Capt. Philip FARLEY
Born 28 August 1860 in Dartmouth, Devonshire, England [20] [169]
Son of master mariner Daniel FARLEY and Sarah Davey MOORE [272]
Resided in infancy with his parents on Pitt Street in Liverpool, Lancashire, England [169]
He was baptised at the Church of Saint Peter in Liverpool on 19 March 1861 and was named 'Philip' after his paternal grandfather [169]
Mariner and later Master Mariner in India [272]
Married Eva Harriett BROWN on 26 October 1887 at Saint Stephen's Church at Kidderpore in Calcutta, Bengal, India [272]
They'd both been living in the Calcutta suburb of Hastings and at the time of their union he was aged 27 and his wife 17 [272]
They resided in Calcutta, Bengal, India in 1888 and by 1889 had shifted to Liverpool, Lancashire, England [169] [272]
By 1891 they had returned to India, at which time he was a Master Mariner with the Indian General Navigation Company [272]
He was later a Captain in the India General Steamship Company, until resigning to immigrate to Western Australia [120: 18-Oct-1912]
Departed Calcutta, India on the steamship Hymettus with his wife and their younger three children Ellen, James and Phyllis [338]
They arrived on the steamship Hymettus in Fremantle, Western Australia on 26 April 1911 [338]
By September 1911 he had plans to take up land in Coorow [215]
Ahead of them moving to Coorow his daughter Ellen applied to become the teacher of the proposed school in Coorow [215]
He guaranteed to contribute to the teacher's salary if the attendance fell below ten at the proposed Coorow State School in 1911 [215]
Farmer of Dartmouth Farm in Coorow, Western Australia 1912-1925 [19] [27] [215]
Officially signed the contract to purchase his 630 acres of land in Coorow from the Midland Railway Company on 28 April 1913 [27]
The 630 acres consisted of Lots M947 and M961 of Victoria Location 2023 and cost £2992/10/-, payable by instalments [27]
The land was part of the Midland Railway Company's Ready-Made Farms scheme and was the first farm sold through the scheme [27]
Like others in the scheme, it came with a house in addition to being partly cleared and fenced [34]
M947 and M961 both adjoin the railway line and are respectively on the north and south sides of South Waddy Road [62]
Took out assistance under the Industries Assistance Board while establishing his farm [34]
He was referred to in 1912 as the "progressive settler" of Coorow [9: 5-Jul-1912]
In May 1912 resided with his family in a "very nice cosy homestead" and had over 200 acres of his farm in crop [31: 3-May-1912]
The windmill erected to provide water to his house and garden in mid 1912 was the first windmill in Coorow [9: 5-Jul-1912]
Signatory to financial guarantees to the Education Department issued on 10 August 1912 and 3 December 1912 [215]
The guarantee was to pay the financial shortfall if attendance at the Coorow State School fell below ten students [215]
By September 1913 his son James was boarding in Three Springs and attending the Three Springs State School [215]
He donated the prize for the Dux of Standard IV at the Three Springs State School in 1913 [9: 19-Dec-1913]
Member of the Coorow Progress Association in 1912 [9: 6-Sep-1912]
He seconded a motion to wind-up the association after a local branch of the Farmers and Settlers' Association was formed [9]
His wheat crops averaged 25 bushels an acre in 1912 and 23 bushels an acre in 1913 [81: 1-Feb-1914]
A contrasting newspaper article reported that in 1912 he grew 225 acres of wheat, from yielded 27 bushels per acre [120: 8-May-1914]
He was loading his bags of wheat, ready to be dispatched, at the railway siding in Coorow in late November 1912 [9: 29-Nov-1912]
In 1913 he grew 300 acres of wheat on his farm with a return of between 20 and 27 bushels per acre [120: 8-May-1911]
Wrote to the Upper Irwin Road Board in Mingenew in April 1913 concerning the closure of a road through his farm [9: 11-Apr-1913]
He gave a donation at the Coorow Football Club's Annual Sports Day held in Coorow on 30 September 1913 [9: 10-Oct-1913]
The owner of a neighbouring farm, Rev. James Middleton MACDONALD, gave him power of attorney to look after his farm [39]
He managed the Reverend's Coorow farm from 1913 until 3 November 1915 [34] [39: 3-Nov-1915] [120: 8-May-1914]
He offered the unoccupied house on the farm to house the Coorow State School in September 1914 [215]
The Education Department didn't take up the offer as the Coorow State School had temporarily closed due to a lack of students [215]
He and James had been friends in India, where the Reverend worked as a Chaplain [120: 18-Oct-1922]
Across his own farm and the reverend's, he harvested 600 acres of crop in 1913 with an average yield of 23 bushels [9: 23-Jan-1914
Member of the Coorow branch of the Farmers & Settlers' Association - was Secretary 1914-1916 [81: 13-Sep-1914, 16-Jan-1916]
In March 1915 applied to purchase from the Midland Railway Company an adjoining 750 acres for between 8/- and 25/- per acre [34]
Application successful: on 29 June 1915 purchased 753 acres of adjoining virgin land from the Midland Railway Coy for £428 [27]
753 acres was Lot M1046 of Victoria Location 2023 and was adjacent to M947 on the north side of South Waddy Road [27] [62]
During the First World War his sons Daniel and James served in the Australian Imperial Force [30: items 3548039, 3548005]
Sold 331 bags of wheat from his 1915 harvest (108 bags for 4/- and 223 bags for 3/- per bushel) and kept 170 bags for seed wheat [34]
In April 1916 A. J. BARBER, General Manager of the Midland Railway Company in London, England remarked in a letter: [34]
"Captain Farley... has been a good hard worker from all accounts, and was... the first settler who came to our farms" [34]
Seeded 300 acres of crop on his farm in 1916 [34] and had 350 acres of wheat crop in 1917 [10: 19-Jun-1917]
In August 1916 signed a petition which was sent to the Midland Railway Company requesting the price of their farms be reduced [34]
Member of the Winchester-Carnamah branch of the Farmers & Settlers' Association in 1917 [34]
Signed the petition and financial guarantee in 1917 for the Midland Railway Company to provide a resident doctor at Three Springs [34]
By 1920 was farming and trading in partnership with his sons Daniel and James as "Philip Farley & Sons" [44]
Repayments to the Midland Railway Company for his initial 630 acres in Lots M947 and M961 in Coorow were completed in 1920 [34]
On completion of the repayments the land became freehold and was transferred into his son Daniel's name on 24 April 1920 [34]
Along with his son James and Carl G. B. JENSEN took out a contract to purchase 669 acres in Coorow on 15 September 1922 [27]
The 669 acres was Lot M1387 of Victoria Location 2023 and was being purchased from the Midland Railway Company [27]
Lot M1387 cost £217/13/5 (6/6 per acre) which was payable by instalments over 15 years [27]
On 15 January 1925 they assigned the block to his wife Eva, and on 28 September 1927 sold it to Alfred G. WALLIS [27]
He was among the large attendance at the official opening of the Carnamah Hall in Carnamah on 17 February 1921 [86: 22-Feb-1921]
The day consisted of two cricket matches, tennis, athletic sports for all ages, refreshments, the opening and dancing into the night [86]
P3F was his registered horse and cattle firebrand in 1924 [80: 28-Oct-1925]
He appears to have left Coorow in 1925, with his Lots M947 and M961 going to his son Daniel and M1046 to his son James [3] [19] [44]
Resided in Mandurah in 1929 and 1930 [6]
Resided at 21 Douglas Avenue, South Perth in 1934 and at 15 Yeovil Crescent in the Perth suburb of Bicton in 1935 and 1936 [6]
Resided of late in the Perth suburb of Fremantle [2]
Father of Bessie, Daniel, Ellen, James and Phyllis [34] [70] [120: 25-Sep-1924] [272]
Died 19 September 1936; buried Fremantle Cemetery, Perth suburb of Palmyra (Anglican, A5, 205) [2]
His wife Eva died two months later on 14 November 1936, aged 66 years and was also buried at the Fremantle Cemetery [2]
| Reference: Carnamah Historical Society & Museum and North Midlands Project, 'Philip Farley' in Biographical Dictionary of Coorow, Carnamah and Three Springs, retrieved 26 December 2024 from www.carnamah.com.au/bio/captain-philip-farley [reference list] |
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