"Don" Donnell Edgar FOWLER
Born 18 October 1882 in Craneford Flaxmans Valley, South Australia [55]
Son of George FOWLER and Sarah Ann KICK [55]
Resided with his parents in Craneford, Pint Cut Creek and then Truro in South Australia [210]
Along with two of his brothers he left South Australia and shifted to Western Australia in the early 1900s [P120]
Worked as a timber cutter in Jarrahdale and then began share-farming [P120]
Married Ethel Blanche DRAPER in Beverley on 3 June 1908 [P120]
Farmer of Jangelling Farm at Balkuling in the Beverley district [P120]
Also farmed a property in Beverley which he leased from his brother-in-law Lewis DRAPER [P120]
His parents later left South Australia and lived with he and his wife in Beverley [P120]
In 1917-18 he owned a Ford car or truck of 20-horsepower registered with the Beverley Road Board with licence plates BE-32 [325]
On 25 February 1921 purchased 1,295 acres of virgin land in Waddy Forest from the Midland Railway Company [27]
The 1,295 acres was Lot M1300 of Victoria Location 2023 and cost £1457/11/7 (22/6 an acre), payable by instalments [27]
On the same day his wife's brother-in-law Albert E. P. BATEMAN purchased the neighbouring block M301 [27]
Farmer in Waddy Forest 1923-1948 [P120] [9: 27-Jan-1928]
A while after purchase he shifted to his Waddy property, began clearing the land and had a good weatherboard house built [P120]
After the house was built his wife and children joined him on the farm in Waddy Forest [P120]
His first crop was 300 acres in 1923, which averaged five bags per acre [9: 27-Jan-1928]
In 1927 he expanded his farmland with the purchase of Glen Waddi Farm in Waddy Forest from Albert E. P. BATEMAN [9: 27-Jan-1928]
His additional land was the 1,074 acre Lot M1301 of Victoria Location 2023 [27], for which he paid £5 per acre [9: 27-Jan-1928]
Although reported to have been sold "last year" in 1928, his additional land wasn't transferred into his name until 25 May 1929 [27]
In 1927 he cropped 1,500 acres which produced 9,000 bags of wheat and 80 tons of hay [9: 27-Jan-1928]
He and his wife had a house in Forrest Street, South Perth where his wife stayed while their children attended nearby schools [P120]
He was one of 98 people from the Coorow district who signed a petition in 1929 for a local hotel license to be granted [39: 6-Feb-1929]
In 1932 he was the owner of a Dodge car registered with the Carnamah District Road Board with license plate CA-51 [4: 12-Nov-1932]
Committee Member of the Coorow-Waddy Forest Districts Agricultural Society 1932-1934 & 1936 [5: 23-Dec-1932, 10-Nov-1933, 13-Mar-1936]
Won 2nd prize for a Border Leicester Ram in the Sheep section of the first Coorow-Waddy Agricultural Show in 1932 [5: 16-Sep-1932]
Returned to his home in Waddy Forest on 5 March 1934 after an extended holiday visiting relatives in the Eastern States [5: 9-Mar-1934]
He and his son Edgar travelled to Perth early in the morning on Sunday 24 June 1934 [5: 29-Jun-1934]
On 8 July 1934 he received at Waddy Forest the sad news that his mother had passed away in York the previous day [5: 13-Jul-1934]
Travelled from Waddy Forest to Perth on Friday 27 July 1934 to receive medical attention for his arm [5: 3-Aug-1934]
In July 1934 he purchased a new Dodge truck, which his son Edgar travelled to Perth to collect [5: 3-Aug-1934]
Exhibited in the Horse, Sheep and Grain & Fodder sections of the Coorow-Waddy Agricultural Show on Thursday 30 August 1934 [5]
Won 1st prizes for Draught Brood Mare, 2 year old Gelding or Filly bred by Exhibitor and Three Fat Lambs in the Wool [5]
Received 1st prize for Green Oats for Hay and both 1st and 2nd prizes for Cured Wheaten Hay [5: 7-Sep-1934]
Purchased three young horses in Perth, and took delivery of them at Coorow on Saturday 3 November 1934 [5: 9-Nov-1934]
Along with his daughter Addie returned to Coorow on Thursday 24 January 1935 after a trip to Perth [5: 25-Jan-1935]
Member of the Coorow Golf Club in 1935 [5: 9-Aug-1935]
Between August and October 1935 sold 446 sheep suckers through Elder Smith & Co Ltd at the Midland Market [5]
The 446 suckers consisted of 114 at 17/10, 68 at 17/6, 75 at 16/10, 58 at 15/4, 25 at 15/-, 30 at 13/10, and 76 at 7/7 per head [5]
On 23 October 1935 sold a bull for £9/17/6 and a steer for £7/2/6 [5: 16 & 23-Aug-1935; 13-Sep-1935; 4 & 25-Oct-1935]
Donated a sheep for the Weight Guessing Competition at the Coorow-Waddy Agricultural Show in 1935 [5: 28-Jun-1935]
In September 1935 purchased a new McCormick-Deering T20 Caterpillar tractor from local agent W. G. MULLIGAN [5: 13-Sep-1935]
Donated trophies to the Coorow Golf Club in 1935, which were played for in a stroke competition on 8 September 1935 [5: 13-Sep-1935]
Travelled from Waddy to Perth during the second week of October 1935 [5: 11-Oct-1935]
Sold 17 bales of wool in 1935 - 11 bales at 13d. per pound, four at 12½d. per pound, and two bales at 13¾d. per pound [5: 11-Oct-1935]
Attended the entertainment for the Commonwealth Grants Commission at the Coorow Hotel on 21 November 1935 [5: 29-Nov-1935]
Sold 418 sheep through Elder Smith & Co Ltd with five consignments to the Midland Market between May and September 1936 [5]
The 418 sheep comprised 178 lambs (28 at 24/4, 35 at 23/10, 23 at 22/4, 41 at 20/7, 15 at 19/1, 14 at 18/1, 22 at 16/7), [5]
170 suckers (41 at 21/7, 33 at 20/4, 80 at 18/10, 10 at 17/7, 6 at 15/10), 39 ewes (20 at 29/7, 19 at 26/1), [5]
and 31 wethers (28 at 27/7, 1 at 18/-, 2 at 15/- per head)[5: 29-May-1936, 3-Jul-1936, 17-Jul-1936, 11 & 18-Sep-1936]
He was among those from Waddy Forest who travelled to Perth for the Perth Royal Show in October 1936 [5: 16-Oct-1936]
Sold eight bales of wool through Elder Smith & Co Ltd in October 1936 - 4 bales at 14d. and 4 bales at 12½d. per pound [5: 16-Oct-1936]
Attended Roy M. PATTON's birthday at the dam on Longforest Farm in Waddy Forest on Sunday 8 November 1936 [5: 13-Nov-1936]
After an extended holiday in the Perth suburb of Como returned to Waddy with four of his children on 19 January 1937 [5: 22-Jan-1937]
Sold 386 sheep through Elder Smith & Co Ltd with consignments to the Midland Market in January and February 1937 [5: 29-Jan-1937]
The sheep consisted of 235 lambs (42 lambs at 19/4, 94 lambs at 19/1, 74 lambs at 18/7, 25 at 17/7), 2 hoggets at 17/10, [5]
110 ewes (8 at 16/1, 40 at 40/7, 39 at 14/4, 23 at 11/1), 39 wethers (12 at 20/-, 20 at 19/7, 1 at 19/4, 6 at 17/4) [5: 5-Feb-1937]
Motored to Perth accompanied by his daughters Adeline and Dulcie on 4 July 1937 and returned to Waddy a few days later [5: 9-Jul-1937]
Attended Albert E. MILES and Mary E. GREENWOOD's wedding breakfast at the Coorow Hotel on 18 August 1937 [5: 20-Aug-1937]
Attended the meeting in Coorow to discuss constructing a direct road from Coorow to the coast on 11 September 1937 [5: 17-Sep-1937]
Sold nine bales of wool through Elder Smith & Co Ltd in 1937 - eight bales at 16½d. per pound and one at 14½d. [5: 17-Sep-1937]
Attended the funeral of Waddy Forest farmer Stanley L. FOLLAND at the Moora Cemetery on Monday 25 August 1941 [4: 30-Aug-1941]
In 1948 his three sons bought him out of Glen Waddi Farm, and he retired with his wife to their house in South Perth [P120]
Following the death of his wife in 1950 he rented out the house in South Perth and shifted back to Waddy Forest [P120]
After a while in Waddy Forest he went to live with one of his daughters in Perth, where he died of a heart attack [P120]
Resided of late in the Perth suburb of Bayswater [2]
Father of Irene, Adeline, Elsie, Edgar, Dulcie, Leslie, Vivian and Verna [209]
Died 10 May 1958; buried at the Karrakatta Cemetery in Perth, Western Australia (Anglican, WE, 666) [2]
From The Midlands Advertiser newspaper, Friday 27 January 1928:
Waddy Forest - Rapid Progress
"... Mr Don Fowler came to the district in 1923 and cropped 300 acres the first year for an average of five bags. Last year he purchased 1,500 acres of land from Mr A. E. Bateman for £5 an acre; he seeded the whole area this year, cut 80 tons of hay and harvested 9000 bags of wheat."
From The Beverley Times newspaper, Friday 16 May 1958:
Death
"The death occurred on Saturday last in the city of Mr Don Fowler at the age of 75 years. Many of the older members of the Beverley district community will remember him as a former resident. He came to the West with other members of the family early in the century and in association with a brother, Herbert, who now resides in Beverley, commenced farming operations on virgin land at East Beverley. He acquired his brother's interest in the property in 1915 and continued his association with the farm until about 1923 when he sold out and went to Coorow where he farmed until retirement to the city a few years ago. Don was a member of a family of 14 many of whom have passed on. His wife pre-deceased him by some years. The funeral took place at the Crematorium, Karrakatta, on Tuesday afternoon."
| Reference: Carnamah Historical Society & Museum and North Midlands Project, 'Donnell Edgar Fowler' in Biographical Dictionary of Coorow, Carnamah and Three Springs, retrieved 24 April 2024 from www.carnamah.com.au/bio/donnell-edgar-fowler [reference list] |
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