Mardie Station
Encyclopedia
Mardie Station is a pastoral lease
and sheep then cattle station
thst was established in 1866 in the Pilbara Region of Western Australia
near the mouth of the Fortescue River
. The original pastoral lease was taken by Simpson and MacIntoch who worked for the Denison Plains Pastoral Company. The company equipped the barque Warrier in Melbourne and had inteneded to sail to Roebuck Bay
to settle in another area but following a succession of calms the ship had to land at Cossack
when the stock started die of dehydration.
Upn landing the group decided to trek south west and eventually squatted at Mardie Springs. The station was established and by 1883 three paddocks were fenced, several wells had been dug and the flock was about 18,000 head of sheep.
The station was owned at one time by members of the Withnell family who also established many other stations in the North West including Sherlock, Mount Welcome, Mallina, Karratha, Chirritta and Edjudina.
The station covers an area of approximately 225,000 hectares and has over 8,000 head of specially bred cattle
.
The station was hard hit by flooding in 1894 when the Fortescue River
, usually about 10 miles away from the homestead, rose to within metres of the front door. The stockyards were destroyed and hundreds of sheep were washed away.
The station was sold by J.A. Withnell to B.H. Sharpe (who owns Wooleen Station) along with 30,000 head of sheep and 100 cattle in 1923 for £50,000.
It is currently owned by CITIC-Pacific, a Hong Kong
-based company, who bought the station in 2007.
Home to the largest infestation of Mesquite
in the state, following the introduction of two trees as shade trees around the homestead and shearing shed in the 1930s, it is estimated that around 150,000 hectares of the station now contain the plant. Approximately 30,000 hectares of the infestation is described as dense. Stock must be quaratined
in paddocks free of Mesquite so the seeds can pass through their guts before they csn be moved on in order to prevent the pest from spreading further.
Pastoral lease
A pastoral lease is Crown land that government allows to be leased, generally for the purposes of farming.-Australia:Pastoral leases exist in both Australian commonwealth law and state jurisdictions....
and sheep then cattle station
Cattle station
Cattle station is an Australian term for a large farm , whose main activity is the rearing of cattle. In Australia, the owner of a cattle station is called a grazier...
thst was established in 1866 in the Pilbara Region of Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
near the mouth of the Fortescue River
Fortescue River
The Fortescue River is an ephemeral river in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. It is the third longest river in the state.The river rises near Deadman Hill in the Ophthalmia Range about 30 km South of Newman. The river flows in a Northerly direction parallel with the Great Northern...
. The original pastoral lease was taken by Simpson and MacIntoch who worked for the Denison Plains Pastoral Company. The company equipped the barque Warrier in Melbourne and had inteneded to sail to Roebuck Bay
Roebuck Bay
Roebuck Bay is a bay on the coast of the Kimberley region of Western Australia. Its entrance is bounded in the north by the town of Broome, and in the south by Bush Point and Sandy Point. It is named after HMS Roebuck, the ship captained by William Dampier when he explored the coast of...
to settle in another area but following a succession of calms the ship had to land at Cossack
Cossack, Western Australia
Cossack is an historic ghost town located 1,480 km north of Perth and 15 km from Roebourne in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. The nearest town to Cossack is Wickham. At the 2006 census, Cossack had a population of 236....
when the stock started die of dehydration.
Upn landing the group decided to trek south west and eventually squatted at Mardie Springs. The station was established and by 1883 three paddocks were fenced, several wells had been dug and the flock was about 18,000 head of sheep.
The station was owned at one time by members of the Withnell family who also established many other stations in the North West including Sherlock, Mount Welcome, Mallina, Karratha, Chirritta and Edjudina.
The station covers an area of approximately 225,000 hectares and has over 8,000 head of specially bred cattle
Cattle
Cattle are the most common type of large domesticated ungulates. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae, are the most widespread species of the genus Bos, and are most commonly classified collectively as Bos primigenius...
.
The station was hard hit by flooding in 1894 when the Fortescue River
Fortescue River
The Fortescue River is an ephemeral river in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. It is the third longest river in the state.The river rises near Deadman Hill in the Ophthalmia Range about 30 km South of Newman. The river flows in a Northerly direction parallel with the Great Northern...
, usually about 10 miles away from the homestead, rose to within metres of the front door. The stockyards were destroyed and hundreds of sheep were washed away.
The station was sold by J.A. Withnell to B.H. Sharpe (who owns Wooleen Station) along with 30,000 head of sheep and 100 cattle in 1923 for £50,000.
It is currently owned by CITIC-Pacific, a Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
-based company, who bought the station in 2007.
Home to the largest infestation of Mesquite
Mesquite
Mesquite is a leguminous plant of the Prosopis genus found in northern Mexico through the Sonoran Desert and Chihuahuan Deserts, and up into the Southwestern United States as far north as southern Kansas, west to the Colorado Desert in California,and east to the eastern fifth of Texas, where...
in the state, following the introduction of two trees as shade trees around the homestead and shearing shed in the 1930s, it is estimated that around 150,000 hectares of the station now contain the plant. Approximately 30,000 hectares of the infestation is described as dense. Stock must be quaratined
Quarantine
Quarantine is compulsory isolation, typically to contain the spread of something considered dangerous, often but not always disease. The word comes from the Italian quarantena, meaning forty-day period....
in paddocks free of Mesquite so the seeds can pass through their guts before they csn be moved on in order to prevent the pest from spreading further.