HAMILTON DOWNS
“ … “A cairn of stones … and a tree marked J.M.D.S. were left to guide later travellers to the water …”
*In the earliest days of settlement in Central Australia, Hamilton Downs almost certainly did not exist as a separate property. *
The overall holding – said to have originally been a vast “2,250 square miles” – was more than likely incorporated into the pastoral regions now classified as Undoolya, Owen Springs and Bond Springs.
On April 19, 1860, the explorer, John McDouall Stuart, when passing through the region, noted in his journal: “A cairn of stones … and a tree marked J.M.D.S. were left to guide later travellers to the water in a splendid reservoir of rock …”
Stuart named the site Singleton Springs, later changing it to Hamilton Springs when, on his return overland trek, he again camped there on July 24, 1860.
Quite likely, the Spring was named after George Hamilton, later a Police Commissioner, who had helped finance Stuart’s expedition.
Retired cattleman, Bill Prior (manager of Hamilton Downs for 33 years), recalled: “Stuart was the first bloke who made it through the (MacDonnell) Ranges. We reckoned he must have come through a little bit west of where Hamilton Downs Station is today. There’s a place where you can get through. There’s another place called U-Gap, but he wouldn’t have come through there with his plant horses. The gap where we reckon he probably came through was a little bit south-west of where the homestead is now. Up in that country there’s a spring we call ‘Top Hamilton’. That’s straight south of the old homestead. We used to muster cattle round there.”
Hamilton Downs, 75 kilometres north-west of Alice Springs, and overlooked by the beautiful Chewings Range, acquired its distinct identity on May 17, 1911, when the Pastoral Permit no. 290 was issued to an Alice Springs stock dealer, Sidney Herbert Stanes. At the time the permit was for 100 square miles (259 sq.km).
At this time, or soon afterwards, the station’s first rude homestead was constructed by William (Bill) Liddle. This small homestead, plus the out-buildings, are today regarded as a wonderful example of bush craftsmanship and have National Trust protection. The walls of one homestead consist of roughly hewn logs, tapered at both ends, one log over another, from floor to ceiling. Other walls are fashioned from a mixture of mud, stones and straw.
William Hurle Liddle, once an employee of the old Telegraph Station, later moved over into the pastoral industry with his part-Aboriginal companion, Mary Earwaaker.
Oldtimer, Bill Prior, commented: “He’d be the great grandfather of all these young Liddle’s around today.
“In the original homestead, the one with log walls, I think that was once used as a store. In that big fireplace, they used to hang meat in there and smoke it. That’s why it’s so big. I remember when we first went up there, back in the 50s, there was still a bit of meat hanging in the old fireplace. It was pretty dry, I can tell you.”
The original dwelling, built in 1912 of adobe (or pise’) was on a spot the Aboriginals called Worra-thurra, meaning “twins”, due to the fact that the little house only had two rooms. Pine timber, which is resistant to termites, was cut by axe and saw in the nearby ranges, and the original floor was fashioned from antbed and covered in rubberoid.
The sturdy old chimneys, fashioned from local rocks, were constructed by the renowned English stonemason, Jack Williams, in 1923. Earlier, Williams had also constructed the Stuart Town Gaol and Adelaide House (restored hospital, Todd Mall), in Alice Springs.
The old Meathouse, constructed in 1900 or thereabouts, was structured with mulga poles, framed by an octagonal verandah. Its roof was thatched with grass from the nearby Jay Creek on mulga battens and this was secured with kangaroo hide thonging.
Aborigines camped on a hill near the old Meathouse. One man, called “King Johnny,” was presented with a pension for life as a reward for services rendered to the Harris family.
In times of emergency, or whenever news needed to be conveyed quickly to, say, the police in Alice Springs, a trusted Aboriginal, Long Harry, travelled by foot via a gap in the MacDonnell Ranges near Fish Hole, carrying with him “paper yabba” (a note for the policeman). The return journey was accomplished in a day between sunrise and sunset, covering a distance of approximately 40 miles. In those times, it was noted, some Aboriginal message runners could cover 100 miles in 24 hours.
Bill Prior remembered: “We had a lot of Aborigines there. We had, I suppose, about seven or eight working boys and their families. Old ‘King Johnny’ was boss of all that mob. I think he originally came from Jay Creek. He was one of the greatest old gentlemen you could ever meet. He was a grand fellow. All that mob were just about related. Over all, I reckon we would have had at least 30 who were permanently camped there. Our kids grew up with their kids. All the Aborigines moved permanently to the new homestead in the late 40s or thereabouts. One of the Aboriginal kids always reckoned he was born under a tree not far from the old meat house. In those days they didn’t have anything like a camp. It was just bough sheds or old windbreaks, with bits of galvanised iron.
“In a straight line, it wasn’t that far to Alice Springs. There and back would be about 40 miles or so. Before there was a proper road, back in the early days, they had to take pack-horses into the Alice for supplies, using the old track. There’s a gap west of Simpson’s Gap. You’d go through there and get through to the south of the Range, and it was pretty easy going into the Alice from there. It wasn’t a road. It was just a horse track. I don’t think a vehicle ever went along it.”
Stanes sold out his interest to R. Harris in 1925. A year later (1926) Harris disposed of his interest in Hamilton Downs to Walter Kidman, the son of the “Cattle King,” Sir Sidney Kidman.
Bill Prior: “Old Kidman only had one surviving son. That was Walter Kidman. He had one of those shaky arms. It wouldn’t hold still. He had it from the time he was a kid. They sent him all over the world to try and cure him, but it couldn’t be done.
“There used to be a rumour going around about old Ted Harris. The coppers were after him because he pinched a racehorse. He got wind the cops were coming, probably through one of the blackfellas, and he took off to the West Australian border. When the cops got out there, he hadn’t had much of a start, so Sid Stanes told them, ‘He’s down at the eastern end of the run, mustering.’ So by the time they went down there and looked around, they realised he had gone. He went across to West Australia, changed his name and came back. That’s a bit of local folklore, anyway.”
In 1937, R. Harris again purchased the station. He was joined eventually by three new partners, H.P., J.P. and R.P. Davis. The latter was killed in France in 1942 during World War 2.
Eighteen years later, in 1955, a negotiated transfer occurred; this gave a half share to H.P. Davis, a 3/8 share to R.N. Miller and a 1/8 share to M. Willick.
This arrangement, too, was terminated and the lease was sub-divided into three autonomous properties, resulting in the establishment of Amburla Station (Davis), the new Hamilton Downs (Miller) and Milton Park (Willick).
Pioneer stockman, Bill Prior, reminisced: “There were a lot of owners in them early days. In those early years there were new owners popping up everywhere. I think people went in, ran it for a while, said, ‘Bugger it,’ and kept moving.
“There used to be an old wages book that was kept by Harris. They employed white fellows, too, as well as the blacks. The white fellows used to get a pound ($2) a week, and they’d have to buy their own tobacco out of that. The blackfellows got nothing, just a few rations, or a pair of trousers now and again.
“I’m not too sure if there were any old graves on the place. There was one grave, I remember, at New Well. He died out there. We got the police out and they buried him on the spot. He’d been dead for a couple of days. I suppose there might be other graves out in the hills somewhere.”
In the early days goods travelled to Hamilton Downs by camel waggon or pack-horses from Oodnadatta about three times per year. By coach and horses, a trip to Alice Springs took one week.
Pioneering N.T. cattleman. Bryan Bowman, in his privately-published memoirs, remembered the old-time bush carpenter, William Liddle, as a poor stockman but an innovative bush carpenter who was also regarded as a competent handyman.
Bowman reminisced: “I am not sure … what it was built of, but it was probably stone with lime mortar and a lime whitewash over all. It was delightfully cool and … more comfortable than the modern type of buildings …
“Hamilton Downs was taken up in 1912 by Ted Harris and Sid Staynes (sic) – that is, according to official records … I have heard Ted Harris mentioned in incidents that happened as early as 1906.
“They made a very good living running brumbies (wild horses) … It was the heyday of the Indian horse buyers for the Indian Army … Harris and Stanes had no trouble selling any horses they could get. They made a name for themselves as extra good horse runners and they had some very able assistance from Stormy Cable … and Hamilton Downs Johnny, a fullblood … originally from the Katherine area …”
Bill Prior: “There were lots of horses on the place once. I don’t know how many. They shot ‘em out in the finish. It was full of horses. Lots of wild cattle, too.”
Boring for water was undertaken by the contractor, Frank Maynard, from Clare, South Australia.
Bowman said: “From (the station) the track for horse and camel transport went straight to Alice Springs through the hills and from it you could see some of the finest scenery in the Centre, including Standley Chasm and Mt. Conway. These places were not actually on the track, but if you had a black boy with you, he could direct you to them, if you had a day or two to spare … You could visit Jay Creek settlement, which in the early 1930s was a school for halfcaste children …”
The original settlement with its picturesque historic buildings, re-named the Hamilton Downs South Camp, was sub-let by the late Damien Miller to the Apex Club of Central Australia, in 1972, who developed the facility as a Youth Camp.
Subsequently, the Hamilton Downs Youth Camp Association Inc. was formed. Although the Apex Club and Hamilton Downs Station provide continuing support, the Kiwinas and the Lions Club of Alice Springs are involved in the camp’s daily administration and operation, providing a permanent full-time supervisor-manager.
The Youth Camp was placed on the Register of the National Estate in October, 1980, and listed with the National Trust’s Register of Significant Places in November, 1986. It was eventually listed on the Northern Territory Register of Heritage Places and Objects on June 30, 1993.
COMMENTS
CURTIN SPRINGS STATION & WAYSIDE INN THE MT. EBENEZER ROADHOUSE
