Bedford Downs, or Bedford Downs Station, is a

pastoral lease A pastoral lease, sometimes called a pastoral run, is an arrangement used in both Australia and New Zealand where government-owned Crown land is leased out to Pastoral farming, graziers for the purpose of livestock grazing on rangelands. Austral ...

that 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 ...

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

. It is situated about west of Warmun and north of

Halls Creek Halls is a plural of the word hall. Halls may also refer to: People * Walter Halls (1871–1953), British trade unionist and politician * Ethel May Halls (1882–1967), American actress * Julian Halls (born 1967), British field hockey player * ...

in the

Kimberley Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to: Places and historical events Australia Queensland * Kimberley, Queensland, a coastal locality in the Shire of Douglas South Australia * County of Kimberley, a cadastral unit in South Australia Ta ...

region. Both the station and nearby Mount Bedford were named in 1903 after Admiral Frederick Bedford, who was the

Governor of Western Australia The governor of Western Australia is the representative in Western Australia of the monarch, King Charles III. As with the other governors of the Australian states, the governor of Western Australia performs constitutional, ceremonial and commun ...

. Established some time prior to 1906 by the Buchanan and Gordon Brothers, the property experienced many difficulties including the spearing of cattle and isolation of the area. In two years nearly a dozen men had also been murdered by the

traditional owners Native title is the set of rights, recognised by Australian law, held by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander groups or individuals to land that derive from their maintenance of their traditional laws and customs. These Aboriginal title rig ...

. The family business, Quilty and Sons, acquired the property in 1917 from Messrs, Mather, Ross, Manning and Ralston for £34,000. The property was stocked with 8,500 head of cattle and 80 horses. Patrick Quilty was left to manage Bedford Downs while his brother Tom Quilty managed Euroka Springs Station in the Northern Territory. A boundary rider named Harry Annear was murdered by

Aboriginal people There is no generally accepted definition of Indigenous peoples, although in the 21st century the focus has been on self-identification, cultural difference from other groups in a state, a special relationship with their traditional territ ...

on the property near the

Durack River Durack River is a river in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. The river rises below the Durack Range then flows north, discharging into the west arm of Cambridge Gulf. There are 14 tributaries of the Durack, including Chapman River, W ...

in 1921. The Aboriginal artist, Paddy Bedford, was born at the property around 1922. His surname is taken from the station and the station's owner Paddy Quilty was the source of his given name.Tony Stephens, '"Millionaire" believer in "two-way"', (Obituary), ''The Sydney Morning Herald'', 20 July 2007, p. 18. In 1924 a

massacre A massacre is an event of killing people who are not engaged in hostilities or are defenseless. It is generally used to describe a targeted killing of civilians Glossary of French words and expressions in English#En masse, en masse by an armed ...

of Gija and Worla men occurred on the station after the men were tried for spearing a milking cow. They were fed food laced with

strychnine Strychnine (, , American English, US chiefly ) is a highly toxicity, toxic, colorless, bitter, crystalline alkaloid used as a pesticide, particularly for killing small vertebrates such as birds and rodents. Strychnine, when inhaled, swallowed, ...

by white station hands and then shot or clubbed to death. The bodies were subsequently burned by the local police. The series of paintings by

Indigenous Australian Indigenous Australians are people with familial heritage from, or recognised membership of, the various ethnic groups living within the territory of contemporary Australia prior to History of Australia (1788–1850), British colonisation. The ...

artist

Rover Thomas Rover Thomas Joolama (1926 – 11 April 1998), commonly known as simply Rover Thomas, was a Wangkajunga and Kukatja Aboriginal Australian artist. Early life Rover Thomas was born in 1925 near Gunawaggii, at Well 33 on the Canning Stock Rout ...

called ''Bedford Downs Killings'' depicts these events. Following the death of Patrick Quilty in 1938, the family retained possession of Bedford Downs and also acquired neighbouring Springvale Station from W. J. McAdam in 1948. Sterling Buntine acquired the property in the early 2000s then sold it in 2011 to the Paraway Pastoral Company which is owned by the

Macquarie Bank Macquarie Group Limited (), more commonly known as Macquarie Bank, is an Australian multinational investment banking and financial services group headquartered in Sydney and listed on the ASX (). Macquarie's investment banking division is Au ...

References

{{Stations of the Kimberley Western Australia Stations in the Kimberley (Western Australia)

See also

References