Coolawanyah Station, also spelt as Coolawaya Station, is a pastoral lease and

sheep station A sheep station is a large property ( station, the equivalent of a ranch) in Australia or New Zealand, whose main activity is the raising of sheep for their wool and/or meat. In Australia, sheep stations are usually in the south-east or sout ...

located approximately north of Tom Price, south east of Karratha and south west of

Port Hedland A port is a maritime law, maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge Affreightment, cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inla ...

, in the

Shire of Ashburton The Shire of Ashburton is one of the four Local government areas of Western Australia, local government areas in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, covering an area of . It is named after the Ashburton River (Western Australia), Ashburton ...

, part of the

Pilbara The Pilbara () is a large, dry, sparsely populated regions of Western Australia, region in the north of Western Australia. It is known for its Indigenous Australians, Aboriginal people; wealth disparity; its ancient landscapes; the prevailing r ...

region of

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 ...

. The property shares a boundary with

Millstream Chichester National Park Millstream Chichester National Park is a national park in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, located north of the state capital, Perth. The park is made up of the old Millstream Station, which is on the Millstream Creek, just before it j ...

to the west. The property was acquired by Roy Parsons and his partners in 1922 after he served in the

navy A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the military branch, branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral z ...

during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. Parsons bought out his partners during the next few years, eventually owning the leasehold outright. In 1949 Parsons and Ted LeFroy formed the Coolawanyah Pastoral Company and acquired Tambrey and

Hooley Station Hooley Station is a pastoral lease that was once a sheep station but now operates as a cattle station in Western Australia. It is located approximately north of Tom Price and south east of Roebourne in the Pilbara region of Western Austral ...

s, which they merged with Coolawanyah with a total size of . Later they also leased Millstream Station from the

Department of Water The Department of Water is a defunct department of the Government of Western Australia that was responsible for management of Western Australia's water resources. It was replaced by the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation (Western ...

, creating a total leaseholding of . During the 1950s the property switched from sheep to cattle after suffering from

dingo The dingo (either included in the species ''Canis familiaris'', or considered one of the following independent taxa: ''Canis familiaris dingo'', ''Canis dingo'', or ''Canis lupus dingo'') is an ancient (basal (phylogenetics), basal) lineage ...

attacks. In 1956 Roy's youngest son, Les, took over management of the property. The Parsons family are also related to the

Withnell Withnell is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Chorley, Lancashire, England. According to the census of 2001, it had a population of 3,631, reducing to 3,498 at the census of 2011. Withnell is about north-east of Chorley itself and a ...

family and still ran the property in 2008 with Kim and Cindy Parsons managing the with a herd of 4,000 head of cattle.

Transportation

The locality is served by the Coolawanyah Station Airport .

References

{{Stations of the Pilbara Western Australia Stations in the Pilbara Shire of Ashburton

Transportation

See also

References