The Pastoral Industry. Early Days.

James “Hungry Jim’ Tyson (1819-1898). 

Establishing their first successful grazing venture on a half million acre property in south-central New South Wales, Jim and his brother began building a cattle empire just in time for the Victorian gold rush of the 1850s. When the gold rush started, he moved his cattle south and set up business as a butcher and, with a knack for good timing, sold his butchery just before the gold rush collapsed.

The first of the “cattle kings”, Jim eventually owned a string of stations (ranches) ranging from Queensland to Victoria. Making good use of ‘the long paddock’, as the overland stock routes were called, he not only sold beasts to the Sydney and Brisbane markets, but also used a Victorian property as a ‘feedlot’, fattening beasts before sending them to market.

Hungry Jim sank bores on his properties and, despite his legendary frugality, spent money making sure he always had water. He did so well, at one stage he was able to lend financial support to the failing state of Queensland.

A great part of his business involved moving stock from one state to another, his largest property straddling the Queensland / New South Wales border. It should be no surprise he was an early supporter of the Constitutional Movement which aimed, amongst other things, to guarantee free trade between the states.

Patrick Durack (1834-1898)

Initially claiming thousands of acres in south west Queensland, Durack stocked that land and sold it to settlers moving in behind him. He later took more than two years to move over 7,000 head of cattle 4,800 kms (3,000 miles) to the Kimberley region of Western Australia.

Sir Sidney Kidman (1857-1935)

Kidman was another of the Cattle Kings: Setting out to drought-proof his properties, instead of sinking bores he simply bought more properties.

While Hungry Jim had developed the industry in the eastern states, Kidman concentrated on central and southern Australia. He made a great deal of his fortune supplying meat in mining areas including Broken Hill. At one stage Sir Sid owned about 3% of the Australian mainland, and his company still owns what is the largest station in Australia today, the Anna Creek Station.

Nat Buchanan 1(826-1901)

Another man who was important to the pastoral industry was the Irish born Nat Buchanan. A failure as a property owner, Nat spent the greater part of his life droving stock across the top end of Australia. 

1 Hungry Jim; 2 Sidney Kidman; 3 Victoria River Downs; 4 Elsey Station