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Famous Ranches and Stations

Victoria River Downs Station: The Territory's Big Run, Once the World's Largest

Founded as a 20,000-head overland venture, the station passed from pastoral partners to Kidman, Bovril, Hooker and Heytesbury.

What is Victoria River Downs Station?

Victoria River Downs, often shortened to VRD, is a pastoral lease and cattle station in the Northern Territory, about 102 kilometres south-east of Timber Creek and 252 kilometres west of Daly Waters. The Wikipedia article on the station says it was established in 1883 on the lands of the Bilingara and Karranga peoples and has also been called Victoria Downs and The Big Run.

It was once the world's largest pastoral property at about 41,000 square kilometres. By 2004 the area had shrunk to 8,900 square kilometres, still large by any standard outside Australia.

How was Victoria River Downs founded?

Charles Fisher and Maurice Lyons, who also owned nearby Glencoe Station, founded the station. The South Australian government granted the lease in December 1879, covering 15,890 square miles. The first herd of 20,000 cattle was overlanded from Wilmot by Nat Buchanan.

The numbers show how fast the run stocked up. About 23,000 cattle were reported in 1893 and about 30,000 in 1894, with roughly 500 horses. That year the station shipped 2,205 head to Batavia via Singapore, earning 7,717 pounds.

Who owned VRD after Fisher?

After financial problems and legal battles, Fisher lost the property in 1889 to Goldsbrough Mort and Company. In early 1900 Goldsbrough sold the lease and stock for 27,500 pounds to a syndicate of Forrest, Emanuel and Company and the Kidman Brothers. By 1902 a partnership of Sidney Kidman and the Emanuel brothers held the property, then 10,954 square miles.

In 1909 Kidman sold it to Bovril Australian Estates, together with Northcote and Carlton Hill near Wyndham, for 200,000 pounds. Businessman William Buckland bought it in 1955 and in 1960 it went to Hooker Corporation. In 1984 Peter Sherwin paid 11.6 million Australian dollars, and Robert Holmes a Court owned all of it by 1989. It now trades as Heytesbury Beef.

A veto and a Packer detour

One episode shows how big the station was. In 1984 Kerry Packer sought to buy it, but the Northern Territory government used its veto over large land sales. Packer instead acquired Newcastle Waters. You can follow that thread in a farm.FM story about Newcastle Waters.

Land changes continued. In 1949 the surveyor general resumed 3,000 square miles from the eastern side, and in 1963 314 square kilometres were surrendered for a research station, now the Victoria River Research Station at Kidman Springs, which began operations in 1969.

The cattle and the country

Wikipedia does not name the breeds. It does describe the country: sandstone and dolomite ridges, dolomite plains, limestone outcrops and alluvial floodplains with cracking clays. Grasses include wire grass, white grass and black spear grass on red earth, and ribbon grass, Flinders grass and blue grass on clay.

Tributaries of the Victoria River, including the Wickham, Camfield, Townsend and Humbert, cross the station. Average rainfall is 819 millimetres, mostly from December to March, and the mean daily maximum is 34.6 degrees Celsius. In 2014 the station recorded 88 consecutive days above 35 degrees.

What Made It Work

VRD has lasted from 1883 to the present across at least eight ownership changes. The record points to capital, scale and the ability to resize the run.

It also records a violent frontier. In 1895, after an attack on a supply wagon at Jasper Gorge, manager Jack Watson led a punitive expedition that reportedly killed possibly 60 Aboriginal people.

  • Overlanding at scale: 20,000 cattle were brought in from Wilmot by Nat Buchanan to stock the run.
  • Export outlets: in 1894 the station shipped 2,205 head to Batavia via Singapore.
  • Corporate backing: Goldsbrough Mort, Kidman and the Emanuels, Bovril, Hooker and Heytesbury all provided capital over time.
  • Resizing: the lease went from 41,155 square kilometres to 8,900 as land was resumed or excised.
  • Research partnership: land surrendered in 1963 became the Victoria River Research Station.
  • Government oversight: the 1984 veto on large land sales shaped who could own it.

Floods, heat and satellite stations

February 2010 brought record rainfall of 747 millimetres, the highest monthly total in 120 years of records. In February and March 2023 floods led to evacuations of Daguragu, Kalkarindji, Pigeon Hole and Palumpa.

Camfield Station, once an outstation covering 2,790 square kilometres, was won in a 1952 ballot by Paul Vanderleer and acquired by AACo in 2004. Pigeon Hole, at 181,100 hectares, was an outstation until 2000 and was renamed Nitjpurru in August 2024. For broader context, 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. 1879South Australian government grants the lease
  2. 1883Fisher and Lyons found the station; 20,000 cattle overlanded
  3. 1889Goldsbrough Mort takes over
  4. 1902Kidman and the Emanuel brothers hold the station
  5. 1909Sold to Bovril Australian Estates
  6. 1960Hooker Corporation buys it
  7. 1984Peter Sherwin buys it; Packer's bid is vetoed
  8. 1989Holmes a Court owns all of VRD
  9. 2010Record monthly rainfall of 747 mm

Frequently asked questions

Where is Victoria River Downs Station?

It is in the Northern Territory, about 102 kilometres south-east of Timber Creek and 252 kilometres west of Daly Waters. The Buntine Highway passes through its south-east corner.

Who founded Victoria River Downs?

Charles Fisher and Maurice Lyons founded the station in 1883. The initial herd of 20,000 cattle was overlanded from Wilmot by Nat Buchanan, and the lease had been granted in 1879.

How big is Victoria River Downs?

It was once about 41,000 square kilometres, the world's largest pastoral property. By 2004 it covered 8,900 square kilometres after land was resumed or excised.

Who owns Victoria River Downs now?

Wikipedia says the station is now run by Heytesbury, trading as Heytesbury Beef. Robert Holmes a Court owned all of it by 1989 after buying into Peter Sherwin's company.

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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