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Famous Ranches and Stations

Elsey Station: The Territory Cattle Run Behind We of the Never Never

A 2,000-mile overland drive founded it, a 1908 book made it famous, and the Mangarrayi people own it today.

What is Elsey Station?

Elsey Station is a pastoral lease and former cattle station in the Northern Territory, about 14 kilometres east of Mataranka and 68 kilometres north of Larrimah, near the Roper River. The Wikipedia article on Elsey Station gives its area as 5,334 square kilometres, of which 2,200 are fenced.

It is named after Elsey Creek, which runs through the property and was named for surgeon Joseph Ravenscroft Elsey. The country is about 10 percent floodplain, 15 percent black soil, 60 percent red sandy country and 15 percent ridge country.

How did Wallace settle Elsey?

Abraham Wallace took up the lease in 1879. In January 1880 he set out from his other station, Sturts Meadow in New South Wales, and at Longreach in Queensland he bought 2,728 head of cattle. In July 1881 he reached Elsey after about 2,000 miles, and the property was named Elsey Station.

The first homestead was built at Warlock Ponds and later moved to Red Lily Lagoon. Wallace died in April 1884. Victorian investors Osmand and Panton then acquired the station.

Violence on the frontier

On 15 July 1882 head stockman Duncan Campbell was fatally speared. Reprisals led to the Red Lily Lagoon Massacre, which killed about 20 Mangarayi people. The 1883 lease did reserve the right of the Aboriginal inhabitants and their descendants to access and use the land, its water and its wildlife as they had before.

Wikipedia also records that on 17 January 1895 an Aboriginal man named Moolooloorun was hanged at Crescent Lagoon on the station after being found guilty of murdering a Chinese man near the Roper River. These events are part of the record behind the romance of the outback.

Jeannie Gunn and We of the Never Never

In 1890 Euphemia Lydia Oakes and her two daughters joined her husband, station manager Ernest Hassall Oakes, and she was the second white woman to arrive. In 1902 Aeneas and Jeannie Gunn arrived after Osmand's death. The article says Osmand had become sole owner.

Aeneas Gunn died at Elsey in March 1903 according to the article's account, though the wording on the exact death is ambiguous. Jeannie Gunn returned to Melbourne and in 1908 wrote We of the Never Never about her time there. A replica homestead built for the 1982 film based on the book stands at the Homestead Tourist Park in Mataranka. The book is the main reason a farm.FM story about the Never Never is worth reading.

The herd and the 1951 auction

In 2001 the station had about 7,000 cattle, down sharply from the 26,000 head advertised in 1951. Brahman cattle were introduced in the 1960s. In 1951 owners Elsey Downs Ltd put the station up for auction, advertised as 2,250,000 acres. The opening bid of 200,000 pounds drew only a 140,000 pound bid from an agent for a Victorian syndicate.

Parkinsonia weeds appeared in the 1960s, and the weevil Penthobruchus germaini was introduced in 1995 as biological control.

Why It Mattered

Elsey matters as much for its writing as for its cattle. The record shows how a remote lease became a symbol of the outback, and also how the station stands in the history of land return.

The facts here are limited to the Wikipedia article, so this profile is marked as thin.

  • Long overland droving: Wallace brought 2,728 cattle about 2,000 miles from Longreach.
  • Literary reach: Jeannie Gunn's 1908 book spread the station's name far beyond the Territory.
  • Frontier violence: the 1882 killing of Duncan Campbell and the Red Lily Lagoon reprisal are part of the record.
  • Breeding: Brahman cattle were introduced in the 1960s.
  • Weed control: a biological control weevil was introduced in 1995 against parkinsonia.
  • Land return: the Elsey Land Claim upheld Mangarrayi rights in 1997.

Land return to the Mangarrayi

The traditional owners are the Mangarrayi people. The Elsey Land Claim, which upheld their rights, was granted in 1997, and the property is owned by the Mangarrayi Aboriginal Land Trust. In February 2000 federal representative John Herron handed the title deeds to the Mangarrayi in a ceremony at Elsey. The claim took nearly nine years to resolve.

For more on ranching around the world, see the farm.FM ranching section. For the full record, see the source article's ownership history and its notes on the land and climate.

Timeline

  1. 1879Abraham Wallace takes up the lease
  2. 1881Wallace reaches Elsey with 2,728 cattle after about 2,000 miles
  3. 1882Head stockman Duncan Campbell killed; Red Lily Lagoon reprisal
  4. 1884Wallace dies; Osmand and Panton acquire the station
  5. 1902Aeneas and Jeannie Gunn arrive
  6. 1908Jeannie Gunn writes We of the Never Never
  7. 1951Station auctioned with 26,000 cattle advertised
  8. 1997Elsey Land Claim granted
  9. 2000Title deeds handed to the Mangarrayi

Frequently asked questions

What is Elsey Station known for?

Elsey is known as the setting of Jeannie Gunn's 1908 book We of the Never Never. Gunn lived there in 1902 and 1903. The station is a pastoral lease near Mataranka in the Northern Territory.

Where is Elsey Station?

It is about 14 kilometres east of Mataranka and 68 kilometres north of Larrimah in the Northern Territory, near the Roper River.

Who owns Elsey Station now?

The Mangarrayi Aboriginal Land Trust owns it. The Elsey Land Claim was granted in 1997, and the title deeds were handed over in a ceremony in February 2000.

Who founded Elsey Station?

Abraham Wallace took up the lease in 1879 and reached Elsey in July 1881 after an overland drive of about 2,000 miles from Longreach, Queensland, with 2,728 cattle.

Sources and further reading

Profiles are compiled from public sources and reviewed against them. See our editorial policy to suggest a correction.

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