William Day LONG
Born 1831 in Waterbeach, Cambridgeshire, England [462]
Daughter of Elizabeth LONG who married William BRAND in Waterbeach on 15 September 1835 [462]
In 1841 he was living with his mother and stepfather, who was an Agricultural Labourer, on High Street in Waterbeach [20]
The three of them departed from Plymouth, England on the sailing ship Sophia bound for Western Australia [69]
After a lengthy voyage they arrived on the Sophia in Fremantle, Western Australia on 27 July 1850 [69]
Married Sarah GREEN in Northam in 1855 [15]
After losing their home and all their possessions in a flood they settled on land near Coorow Spring in 1862 [P17]
In 1862 he purchased 40 acres of land surrounding Coorow Spring, then known as the 'Coorow Block' for £20 [135] [160: 14-May-1862]
When the block was eventually surveyed. a number of years after it was purchased, it became Victoria Location 385 [135] [P17]
Grazier and Farmer of Coorow Station, also known as Long's Station, in Coorow [P16]
Their main industry on the station was the breeding of sheep and horses [P16]
He carted wool to Dongara for shipment [P16] while his horses were walked to Guildford for export to India [39: 5-Mar-1880]
In 1891 he had 8,000 sheep, 300 horses, 100 cattle and a number of pigs; and grew 40 acres of crop [39: 1-Oct-1891]
Later ran around 4,000 sheep and 100 horses, employing shepherds to care for the sheep - one shepherd to each 1,000 sheep [P16]
To begin with the main supply of water for the sheep was Jun Jun Spring and also Nabappie Spring [P16]
Jun Jun Spring, contained within Victoria Location 1096, was about nine miles south east of their homestead [62]
Nabappie Spring, contained within Victoria Location 682, was about ten miles south east of their homestead [62]
Stationed large flocks of sheep at Beekamarah Thicket, south of Nabappie Spring, Scottie Station and at Walla-Walla Cundidgee [P16]
Beekamarah Thicket was where his grandson Ernest A. LONG later established Lonsdale Farm [P16]
Scottie Station was near where Samuel B. RUDDUCK later established the well-known Koobabbie Farm [P16]
In January 1865 he found seven men who'd become lost on their way between Perth and Champion Bay [140: 27-Jan-1865]
The extremely thirsty men were in two or three groups and it was believed they would have died had he not encountered them [140]
As early as 1867 the Overland Mail Route from Perth to Champion Bay / Geraldton included a stop at Long's Station [80: 8-Jan-1867]
The mail arrived, or was supposed to arrive, at Long's Station at noon on Saturdays in 1869 [80: 29-Dec-1868]
Heavy rains flooded creeks and rivers causing the mail from Perth to arrive seven hours late during August 1870 [140: 26-Aug-1870]
The construction of the telegraph line from Perth to Champion Bay was nearing their station in early 1873 [160: 8-Jan-1873]
The contractors of the line advertised £600 for the carting of 2,000 posts weighing about 275 tons from Dongara to their station [160]
The Inquirer & Commercial News criticised the price as madness as the 100 miles of road "was one of the worst in the colony" [160]
The road between Dongara and their station was at that time known as "North Road" [160]
On 18 March 1873 took out Pastoral Leases 9217 and 9128 totalling 33,000 acres [68] [122]
Lease 9217 was 27,000 acres around his freehold block containing Coorow Spring and 9218 was 6,000 acres further east [68] [122]
Later took out another three pastoral leases in what is now the Coorow-Waddy Forest-Marchagee area [68]
In 1882 his pastoral leases in Coorow, amounting to 83,000 acres, were transferred to E. O. COCKRAM [80: 1-Aug-1882]
The telegraphic "electric wires rapidly bringing the whole colony closer together" was nearing his station in March 1874 [160: 18-Mar-1874]
Very little was saved from a fire in February 1878 that destroyed his house, corn, hay and almost everything he owned [160: 27-Feb-1878]
He was referred to as "our worthy neighbour" of Berkshire Valley who was "a hard working man" who'd been doing very well [160]
Constructed a new home with bricks made of mud from a nearby dam mixed with chopped up rushes from the sandplain [P17]
A draft of ten of his "superior horses" were sold by auction in Guildford at noon on Friday 17 October 1879 [39: 10-Oct-1979]
In 1880 he was credited with saving many a life of thirsty travellers on the arduous road over the sandplain near Coorow [160: 21-Jan-1880]
A draft of his first-class horses, suitable for export to India, were auctioned at yards in Guildford on 31 March 1880 [39: 5-Mar-1880]
He sold "ten useful horses, broken and unbroken" at the Sale Yards at Guildford on 29 March 1883 [160: 28-Mar-1883]
His mother Mrs Elizabeth BRAND passed away in Coorow at the age of 73 years on 17 October 1883 [225: 22-Oct-1883]
Remains of a man believed to be George DURRAND were discovered three miles from their station on 3 March 1884 [225: 4-Mar-1884]
The Irwin Road Board requested he advise the location for a road through a York Gum forest south of Coorow in 1887 [383: 2-Jul-1887]
The mail arrived late in Coorow in mid 1891 as a new sub-contractor wasn't a first-class rider and arrived in a sore state [225: 25-May-1891]
He saved the day by taking the mail onto Marah after the sub-contractor took off, leaving the mail and other items in his stables [225]
The Irwin Road Board wrote to him in 1891 to see if he could inspect the well on the Overland Road near his home [383: 10-Jan-1891]
They asked what repairs were required to put the well in good order, including a bucket, and whether he could get the work done [383]
In mid 1892 he was paid £8 to clear out a well near Coorow for the Irwin Road Board [383: 1-Jul-1892]
For a number of years he transported mail and people between the unfinished sections of the Midland Railway [P16]
In 1892 he was the contractor to deliver mail once a week between Coorow and Yandanooka, for £200 [39: 1-Jan-1892]
With the extension of the railway he delivered only as far north as Arrino, instead of Yandanooka, from October 1892 [383: 7-Oct-1892]
In 1893 he had a mail coach that met the trains every Tuesday at Moore River, which is now known as Mogumber [39: 18-Jul-1893]
His mail coach conveyed both passengers and parcels from Mogumber through to the train leaving from Arrino on Thursdays [39]
The fare for passengers travelling on was five pence per mile [39: 18-Jul-1893]
In 1894 he was paid £300 to deliver mail once a week between Berkshire Valley and the railway terminus at Arrino [39: 9-Dec-1893]
A man named Calmont STIRLING who gave valueless cheques around Moora was arrested on his property in 1896 [120: 25-Sep-1896]
Remained in Coorow until shortly before his death [P16]
Father of Elizabeth, Annie, Harriett Emma, Amelia Sarah, Henry Joseph, Louisa Jane, Jessie Norah and Clement William John [P17]
Died in Perth in 1899 [P16]
From The West Australian newspaper, Thursday 1 October 1891:
The Midland Railway Company of Western Australia - Dr. Robertson's Report
"LONG's STATION. At Long's station 8,000 sheep are shorn; 300 horses, 100 cattle, and a large number of pigs are fed; 40 acres are under crop. A large tank exists a few hundred yards west of the station, and to this the railway might with advantage be deviated for the purpose of obtaining a water supply. This deviation would moreover make the line more attractive and picturesque and would cost nothing."
| Reference: Carnamah Historical Society & Museum and North Midlands Project, 'William Day Long' in Biographical Dictionary of Coorow, Carnamah and Three Springs, retrieved 15 November 2024 from www.carnamah.com.au/bio/william-long [reference list] |
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