Corona Station (pastoral lease)

Corona Station is a pastoral lease that operates as a sheep station in the outback of New South Wales, Australia.

Corona Station is located in New South Wales
Corona Station
Corona Station
Location in New South Wales

It is situated about 74 kilometres (46 mi) north of Broken Hill and 164 kilometres (102 mi) west of White Cliffs. Corona is one of the four original stations in the Barrier Range settled through the early 1870s along with Mount Gipps, Mundi Mundi and Alberta Stations.[1] The station currently occupies an area of 52,000 acres (21,044 ha) and is able to carry a flock of about 13,000 sheep.[2]

History edit

Daniel Harvey Patterson acquired Corona in 1875 along with Menamurtree station near Wilcannia. Patterson soon took an interest in the Broken Hill mine and later became a director and chairman of BHP. By 1883 the owners had spent £75,374 on improvements.[3]

Corona produced over 2,090 bales of wool in 1890.[4]

Patterson sold off his pastoral interests including Corona in 1894.[5] During the depression of the 1890s, with falling wool prices and drought, many of the properties in the area including Corona, Sturts Meadows, Mount Arrowsmith, Langwirra, Elsinora and Thurloo Downs fell into the hands of finance companies. Corona was acquired by Goldsbrough Mort & Co.[6]

The Corona Pastoral Company sold the property in 1911 to Messrs. T. L. Browne and H. H. Dutton. The station was stocked at this time with a flock of 60,000 sheep, 280 cattle and 190 horses.[7] In 1912 when shearing was in full swing the men went on strike over a butter allowance, which was not resolved until an Australian Workers' Union representative travelled to Corona to settle the strike.[8]

Sidney Kidman acquired the property in 1917.[9]

In 1925 Corona had a flock of over 42,000 sheep.[10]

In the 1930s leases in the area were adjusted to give owners financial certainty so long as part of the lease was surrendered. Kidman did not exercise this option and the leasehold remained the same.[9]

Fowler's Gap, which now operates as a research station, was an out-station of Corona until 1947 when it was resumed and became a station in its own right.[9]

In 1995 the property was fully stocked with 13,000 head of sheep.

Soft Rolling Skin sheep were introduced to Corona in 2001 by Peter and Tracy Botten, who owned the station at the time. In the drought of 2002 the flock was down to about 300. By 2005 the wool price was over A$200 a bale more than previous years and the flock was approximately 6,500.[2]

In 2013 the station was still owned by the owned by Bottens, who were running 7,000 sheep on the property. Corona was awarded organic certification earlier the same year. It was gained in two years rather than the normal three, because the Bottens had not used chemicals for the previous three years prior to starting certification. As a result, the wool clip attained prices or up to A$1 per kilogram of wool and were fetching up to A$1,050 per bale.[11]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ "Eldee Station – Station History". Eldee Station. 2012. Archived from the original on 27 August 2013. Retrieved 3 August 2013.
  2. ^ a b Mary-Jane Angus (5 May 2005). "SRS top success on Corona". Stock Journal. Archived from the original on 11 August 2013. Retrieved 11 August 2013.
  3. ^ "Western Improvements". The Riverine Grazier. Hay, New South Wales. 26 December 1883. p. 4. Retrieved 23 September 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
  4. ^ "Union Wool". The Barrier Miner. Broken Hill, New South Wales. 27 August 1890. p. 2. Retrieved 8 August 2013 – via National Library of Australia.
  5. ^ Daniel Boadie (2013). "Patterson, John Hunter (1841–1930)". Australian National University. Retrieved 5 August 2013.
  6. ^ "Unincorporated Area of NSW Heritage Study" (PDF). River Junction Research. 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 May 2013. Retrieved 12 August 2013.
  7. ^ "New South Wales pastoral properties". The Chronicle. Adelaide. 15 July 1911. p. 11. Retrieved 4 August 2013 – via National Library of Australia.
  8. ^ "Strike at Corona Station". The Advertiser. Adelaide. 1 August 1912. p. 8. Retrieved 11 August 2013 – via National Library of Australia.
  9. ^ a b c "Fowlers Gap arid zone research station". University of New South Wales. 15 February 2013. Retrieved 4 August 2013.
  10. ^ "Barrier Shearing Operations". South Australian Register. Adelaide. 9 September 1925. p. 13. Retrieved 8 August 2013 – via National Library of Australia.
  11. ^ "Broken Hill organic wool fetches $1/kg premium". Quality Wool. 2013. Retrieved 11 August 2013.

31°17′28″S 141°26′38″E / 31.291°S 141.444°E / -31.291; 141.444