George Gooch
“…one of the bravest men I ever knew…”
From “The Northern Times” newspaper, 1983:
In the vast pastoral lands of the Gascoyne country of West Australia became known to southern farmers, the more adventurous spirits decided to abandon the settled areas of the south-west and try their luck in the untouched regions to the north.
One such a man was George Joseph Gooch who pioneered Wandagee Station, north of Carnarvon township.
George Gooch was born in Perth on March 6, 1858, and spent most of hs younger years in the Greenough district where he honed his skills as a sheep and cattle drover.
In 1880, accompanied by an Aboriginal stockman, Jacob, George Gooch left Geraldton to seek his fortune in the mysterious Gascoyne country, a land of wild black fellows, dry rivers and thirst – or such were the tales told to him over the campfires of other adventurers who had survived the place.
To a young man with spirit and imagination, the Gascoyne seemed like a raw diamond that had only to be shaped and polished.
By the time Gooch and his party had reached Murchison House, they only had a rug each for bedding and no tent as protection against the rain and sun.
Having replenished their equipment and supplies, Gooch and Jacob continued north, travelling via Tamala, Wooramel and Booltha.
Eventually, suffering from lack of water for themselves and their stock, Gooch reached Brickhouse Station on Carnarvon’s northern outskirts.
Writing of the experience later, he noted: “(It was) the best country I ever saw … The country had been burnt by natives for miles.”
Moving up-stream the next day, the drovers met up with Charles Wheelock at his Rocky Pool camp. Chatting over future prospects, the two men agreed to become partners if a suitable area of land was discovered along their path.
They sighted the vague blue hue of the distant Kennedy Ranges to the north-east and counted more than a hundred wild Aborigines along the way – naked and fearsome, but keeping their distance.
The area where the Lyons and Arthur Rivers join did not appeal to the men. Gooch had heard tell of the Minilya country further north as having wonderful stock pasture and he was secretly yearning to see it with his own eyes.
Spurring the two men on was the rumour that other potential settlers were preparing to explore the same locality.
One hungry day, when food was scarce, one of the Aboriginal stockmen cooked some dingo pups and brought them to Gooch and Wheelock, saying they were considered to be a delicacy. The white men’s response was not recorded.
At Yankee Tank near the main Minilya track the drovers encountered a group of wild Aboriginal men. Gooch offered one man a block of soap to eat, but the offer was declined; the native man, Paddy, had acquainted himself with the strange habits of other white men who had passed on earlier occasions and he quietly explained that he knew the soap was used for washing, not eating.
The Aboriginal, Paddy, became a staunch ally of the pioneer pastoralist.
Gooch wrote: “Paddy was … a good character and … became our best man. He told me to teach the natives to work and they would do it. To their credit, I found this to be true …”
Some time later Paddy was trodden on by a horse, causing one of his toes to be severed. Quickly he weakened and was taken to Carnarvon for medical treatment. Unfortunately, he died of tetanus and was buried at Yankee Town.
On July 30, 1880, George Gooch founded Wandagee Station. To mark the event, on a huge gumtree he carved the inscription: “C.W., G.G., 7-30-80.
Gooch wrote: “Took the position of Wandagee Hill S.W. by W. and a very high hill N.E. from camp, which we named Mt. Brockman (Moogoorie) … The country was splendidly grassed … up to the horse’s knees … and deep water holes. Saw five kangaroos, three turkeys and a lot of emus … We are elated with our discovery, believing it to be the best and most healthy stock country we have seen.”
To register the land claim, Gooch had to travel to Champion Bay (Geraldton), a distance of 400 miles, to be covered on horseback before any rivals beat him to the prize.
Wandagee Station was secured (202,600 acres), with 14 years tenure, the first years rental costing 25 cents per 1,000 acres, rising to one dollar for the same acreage over the last 7 years.Gooch at this point in his career was only 22 years old.
Travelling north with 2,490 sheep, the pastoralist was once confronted by armed natives who were acting in a threatening manner.
An observer, John Casan noted: “George Gooch was one of the bravest men I ever knew. His courage saved us that night … Gooch went straight out to meet them … and showed by signs what his revolver would do … He showed … that he didn’t fear them.”
The first white settlers of the Gascoyne, Gooch included, were seriously hampered by the Aborigines who consistently killed and ate their stock and were even becoming a danger to human life. Such was the complaint lodged formally with the government of the day.
A magistrate, Robert Fairbairn, despatched to the area to conduct an impartial investigation attributed most of the trouble to white men stealing Aboriginal women, keeping them as unpaid labourers and lovers.
Fairbairn reported: “I think it is a bad thing for settlers to keep native women …It sets a loose example all through the stations …”
The investigator noted, too, that the majority of shepherds were Aboriginal females of all ages. They were unpaid and often worked in isolation. Therefore, it was considered quite natural for them to kill stock for food.
Fairbairn added: “Let us set them a good example and then … we may talk about the iniquity of their proceedings …”
On January 15, 1887, George Gooch wrote a letter to a fellow pastoralist, commenting: “I hear you have a native girl called Nellie … belonging to this station. She was here all last summer lamb-minding, and ran away in May … Do not take her out of her country against her will …”
On February 2, 1890, George Gooch was installed as a “Protector of Aborigines.”
A strong friendship developed between him and an Aboriginal offsider, Bandy. His black friend always referred to him as “the old boss.” Bandy accompanied his employer on most of his business jaunts throughout the North West.
On the road together, the white man always carried with him a pair of field glasses. By using them, he could mystify the Aborigine by telling them what their activities had been before his arrival in their midst.
The black folk imagined that Gooch had supernatural powers and could read their minds.
On one occasion, at Wandagee, when bread was being stolen from the kitchen, “the old boss” ran a string between a loaf of bread and another part of the homestead, attached to a bell.
When the bread was moved, Gooch was immediately alerted by the bell and could confront the culprit at once.
Due to this trick, the station Aborigines imagined Gooch could see through walls and he was treated with awe, especially by bread thieves.
At the outbreak of World War 1, a Wandagee employee, Richard Troy, applied to enlist in the army. George Gooch gave his blessing, promising to keep his job open for him until his eventual return.
Three years’ later, when Troy returned from overseas, he not only walk back into his job, but Gooch called him aside, saying he was going to pay him for all the time he had been away fighting at the war.
Troy said: “But the government have paid me for that.”
“Look here, Dick,” said the old man, “you have been away fighting for me. The least I can do is pay you for it … Your wages went on while you were away …”
In July, 1923, George Gooch, then aged 65 years, sailed away from West Australia for England in search of more advanced treatment of an ailment affecting his health. Following surgery in London, the old Gascoyne pioneer died on September 15, 1923.
George Gooch’s body was embalmed and returned to West Australia to be interred at the Karrakatta Cemetery in Perth.
COMMENTS
I have read of an American, Charles Whiting (or Whitney), who had served in the Civil War, and who was working in the area around Gooch’s station. Are you aware of such a person or any other American Civil War veteran in West Australia? Thank you for your attention.
— Terry Foenander · 30 June 2008 · #
I have records from the then ‘Native Affairs’ that George Gooch signed documents in regards to my great grandfather (a Half-caste Native)in the 1940’s. Is this the same ‘Pioneer George Gooch’ or did he have a son by the same name????
— Rachael Mowarin · 18 November 2009 · #