George MACPHERSON
Born 17 July 1863 at The Byeen in Toodyay, Western Australia [40]
Son of Duncan MACPHERSON and Mary WILSON [40]
Resided with his parents at The Byeen in the Newcastle-Toodyay district 1863-1867 [40] [127: pages 86, 182]
Arrived in what is now the Carnamah district with his parents in 1868 [120: 9-Jan-1930]
Initially resided with his parents in a three-room stone cottage near Mulliah / Yarra Yarra Lakes in Carnamah [119]
Later resided with his parents at Carnamah House, situated on Victoria Location 1172 of his father's Carnamah Station [119]
Farmer of Carnamah Station in Carnamah [19]
Ran Carnamah Station with his father and brothers, and following his father's death ran the Mulliah / Yarra Yarra Lakes) [P93]
Carted wool produced on the station from Carnamah to Guildford, the return trip taking two weeks [120: 9-Jan-1930]
In the early years they bred horses that were shipped to Singapore after being herded overland to Perth [12: 20-Aug-1931]
He and his brother Donald transported wagons full of supplies and machinery from Perth to Rothsay Mine [12: 20-Aug-1931]
They also gathered timber which they carted and sold to the Great Fingal Mine in Cue [12: 20-Aug-1931]
He was one of 53 who requested William T. LOTON run as the Member for Greenough in the Legislative Council in 1889 [383: 26-Jan-1889]
In February 1898 Macpherson Bros advertised that they were wanting to hire two experienced well sinkers immediately [323: 18-Feb-1898]
They also called for tenders for the supplying of 40 tons of good wheaten chaff to the railway station in Carnamah [323: 16-Feb-1898]
He made a donation of £1 to the Home of the Good Shepherd through Mrs Eliza M. MOORE of Dongara in June 1898 [39: 23-Jun-1898]
In 1898 among two Aboriginal shepherds in his employ were named Albert and Dick [39: 4-Jun-1898]
Albert told him on 30 March 1898 that Dick had left the sheep, so with Carnamah Tommy he set off to investigate [39]
They found the tracks of Dick's horse and those of another horse, and followed them for a mile when they found Dick's body [39]
He returned to Carnamah House where he wired police constable Martin BARRY of Mingenew, who arrived the next day [39]
He gave evidence at the Supreme Court sittings at Geraldton into the alleged murder of Dick on 3 June 1898 [39]
The court charged Albert with manslaughter with a strong recommendation to mercy, and he was imprisoned for 12 months [39]
It wasn't disclosed, but Albert was his half-brother, the son of his father and Aboriginal woman Buddy NEBRONG [239: Tree 14C]
The Supreme Court of Western Australia issued him with a Writ of Habeas Corpus on 15 June 1898 [326]
The court ordered him to take the Aboriginal child Albert CUPER before His Honour Mr Justice HENSMAN ten days later [326]
Albert had been born on 21 June 1895 to Mrs Eliza CUPER but his mother Eliza had died a month later on 17 July 1895 [326]
Eliza's brother David BIGGS left the child in the care of an Aboriginal woman named Emily MAX [326]
His Aboriginal relative Albert NEBRONG believed he was the child's father and took possession of the child to Carnamah [326]
He refused multiple requests from Eliza CUPER's husband Benedict CUPER and brother David BIGGS to hand over the child [326]
With assistance from the Benedictine Monastery of New Norcia, Benedict and David provided affidavits to the court [273] [326]
His brother Donald, on horseback, later led Benedict and another man on foot for eight miles to collect the child [326]
The Aboriginal people the child was with insinuated to Benedict that Albert would take revenge when he got out of prison [326]
In 1900 a land inspector visited their conditional purchase block of 500 acres near the Mulliah / Yarra Yarra Lakes in Carnamah [323]
The inspector noted "very good improvements" including the ring-barking of trees which had resulted in more grass [323: 13-Nov-1900]
They also had 50 acres under crop, which was one of the best crops the inspector saw, expected to yield two tons per acre [323]
An elderly and almost blind Aboriginal woman named Mary shifted from Arrino Station to their Carnamah Station in 1900 [458]
Mary had been receiving rations on Arrino Station from his brother John MACPHERSON, who was the station's manager [458]
It was arranged for Mary to instead receive government rations from he and his brother Donald on Carnamah Station [458]
He and his brother Donald donated £1/10/- towards orphanages through their sister Bessie in 1899 [39: 5-Dec-1899]
Macpherson Bros' horse Sunbeam came 2nd in the Geraldton Cup at the Victoria Turf Club's Spring Meeting in 1899 [323: 10-Nov-1899]
In 1896 Sunbeam had competed at both the Victoria Turf Club and the Yalgoo Race Club's meetings [323: 16-Oct-1896, 25-Nov-1896]
Their horses Fautless and Sunbeam both raced in the Victoria Turf Club's 1897 Autumn Race Meeting in Geraldton [323: 19-Mar-1897]
Sunbeam came 2nd in the District Plate, Murgoo Handicap and Railway Plate at the 1898 Victoria Turf Club races [323: 7 & 9-Dec-1898]
By 1900 they had ringbarked 500 acres of their Conditional Purchase land one mile east of Mulliah / Yarra Yarra Lakes [39: 13-Nov-1900]
The land was Salmon Gum country, and in 1900 they had 50 acres of it under crop, expected to yield two tons to the acre [39]
An inspector reporting to the Minister of Lands reported that it was the best crop he had seen in the locality [39]
The inspector reported that their land gave "a splendid illustration of what the salmon gum land will produce" [39]
Their homestead in Carnamah was a polling place for the Federation Referendum on Tuesday 31 July 1900 [323: 3-Jul-1900]
Macpherson Bros advertised in October 1902 that there were two cows, a heifer and a steer that weren't theirs in their paddock [323]
If not claimed within the time allowed by law they were going to sell the cattle to offset the expenses of feeding them [323: 6-Oct-1902]
He and his brother sent their apologies for the farewell to Sydney DAVIS, manager of Tibradden Station in Geraldton [323: 21-Sep-1903]
They wrote to the Upper Irwin Road Board in late 1903 about repairs to the causeway over Mulliah / Yarra Yarra Lakes [323: 30-Nov-1903]
"Macpherson Bros & Brown" had the draught stallion Prince Alfred available in Carnamah in 1903 and again in 1904 [323: 25-Sep-1903]
Mares could be paddocked with Prince Alfred, who had an unbeaten record in the show rings of WA, for £2/10/- [323: 9-Sep-1904]
The 'Brown' partner in the horse breeding is believed to probably be Michael C. BROWN of Woopenatty Station in Arrino [P1]
In 1904 Michael C. BROWN has their horse Sunbeam stand for the season in Arrino for the same price [323: 12-Sep-1904]
Macpherson Bros won 1st prize for their Blood Sire in the Horses section of the Irwin District Show in Dongara in 1904 [323: 30-Sep-1904]
On 23 December 1904 he and his brother Donald went shooting at Rocky Dam near what was later called Prowaka [P10] [128: 7-Jan-1905]
His gun exploded injuring his right arm on their way home, and although rushed to Perth by train he didn't survive [128: 7-Jan-1905]
Died 25 December 1904 in Perth; buried at the Culham Cemetery in Toodyay, Western Australia [138]
Under the administration of his brother Donald, his estate was valued at £681/15/10 [120: 8-Apr-1905]
His share in Carnamah Station appears to have been inherited by his brother Donald, who became the station's sole owner [38] [61]
From The West Australian newspaper, Wednesday 28 December 1904:
Funeral of the late Mr. G. Macpherson
"The burial of the late Mr. George Macpherson, of Carnamah, (Midland Railway), took place on Monday afternoon last, in the Anglican portion of the Culham Cemetery. The deceased, who came to his death as the result of a gun accident which happened on Friday morning last at Carnamah, while out shooting with his brother, Mr. Donald Macpherson, was widely respected in the district, and general regret was expressed at his untoward end. He was the youngest son of the late Mr. Duncan Macpherson, and was 41 years of age at the time of his death. The remains of the deceased were enclosed in a polished jarrah casket, mounted with silver-plated handles, and were conveyed from Perth and Newcastle by train, and thence per road to the Culham Cemetery, where the remains were laid in the family grave. The chief mourners were: Messrs. John and Donald Macpherson, brothers; Messrs. Duncan and Donald Macpherson, Donald J. Chipper, and A. Stevens, cousins. The pall-bearers were: Messrs. S. F. Moore, M.L.A., Samuel J. Phillips, J. H. Phillips, A. E. Viveash, N. Bostock, and G. Viveash. The funeral service at the grave was read by the Rev. J. Ellis. The funeral arrangements were carried out by Mr. J. Worth, of Newcastle."
From The Western Mail newspaper, Saturday 31 December 1904:
Deaths
"Macpherson - At Perth, W.A., on December 25, 1904, suddenly through the result of an accident, George, the youngest son of the late Duncan Macpherson, of Carnamah, Midland Railway, W.A., aged 41 years. Deeply regretted by his loving sisters and brothers."
From The Newcastle Herald and Toodyay District Chronicle newspaper, Saturday 7 January 1905:
Death of Mr. G. Mcapherson
"A fatal gun accident occurred on Friday, December 23rd, resulting in the death of Mr. George Mcapherson (of Macpherson Bros., of Carnamah), on the Midland railway. It appears that Mr. Macpherson, with his brother, Donald, went out shooting, about 20 miles from home. When half the homewards journey had been accomplished, Donald alighted from the buggy to give a black tracker some rations, leaving his brother holding the reins, with a double-barrelled gun between his knees. As he turned to get in again, he heard two reports, and saw his brother lying on the ground. The reins had become entangled with the triggers, and the charge in both barrels had exploded, entering Mr. Macpherson's right arm near the shoulder. Mr. Donald Macpherson placed his brother in the trap, drove him to the station, and they boarded the train for Perth. Dr. Kelsall joined the train at one of the stations en route, and did all that was possible for the sufferer. On arrival he was taken to Miss McKimmie's hospital, and attended by Dr. Kelsall. The next day an operation was considered advisable, and in the afternoon Dr. Kelsall amputated the injured limb at the shoulder. The patient appeared fairly well after the operation, but at 2:30 p.m. on the following Sunday morning he died, as stated, from shock. The body was conveyed to Newcastle by the 5 o'clock train from Perth on the Monday morning. The remains of the deceased were deposited in the family grave at Culham in the presence of a large gathering of sorrowing friends. The funeral service was read by the Rev. J. Ellis. The deceased, who was a single man 41 years of age, was a popular member of a large and well known family, and great regret and sympathy has been occasioned by his untimely death."
| Reference: Carnamah Historical Society & Museum and North Midlands Project, 'George Macpherson' in Biographical Dictionary of Coorow, Carnamah and Three Springs, retrieved 15 November 2024 from www.carnamah.com.au/bio/george-macpherson [reference list] |
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