The party travelled south and inland with the hope of finding some good
country on which to settle. They were pleased to find plenty of water along
the Harnersley Range, passing on to the Duck Creek area. It was here they
met some Aborigines who, the party realised, had never seen a horse before.
The Aborigines thought horse and man were one. When the men dismounted,
the Aborigines were so bewildered
ran off into the bushes. As
travelled
on, about 50
fired a few shots
were quickly
The
as far south as the
then north via Mt
and Mt Anderson.
named
former after Thomas
and the latter after A.E. Anderson. They then
11'<1\1,,11,,11 across the coastal
and back to Roebourne, The party chose
tracts of land for thernsel vc:s.(2
was soon to realize that the
drawback to the progress of the
settlement at the time was the want of
communication with the south,
the old
sailing
the
trader
the northwest coast.
Another drawback to the
settlement of the country was the high
cost
from the southern district
sea, the rate being twelve
and
per head. To obviate these difficulties Edward Hooley conceived
the idea of
over land from
(Geraldton) and
opening a stock route to the new country.
much
he came
to an
with the government of the
then led by Governor Hampton
to open up a stock route suitable for stock at all times of the year.
With Mr Viveash and Mr.
left Toodyay on 8 November
1865. Their first attempt was
the coast. When they reached Geraldton,
found that Governor Hampton had sent for their use on the trip four
horses, six pack saddles and a set of instruments. He had also engaged two
one of whom was Tommy Griffiths who was to become Hooley's
most trusted companion. Messrs.
and Clarkson of Toodyay helped
with some equipment and Maitland Brown of Glengarry, Geraldton, also
assisted in supplying fresh horses when they reached Geraldton.
The coastal trip was not successful, due mainly to lack of water. However,
not to be undaunted by his first failure,
was determined that his idea
was possible but by another route. This time he travelled inland and followed
the rivers where possible.
On 26
1866, Hooley left Maitland Brown's Glengarry Station (via
Geraldton) heading north with I
sheep. Travelling with him were two
teamsters, D. Judge and Taylor, two shepherds McGrath and Hale, plus his
two Aboriginal companions, Tommy and William.
Their plant consisted of two teams of three horses each and five saddle
horses. For the first 200 miles
followed the Murchison River, then headed
for the Fortescue River via the Gascoyne and Ashburton rivers. The trip took
three months, and they arrived at the lower Fortescue with sheep and party
for the first Balmoral
intact. Their campsite was later to become the
Homestead. Hooley left his plant and stock at the Fortescue camp in the care
of the rest of the party while he and Tommy rode into Roebourne, where he
received a great welcome. Mr. Withnell approached the Government to allow
some compensation for his
achievement in discovering the
overland stock route.
Hooley then travelled south with Tommy and Mr Hicks. His arrival in Perth
was
with much acclaim; settlers and friends presented him with a
54
55
Mount Stuart Station, an area of 854,894 acres
hectares) and situated
93 miles (150 km) from Onslow, was first settled by Edward Timothy Hooley.
The lease was originally known as Mt Hubert, named after Hooley's son.
did much in opening up the Ashburton. He was one of the first
settlers in the district and the first person who drove stock overland from the
south to the north of the State.
Edward
was born 30
, I
in the western
district of
where his father was a farmer. After leaving school he
became a sheep and cattle dealer, doing his own drovinz. He had a great love
of horses and was recognized as a first class bushman. ~
c..
On 4 December, 1861, Edward married Jane Maze. He was 19 years of age
and his bride was 17. Jane was born in Ireland in 1845. At the age of thirteen
years, and in the care of her aunt and uncle, she arrived in Australia on board
the Severn which berthed on 9 December, 1856.
Daniel Hooley gave his consent as father of the bridegroom and Alexander
Maze (Jane's Uncle) gave his consent for the bride. While in Victoria Edward
and Jane had two children, Ellen, born 1863, and Sarah, born 22 December
1864. Seven more children were born to them after they settled in Western
Australia.( I)
In 1864, Hooley sailed from Melbourne in the
to the North West of
Western Australia. This vessel was under charter for a new company calling
themselves Camden Harbour Pastoral Association, formed in July 1864. The
Company was made up of Edward Hooley, Thomas Murray, Lambton Mount
and A.E. Anderson. They arrived at Camden Harbour in December 1864. Soon
after landing they set off to explore the Prince Regent area in the hope of
finding better pasture. Not being impressed with the country, they decided
they would sail south to Tein Tsin Bay (Cossack). John Withnell, whose camp
was where Roebourne now stands, met them. From here they explored the
Hardy and Sherlock Rivers, returning to Withnell's camp before embarking
on their next exploration trip.
~
gold watch and gave him a public dinner. Hooley returned north
1,052 sheep for his run on the Ashburton. The stock was left in the care
Morton Craig. Hooley then journeyed east to bring his wife and daughter
back to the Ashburton, Jane had been staying with her husband's people and
during this time the couple lost the younger of their two children, leaving
only daughter Sarah.
They charted a boat, the 54 ton Liberty, which had been built in 1849; it
was a wooden two masted schooner.
With Hooley as master, and a crew of five as well as three passengers and
general cargo, they set sail. The sea trip was uneventful, the schooner birthed
at Roebourne, and the family journeyed to the Ashburton run.
Jane Hooley was later to write of her first trip north saying "When my
husband and I started from Roebourne for the Ashburton, with a small American
wagon, and just as many clothes as would fit in an ordinary boot trunk for
ourselves and Sarah, we had the body of the wagon packed with supplies for
the few shepherds at the camp. We were certainly pioneering as few can realize,
these days". She went on to say that they had the sky for the roof, and were at
times reduced to a ration of a cup of flour a day, from which it was necessary
to sift a horrid, smelly brown weevil. From motives of economy, this flour
had to be mixed with water and made into gruel. This diet was supplemented,
when luck was in, by a crow for soup.(3)
Their first night after leaving the port, was spent in a make shift camp on
the plain. They had sufficient water for a billy of tea. After the billy had boiled
and they had thrown the tea into the boiling water, it was left to draw by the
fire. As Jane passed the fire her skirt brushed against the billy spilling the lot
onto the ground. Jane's thoughts were for her husband, who was so looking
forward to his quart of tea. There was no hope of any more water until the
following morning.
For bedding they cut some long grass (spinifex) and spread it out under the
waggon, and covered it with a sack as a protection from sharp points.
The following morning, as they were about to start to the pool for water, a
number of Aborigines appeared, yelling and waving their hands and feet and
signalling them to leave the locality. Fortunately they did not have their spears
with them as Hooley only had two charges of powder and shot, and would
have been powerless to resist an attack. Their surprise at seeing a white woman
and child for the first time saved the situation, and the Aborigines soon left.
On reaching their destination, the men who had been shepherding Hooley's
flock were delighted to see him and his wife and daughter. They immediately
gave them a pannikan of tea from a bucket, ladled out with a quart pot. It was
continually stewing beside the usual camp fire, and Jane remarked in her
memoirs that as rank as it probably was, it tasted very good to them.
On her arrival at the camp Jane looked around for some place to rest, and
was shown a shed in which a cart had to be housed to prevent the tyres from
falling off. The men had made her a bedstead by driving stakes into the ground
and attaching cross
of
grass did for a mattress, with a final
covering of half a wool bale.
One day, one of the shepherds milked a ewe so that Jane had some milk for
her tea. She appreciated it very much and had the ration daily for some time.
They ate their meals under a tree and used tin
and pannikins. If there
happened to be anything after the meat course, it was eaten on the reverse side
of the plate.
There was a pool near by where they could take a bath, and Jane learnt how
to make a slush lamp, which is a jam tin half filled with damp sand, then a soft
piece of dry rag is rolled around a
of wood and placed in the center of
the tin to serve as a wick. The tins were then filled with boiling fat, and the
lamp was complete. The result is a faint light with lots of smoke and many
odours.
Damper was the mainstay of the diet and Jane soon became adept in the art
of making and cooking a damper. As a mixing dish was not at hand for the
flour, salt, soda and water, a dried sheep's skin was used for this purpose,
placed on the ground with the skin side uppermost. The ingredients were mixed
to a stiff dough, and then baked in the hot embers.
Hooley and his party had a great deal of trouble with the Aborigines. They
were compelled to keep a watch, day and night, and the shepherds were afraid
not to venture too far from the camp. One of the parties writing in The Sunday
Times wrote about the experience.
For the first two years the natives were inoffensive, but then gradually
became bolder and speared sheep. Tommy (who had accompanied Hooley
on all his overland trips) was sent to drive them off, but with instructions
not to shoot any. But Tommy never returned, though tracks of his horse
were found. From then on the natives grew more aggressive, and lit fires
near the camp of Hooley and his men, though the natives themselves
were never seen. Another native who originally came from the Fortescue
area and who had since joined the little band of settlers was sent to look
for Tommy. When he did not return within a week, Young, the hut-keeper,
also a recent recruit from the coast, was sent out in search of him. Young
had only gone a few hours when he met Hill and one of the shepherds
who was shepherding not far from the main camp, bringing with him
Tommy's mare, which had been badly speared. Hill said he had found
the place where Tommy had been killed and partly eaten.
Hill, with his native off-sider, Charcoal, then returned to their camp.
Time went on and when Hill had not visited the main camp for over a
week, suspicions arose. Investigations revealed Hill's camp deserted apart
from the dogs, which came bounding out showing great delight at seeing
a human being. The bedclothes were half buried in the sand. Merton
Craig, with a native boy followed the tracks leading from Hill's camp.
These tracks were now over a week old, however, they were able to
follow
and about half a mile
from his camp
came
Hill's
stripped of all clothes, his head terribly smashed with a
It was concluded that the natives had killed him and that Charcoal
in collusion with the perpetrators.
The murder was reported to the Government Resident at Roebourne and
punitive expedition headed by Alex
was sent to the Ashburton.
Hooley and his party returned to the station, but the Aborigines were militant
and speared a horse, one of the Aboriginal women told the Aboriginal camp
boy that the Aborigines intended to make a descent upon the camp and
annihilate the white men.
A few days later the government expedition from Roebourne reached the
station. The aborigines were becoming more daring approaching in larger
numbers.
The punitive party set out that night and located the camp of Aborigines
who were thoroughly prepared for war. A very fierce encounter took place
next day.
Hooley had a very narrow escape from a broad spear. Alex McRrae saw the
spear thrown and called "stoop quickly, Hooley". The spear just grazed his
shoulders.
This battle thereafter was known as the Battle of Minderoo and there were
many casualties.(4)
Etched into a hill on Mt Stuart are many native drawings, and the place is
always referred to as Battle Hill.(S)
Jane Hooley was later to lament how the Government had given her husband
a free grant of land, but that the Aborigines were so hostile that the gallant
band of pioneers were driven from the country.
When Jane was expecting her baby she journeyed to Roebourne for its
birth. There was no medical aid at the time, and she had difficulty finding a
woman to care for her. Eventually she heard that the wife of the blacksmith
might be able to help her, but this was not to eventuate. There was no one with
her when her baby boy, Eddie arrived at about two 0' clock in the morning.
Some woman came to her side but did not have any idea what to do, so the
baby was rolled in a rug and left until Mrs. Withnell arrived a 6 a.m, next
morning. She attended to the baby and left Jane some food.(6)
Jane was one of the first white women to venture into that part of the country
and was to experience much hardship during her stay in the Ashburton. One
time when she and her husband and small daughter were travelling, they lost
their horses due to them eating a poisonous plant. To replace them her husband
had to ride to Geraldton and purchase more stock horses, leaving his wife and
small child alone. He was away for three weeks and in his absence the
Aborigines came to the camp and burnt the buggy. Jane and her daughter,
Sarah, were unharmed. It was this and other traumatic
endured
by Jane that prompted her to move south. Abandoning his lease in the
Ashburton, Hooley joined his
in Perth where he worked for a stock
station firm for some time. The call of the north beckoned once more
in 188 I Hooley and Mortimer New headed north, where they held leases
the Ashburton
Hooley's Mt Stuart lease
into the hands of Harry Higham,
also owned Nanutarra Station. The small home that Hooley had built at
Stuart (Mt Hubert), Higham had relocated to Nanutarra Station where it is
as a guesthouse.
Details of Harry Higham appear in the Nanutarra chapter. This lease was
into the hands of the Barrettby Higham until 1936 when it
family, whose story is told in the Red Hill and Nanutarra chapters.
Edward Guy (Ted), born 2 October 1919, was the third son of Arthur St
and Fanny Susan Barrett-Lennard. Ted was just 18 years of age when
family purchased the Mt Stuart
his older brothers were managing
family properties. Frank at Nanutarra and Vi at Boolaloo. Ted went to
Stuart as manager.
Ted's sister, Ruth, eleven years his senior went with him to Mt Stuart as his
housekeeper. Ruth was born at Wexcornbe, the farm of her grandparents on
19 March 1908, being the first grandchild of Fanny and Arthur St Aubyn
Barrett-Lennard.
Ruth's early life before joining Ted at Mt Stuart was spent with her parents
at Boolaloo Station, apart from her school days, where she attended Perth
College. Ruth was an excellent cook, and a very competent housekeeper. Apart
from her two trips back to England to meet with relatives, she remained as
Ted's helping hand until her marriage. Don Turner, who lived in Onslow and
who drove the Ashburton mail service for many years, met Ruth on his regular
visits to the station and they became friends. Don's proposal of marriage was
accepted by Ruth, her one stipulation, being that he would have to wait until
her younger brother married. Ruth felt duty bound to stay with her brother
until he married and had a wife to look after him.
In 1960, Ted married Dimity Ann Shorter, daughter of Mr. & Mrs. V.W.
Shorter of Daglish. Dimity's first trip to Onslow was made in one of the
MacRobertson Miller airplanes. It was during race time and Onslow was in a
festive mood. The first night after her arrival the race club ball was held, and
a gala occasion it was The ladies wore their lovely long flowing, colourful
evening gowns. Dimity was greatly impressed with the graciousness of it all.
Ted was the last of the Barrett-Lennard boys to marry, which made Dimity
not only the last of the Barrett-Lennard brides to join what was to become a
happy threesome, but also the youngest. She always felt a little apprehensive
and timid, the other girls having already secured their places in the BarrettLennard clan. However, Dimity soon fitted into the running of station life and
the various formalities that went with running a vast acreage of land. By now
the land that the Barrett-Lennards had under their control was in excess of a
million acres. Each of the three stations had its own manager residing and
Mount Stuart Homestead
working that particular lease. However the three stations were run as one under
the umbrelIa of Nanutarra, where the astute bookkeeper resided. Stores and
necessities for the running of the station had to be ordered through the
bookkeeper and he in turn sent the order to Onslow the following mail day.
Soon after Dimity's arrival at her new home, she rang the bookkeeper at
Nanutarra and ordered a feather duster. "A feather duster?" he queried, and
just to make sure that he had the right message, he repeated it again, this time
a little louder, accentuating on the words feather duster "A feather duster,
indeed. No one has ever ordered a feather duster on these places before, they
use an old piece of rag for dusting."
Dimity, still aware that she had only just taken her place in this formal
circle, was not to be intimidated by the bookkeeper. She drew herself up to
her full height, took a deep breath, and echoed back into the telephone, "No, I
will not use an old piece of rag, I demand that you order me a feather duster."
And with those few words and a polite thank you she hung up the phone.
Arriving on the mail truck the following week, was the biggest feather duster
Dimity had ever seen, and no doubt the only feather duster to ever grace the
Mt Stuart homestead.(7)
Ted, like his brothers, had a great love of horses, which he maintained all
his life. He bred horses for show work and one of his horses "Four Corners",
competed in the Montreal Olympic Games. He also bred Palominos and raced
horses at Onslow, Roebourne, Boolaloo and then the Winning Pool Races,
taking many trophies.
Ted and Dimity had a daughter, Linda, born 1963, and two sons, Edward
William, born 1967, and Guy St Aubyn, born 1969.
Above:
Mick Donovan (jockey) on
Mt Stuart Cup winner.
Held by Myra Kempton (nee Apslen)
Left:
Ted Barrell-Lennard with Minderoo
Tennis Club Cup
Avery Familv
Stewart. Martin, Grant. Joy. Alison, Deborah. Nicole
Ruth and Don Turner were married 18 March 1960.
had a
short time together as on 5
1960, Ruth lost her fight with cancer,
In the
1970s, Ted and Dimity engaged a manager for Mt Stuart
bought a farm, "Nundah" near Northam. Nundah had once belonged to
Viveash family from the Gascoyne area, who were also related to the t-c c r-rvs r r..
Lennards,
During his time in the Ashburton, Ted served on the Ashburton Road
(West Pilbara Shire Council), and was a committee member, Patron and
Clerk of the Course for the Ashburton Race Club Annual Meetings. He
also a great supporter of the Ashburton Gymkhana Club, supplying many
to compete in the various events. He and his brothers were keen tennis IIILIY"" .,.
and each year competed and often won the Minderoo Cup.
In 1978, Mt Stuart was sold and changed into the hands of Jo Elliott.
In August 1987, Elliott sold Mt Stuart to a firm calling themselves r",,,,11 r,
headed by Mr Richard Rogers from Alice Springs. The same people
Duck Creek and Kooline Stations.
In May 1989, the lease changed into the hands of a Singapore group
Chingco Pty Ltd, and was managed by Robert Bogle.
In 1991, the lease changed into the hands of Peter Goyeler. In 1994,
solei the lease to Martin & Deborah Avery who also farm at Scott River.
Averie family holds and works the lease toelay.(8)
Donkey team