Croydon Station, often spelt as Croyden 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 ...
.
Description
It is located approximately 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
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 occupies an area of approximately and is composed mostly of rolling plains; the
Sherlock River runs through the property with pools providing good watering points for stock.
[
The relatively small Coolawanyah Station (located between 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) was originally an outcamp of Hamersley and Croydon Stations.
History
The lease was first taken up by the Robinson family from Brookton, when Edward Robinson, John Seabrook and W Robinson left the family's property near Pingelly with 3,000 sheep in November 1878. The sheep were broken into three flocks with an Aboriginal drover and one of the family members assigned to each flock. The groups passed through Beverley
Beverley is a market town and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is located north-west of Hull city centre. At the 2021 census the built-up area of the town had a population of 30,930, and the smaller civil parish had ...
, York, Western Australia
York is the oldest inland town in Western Australia, situated on the Avon River, east of Perth in the Wheatbelt, on Ballardong Nyoongar land,King, A and Parker, E: York, Western Australia's first inland town, Parker Print, 2003 p.3. and is ...
, Northam and New Norcia
New or NEW may refer to:
Music
* New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz
* ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013
** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013
* ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995
* "New" (Daya song), 2017
* "New" (No Doubt song), 1 ...
on the way before arriving at Croydon in 1879.
Mr E. Robinson left Croydon in 1886 to purchase Helena Farm from H. Brockman for £3000.
In the 1890s the McRae Brothers owned the station and had 32 Aboriginal men, 38 women and 13 children who were used as a source of labour. The station employees were given a new set of clothes every year in lieu of pay and were allowed to hunt native game, but only in their own time.
The station suffered the loss of 800 sheep following a storm and resulting floods in 1894.
Another storm swept over the area in 1898 causing even more damage. D. MacRae reported damage to the homestead and other buildings and waters rising to within of the 1894 watermark. No stock losses occurred, with livestock being removed from the most affected paddocks the day before. of rain fell over the course of a day.
Ernest Anderton Hall (nephew of William Shakespeare Hall) bought Croydon some time before 1915, after he sold Yandayarra Station, and Croydon was managed by his cousin Harold Aubrey Hall. Ernest Hall also eventually acquired Sherlock Station
Sherlock Station is a pastoral lease and sheep station located approximately East of Roebourne in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. Covering an area of pasture, the lease provides good grazing land. In 2015 it was purchased by Bettin ...
, and later sold Croydon to James Nicholas.
Croydon was advertised in 1919 when Nicholas sold three properties in the northwest, Croydon, Peron Peninsula and Dirk Hartog Stations. At the time Croydon occupied an area of and was stocked with 11,000 sheep and 2,700 cattle.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 ...
.
The station was owned in 2008 by Peter Cook, a pharmacist, who owned other properties in the Pilbara, including Hooley
Hooley is a village in the borough of Reigate and Banstead in Surrey, England. Within its small grid of streets is the 13th-century church of Chipstead which has been, since time immemorial, its ecclesiastical parish. Hooley is connected via pa ...
, Mallina, Pyramid
A pyramid () is a structure whose visible surfaces are triangular in broad outline and converge toward the top, making the appearance roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid can be of any polygon shape, such as trian ...
and Sherlock Stations.
See also
*List of ranches and stations
This is a list of ranches and sheep and cattle stations, organized by continent. Most of these are notable either for the large geographic area which they cover, or for their historical or cultural importance.
Africa
* Obudu Cattle Ranch
* S ...
References
{{Coord, 21, 7, 12, S, 117, 48, 23, E, type:landmark_region:AU-WA, display=title
Stations in the Pilbara
1878 establishments in Australia