The death of Mr. William Frederick Buchanan, at the age of eighty-seven, has removed one of Australia's most prominent figures from pastoral circles. Killarney Station, in the Narrabri district, is one of the best-known properties in New South Wales, and this is almost entirely due to the interesting personality of its late owner. During his career, Mr. Buchanan passed through all the ups and downs of squatting life. At times he held vast tracts of country, and that his efforts were crowned with success is due to the skill and common sense he brought to bear on all his undertakings. Arriving in New South Wales in the early thirties, his first experience of the country was gained on the Hunter River, on the Mersheen Estate (now known as Dartmouth). His father then secured two properties in the Gunnedah and New England districts, and in their management, although only a boy, Mr. Buchanan rendered valuable assistance. In 1849 he went prospecting in Gippsland, Victoria, and thence wended his way to New England, where he found colour, opening up the Uralla Goldfield and several others. However, the land called him again, and selling his New Zealand station, he bought Breelong, near Gilgandra, where he went in for sheep and cattle breeding. In 1864 he bought Warrana Station, and shortly after Yoolundry, Coonamble and Magometon, his cattle then numbering about 20,000 head. In 1880 Mr. Buchanan sold his vast properties in the Coonamble district and purchased Killarney. About the same time he took up Victoria River, Wave Hill, and Delamere Downs, in the Northern Territory, and stocked them up to about 50,000 cattle. In addition to these places, at his death he owned Iban, N.S.W., and Burrundilla and Glengyle, Queensland. Mr. Buchanan was a keen patriot, and donated a sum of £10,000 to the fund for building a Dreadnought for the British Navy. He took a great interest in the early efforts to establish an export trade of frozen meat, and was one of the first executive committee appointed for that purpose. He was a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and a Fellow of the Royal Colonial Institute, a member of the Royal Geographical Society, England, and a member of the Clothworkers' Company of London.
'Buchanan, William Frederick (1824–1911)', Obituaries Australia, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://oa.anu.edu.au/obituary/buchanan-william-frederick-170/text171, accessed 9 November 2024.
from Pastoralists' Review, 15 May 1911
21 June,
1824
Dublin,
Dublin,
Ireland
2 May,
1911
(aged 86)
Mosman, Sydney,
New South Wales,
Australia
Includes subject's nationality; their parents' nationality; the countries in which they spent a significant part of their childhood, and their self-identity.
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