"Bill" Charles William DRING
Born 29 September 1902 in Gayton le Wold, Lincolnshire, England [20] [21] [204]
Son of agricultural labourer Charles DRING and Mary WILKINSON [20] [21]
In 1911 he was living with his parents, brother George and sister Doris in Little Carlton, Lincolshire, England [20]
Farmhand in England 1916-1923 [P37]
For a number of years worked for large English farmer George PORTEUS on the Lincolnshire Wolds [P37]
He decided to travel to Western Australia owing to a reduction in wages and with the dream of owning his own farm [P37]
After breaking the news to his parents, brother George and sister Doris booked his passage which cost £10 [P37]
At the age of 20 he departed London, England on the steamship Balranald on 4 October 1923 [203]
After a voyage of just over a month he arrived on the Balranald in Fremantle, Western Australia on 11 November 1923 [70]
On arrival he secured a job as a farmhand in Brookton where he received £2 per week plus board and lodging [P37]
Although he was being paid twice the wages he'd received in England he decided he could make more if he went contract clearing [P37]
In late 1924 wrote to his brother George, who by this time was working in New South Wales, and they decided to work together [P37]
George caught the next available ship to Western Australia and they began working together as clearing contractors [P37]
They worked as contract clearers at various places in Western Australia, including at Mandiga near Bencubbin [P37]
By 1926 they had saved enough for a deposit on a farm and decided to look into buying one from the Midland Railway Company [P37]
He travelled to Coorow by train and then went with the Midland Railway Company's agent by horse to inspect a farm [P37]
They signed a contract to purchase the 2,201 acre Lot M1632 of Victoria Location 2021 near Carnamah on 9 April 1926 [27]
At the time of signing for the land in Carnamah they were living and working at Dangin near Quairading [34]
He and his brother George arrived in Carnamah by train in August 1926 to begin developing their block of virgin bush [P37]
Harold POPE, their new neighbour, kindly drove them from the Carnamah townsite out to their block in his T-model Ford car [P37]
Farmer of Lindum Farm on the Bunjil-Carnamah Road in Bunjil, between Carnamah and Perenjori 1926-1963 [P37]
He farmed the property in partnership with his brother George as "Dring Bros" from 1926 to 1928 [P37]
They initially resided at a "camp" near a running creek, however later shifted to a more central part of the farm [P37]
From August 1926 to February 1927 they worked at clearing the farm from daylight until dusk [P37]
They then cleared the road from Harold POPE's farm to their own, which had been surveyed but was still covered in bush [P37]
To supply additional income he did contract boundary fencing around Gustav LIEBE's property in Waddy Forest [7: page 64]
In 1928 they took on a third partner in E. V. Douglas ALLEN and traded as "Dring Bros & Allen" from 1928 to 1933 [P37]
On 21 August 1928 the three of them purchased from the Midland Railway Company 4,696 acres of adjoining virgin land [27]
The 4,696 acres was Lot M1776 of Victoria Location 2023 and cost £,2231 payable by instalments over 15 years [27]
Following Doug ALLEN's return to Ireland in 1933 he once again farmed Lindum in partnership with his brother George [P37]
His engagement to Dorris ALFIERI of Moola Bindi Farm in Carnamah was announced in January 1932 [120: 14-Jan-1932]
Married "Dorrie" Doris Jessie ALFIERI on 2 March 1932 [66]
His father-in-law Arthur ALFIRRI built them a house on Lindum Farm out of bush timber and hessian bags [P37]
Two months after their wedding the engagement was announced of his brother George to Dorris's sister Vi [120: 12-May-1932]
In January 1933 they wondered if a record of sewing bags of harvested grain had been set on their farm [81: 22-Jan-1933]
Their bag sewer and rammer had sewed up 432 bags in ten hours and also loaded 180 bags during the same period [81]
He and his brother purchased an adjoining farm of 2,498 acres that had previously belonged to Lewis Bros on 19 April 1944 [27]
The farm was purchased from the Midland Railway Company and was Lot M1634 of Victoria Location 2023
The partly developed farm cost 9/- (nine shillings) an acre or a total of £1,124, payable by instalments over 15 years [27]
After the second World War he and his brother dissolved their partnership and he kept their initial two blocks of famrland [P37]
His Lindum Farm was then 6,897 acres consisting of Lots M1632 and M1776 of Victoria Location 2023 [P37]
Served on the North Midlands Anglican Church Vestry 1945-1952 [167]
After a visit to England left London on the steamship Otranto and arrived in Fremantle, Western Australia on 15 November 1949 [63]
Obtained the telephone in 1950 - was telephone number Carnamah-46D until 1960 and then number Carnamah East 235 [60]
Financial Member of the Carnamah District Agricultural Society 1955-1958 [13]
Member of the Carnamah Pasture Improvement Group [P46]
Departed Fremantle, Western Australia on the steamship Orion and arrived in London, England on 27 July 1960 [204]
Spent three months in England before returning home, and stayed at least some of such time at Utterby in Lincolnshire, England [204]
In 1963 donated the bell for the newly constructed Anglican Church in Carnamah[7: page 238]
The bell had been founded by Taylor Bros in Lincoln , England and was dedicated to the memory of his mother [7: page 238]
Remained residing on and farming Lindum Farm in Carnamah until his death in 1963 [2]
Father of Wendy, Peter, Beryl and Beverley [P37]
Died 19 July 1963; buried at Karrakatta Cemetery in Perth, Western Australia (Anglican, ZS, 405) [2]
From The Midlands Advocate newspaper, Thursday 1 August 1963:
"A well known Carnamah farmer, Mr C. W. Dring, passed away in Perth after a short illness. Mr Dring had spent several weeks in the Three Springs hospital but when he suffered a relapse he was moved to the metropolitan area. Mr Dring had been a resident in the district for about 40 years and was well known throughout the area. He is being mourned by his wife and four children."
| Reference: Carnamah Historical Society & Museum and North Midlands Project, 'Charles William Dring' in Biographical Dictionary of Coorow, Carnamah and Three Springs, retrieved 20 April 2024 from www.carnamah.com.au/bio/charles-william-dring [reference list] |
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