been built by a professional builder in the early 1900s. The intact galvanised iron roof erected when the house was converted to a shearing shed has protected the mud mortar from weather damage.

​For a visual tour of these houses, click this Google photos link

Greetings fellow Foxies,
 
This is a large historic shearing shed on the farm that adjoins Geeralying Reserve. It was established by Stanyford Cowcher a grazier who shepherded sheep between Pinjarra and Williams, and established a homestead farm north of Geeralying spring in 1893.

The shearing shed was built between 1900 and 1920. Initially a 4 stand shed, it was expanded to 6 then 10 stands as the Cowcher farm increased.
A stand refers to a shearing platform where the shearer stood as he pulled a sheep from a holding pen in front of him, sheared it  (initially with a blade), then pushed it out down a ramp behind him. When mechanical shearing was introduced each handpiece used by a shearer was powered by an overhead drive axle, which was driven by an engine outside. Today each handpiece is driven by an electric motor.
 
​A 10 stand shed is very large.
Apparently at the rear of the shed there were once stables with a long watering trough, which were destroyed in a storm, and the shed was partially rebuilt.
More modern shearing sheds have the shed holding pens and shearing stand raised above the ground to allow easier sheep movement and dung and urine to fall through the slatted floor. This shed is all on ground level (harder work).
Noongar shearers were common in the early/mid twentieth century, and there were many Noongar families camped in Geeralying Reserve (see this blog).
An elderly Narrogin resident recalled an incident in Narrogin Primary School, when the children were asked where they were born. Most said Vailema Maternity Hospital (in east Narrogin), until a Noongar boy piped up “Cowcher shearing shed at shearing time”
The shed is on private land and is not available to the public without consent

​For a visual exploration of the shed see this   Google Photo album 
Click individual images for information

​Greetings fellow Foxies,
 
Geeralying Reserve is a patch of sheoak wandoo woodland that once surrounded Gearlin/Geeralying Spring. The spring was an important permanent water supply which, with Kunderning Pool to the south and Kondenning Pool at Bannister to the west was an essential water supply along travel routes for the Noongar people, then sandalwood cutters, shepherds and early settlers.
Stanyford Cowcher a grazier who shepherded sheep between Pinjarra and Williams, established a homestead farm north of the spring in 1893.
In 1897, William Lefevre Graham, selected a property on the south east side of the reserve.
In 1906 the Narrogin-Williams railway was built with a siding on the south side of the reserve. Unfortunately for the Graham family, the railway passed right through the home orchard and they decided to move house further south.

​Other farmers established farms in the area and a one-teacher school was built on the Graham property adjoining Manaring Road in 1916. The school was ‘the canvas, sliding shutter type, airy in summer and more airy in winter’ (The Way Through p287). Contrast that with what we have now!
A hall and a tennis court were also built on the reserve but nothing remains of all three except a few plaques.
Over the years, Stanyford’s son Thomas (Tom) Spurling Cowcher, bought out adjoining farms, and part of the reserve east of Cowcher Road.

​There was a significant Aboriginal population in the reserve until changes initiated by the 1967 referendum that gave the Commonwealth government sole powers for Aboriginal-related legislation. Wendy Mcdonald,( a Cowcher before marriage) recalls numerous families living in humpys on the reserve.
According to Stuart Graham, the Ugle family group moved to Geeralying in1922 to work as shearers and farm workers.
A small fenced area to the north/north-west of the bush is all that remains of an aboriginal cemetery. Apparently the cemetery contains numerous still-born and young babies, two ‘Feather Feet’ (these were aboriginal spirit men/witchdoctors who did not belong to any clan), and Lyla Ugle.
 
Two vacant asbestos houses on reserve land adjoining Tom Cowcher’s house were apparently built by Tom for aboriginal shearers. I think that the one that contains evidence of relatively recent occupation was the home of John and Lyla Ugle. When Lyla died, John was granted permission to have her buried in the cemetery plot opposite his house so he could see her grave when he got up each morning. He was the last occupant of the reserve to my knowledge. Other inhabitants include Neddy Isaacs and Shirley Hume.
 
For a visual exploration of the reserve and house see this   Google Photo album
 
Click individual images for information

Curious features of the Bain brothers is that they were all lifelong bachelors, and all died at the age of 72.
I could find few references to them in local history books. Their estate (four blocks of land – about five million dollars was left to the Dumbleyung shire and the Dumbleyung Mens Shed. I guess there are plaques around Dumbleyung installed by grateful recipients.
 
For a visual exploration of the houses and shearing shed see this   Google Photo album
Click individual images for information

Greetings fellow Foxies,
 
I was recently shown ruins of the Hansen dairy that is close to Clayton road near Narrogin. I was told that this was the second Narrogin dairy. The original was Grantleigh Dairy operated by Edward Wiese on Quarry Road.
​I was lucky enough to talk Hans Hansen’s last surviving daughter Edith, who related a tale of a remarkable and well-loved man. There is a great book to be written on this family, but here are a few snippets.

Hans originally migrated out from Denmark to rescue his sister who was married to an abusive Norwegian drunkard, and took up a farming block near Jilakin rock with 3 other Danes. He was a member of the Narrogin 10th Light Horse, and with two of his colleagues volunteered for military service at the outbreak of the World War 1. They were rejected because “Danes like Germans too much” (untrue), but were called up after the Gallipoli disaster. (Amazing the change mass casualties can make). Hans met his future wife Isabell at the Blackboy Hill training camp at Northam.
Edith has his wartime diary, and here is his military record . He fought on the Western Front.
After the war he and now-wife Isabell, briefly farmed the Pustkuchen ‘Sylvania’ farm before buying the 400 ha ‘Lawndale’ farm from early settler John Edward Clayton. The onset of the Great Depression and the rabbit plague (Edith remembers skinning and gutting wild rabbits), forced Hans to find more income. Initially he worked on the Dryandra mallet plantations and started a dairy that became his main occupation.
Hans and Edith had 6 daughters and a son, but only the central core of their house, consisting of two fine brick built rooms remain. Other structures included parents’ bedroom, dining room, kitchen, front and back verandahs, and 2 adjoining buildings, of which one was used for cooling and separating the milk.
Isabell died of a stroke when Edith was 11, and the two eldest daughters had to stay home from school for a while to look after the rest of the children.
 ​Cows were originally milked in a  long gone shed near a line of ancient Cape Lilac trees by the creek before the existing dairy was built. You can still see remains of the feeding trough in the second building’s milking room. Cream was separated from the milk, and placed into containers in water to cool overnight before delivery. No pasteurisation in those days, but as Hans and children lived to their nineties, it was clearly good stuff.
His day started at 3am for house to house delivery in Narrogin by 6am. He was frequently found asleep while doing the accounts in the afternoon.
He eventually retired to Narrogin and died at the age of 93.  Hans and Isabell’s gravestones are in the Narrogin cemetary.
For a visual exploration of the house and dairy see this   Google Photo album
Click individual images for information

​Greetings fellow Foxies,
 
I found this house on a property adjoining Quinns Pool near Tarwonga.
The pool was named after Michael Quinn, one of the pioneering pastoralists in the district. Michael took up several grazing leases in the Williams east district that may have been up to 40,000 hectares. His sheep were looked after by Noongar shepherds who moved around with the sheep, and largely lived off the land. By purchasing small homestead leases at vital waterholes, pastoralists delayed the release of land for farmers to establish farms.

​Michael Quinn was an important Williams identity, but transferred his grazing further south as farming increased in the district. He lost a well-documented dispute with George Dyson who obtained a tillage lease at Kunderning Pool that denied Quinn’s sheep access to the pool.
Quinn moved south to an 8,000 hectare grazing lease between Wolwolling and Ballagin Pools. Quinn’s pool further west would have been an important staging point for moving his sheep and horses to market.
Over time the land was surveyed into farming blocks by the state government and sold for farming.

This house is later than the original on this World War 1 soldier settlement property that was allocated to Douglas Broadley. A search of the AIF Project website revealed that he was a reinforcement in the 15th Light Horse Field Regiment who was overseas from 30/6/1917 to 26/7/1919. His brother George was a private in the 12th Field Artillery Brigade who died of wounds on 23/3/1918.
Like most soldier settlement blocks, this property would have been too small to be viable. Douglas most likely sold out to a neighbour and disappeared from local history.
The asbestos house is a health hazard today today, but was a comfortable home at the time in a nice location.
On the eastern side of the property is the wonderfully diverse and wildflower-rich Quinns Block reserve that will be described in a Foxypress.
 
For a visual exploration of the place see this Google Photo album

​Greetings fellow Foxies,
                                    
This fascinating glimpse into the past near Wedin siding was part of a 600 or 700 acre new land property belonging to Jens Peter Jensen who was born into a farming/fishing family in Vaby by Steze on the island of Moen, Denmark. Unfortunately he suffered from seasickness and immigrated to Western Australia for a new life in 1905.
In 1908, he took up a farm in Dorakin, married Dorothy Roberts in 1914 and they brought up six children.
After Dorothy’s death, Peter married Elsie May Richardson in 1947. They lived in the Toolibin school house and bought new land and they bought new land at Tincurrin and Wedin. They were real workers and Peter was ‘honest to a fault’.
According to my friend Don Thomson, they sold the block in about 1970 to Dick Fox. With his wife and two children Dick lived in the shack with adjoining caravan. I was lucky to get a shot of the caravan in 2011 as it has now gone. Dick was a very thrifty person and Don related a tale of how he had to lift and cart bags of superphosphate for old Dick from the siding each year (did Don good!).
The place became vacant when Dick sold out in the 1990’s.
 
The shearing shed is a fascinating mixture with railway sleeper sides, bush timber, and galvanised iron.
There is a great machinery graveyard of plant that would give Worksafe nightmares, including an engine head that has become embedded in the trunk of an ancient York gum.
 
Reference: Page 147 Harrismith Tincurrin by Bob and Mary Taylor (2000) ISBN 0646385305
 
For a visual exploration of the place see this Google Photo album

Greetings fellow Foxies
​I was recently given permission to photograph this lovely old house just west of Williams. Situated on fertile soil by the Williams River, it is on one of the earliest farms that was initially allocated to J. McDermott in 1866.
Judging by the interior and brickwork, I think that this house was built in the 1920’s as a 2 room place with an extra brick room added later. No doubt as the family enlarged or became more prosperous, an asbestos addition containing bathroom, toilet, and extra bedroom was added. Unfortunately after it became vacant, thieves stripped a lot of the interior, but enough remains to give an insight of life in those times. Like many vacant dwellings, it is surrounded by fascinating vehicles and pieces of machinery from the early days. Worksafe would have had a coronary if it was in existence then.
It is on private land and is not available to the public.
If you see someone wandering around the house, it is probably me searching for car keys that I lost in knee deep pasture in October.
 
See the images on this Google Photo album
​photos.app.goo.gl/g5P9dRfEocMjNtYR7