Harry TAMBLYN
Born 1865 in Saint Agnes, Cornwall, England [P462]
Daughter of Henry TAMBLYN and Emma TONKIN [20] [21]
In 1871 he was living in Saint Agnes with his grandfather Stephen TONKIN, uncle Stephen TONKIN, mother and brother Edwin [20]
He migrated to Australia with his mother and brother in 1875 [P462]
In 1894 he saw "slugs" of gold from the Western Australian goldfields and so began his mining career [P462]
Married Elizabeth Ellen OAKEY in Kalgoorlie in 1902 [15]
He was working as an underground manager at the Royal Mine in Coolgardie when he took up virgin land at Latham in 1910 [P462]
Settled on his prospective farmland in Latham in 1910 [152]
Farmer of Oakblyn Farm in Latham 1910-1929 [2] [19] [152]
His farm was 2,160 acres in size and consisted of Victoria Locations 4352, 4618 and 4712 [44]
He appears to have started with the 1,730 acre Victoria Location 4618, which he took up in early 1910 [9: 11-Feb-1910]
The farm appears to have been named using the start of his wife's maiden surname 'Oak' and the end of his surname 'blyn' [--]
In August 1910 wrote to the Upper Irwin Road Board requesting the closure of a road that went through his property [9: 26-Aug-1910]
The Road Board responded that they were agreeable to closing the road provided no objections were made from other settlers [9]
A month later the Board informed him they would not recommend the road be closed, as they had received objections [9: 30-Sep-1910]
Paid rates for his farmland to the Upper Irwin Road Board in Mingenew until 1916, and then to the Perenjori-Morawa Road Board [44]
After the drought in 1914 he was one of the few in Latham to harvest a crop, which yielded only 58 bags of wheat [P462]
He returned to working on gold mines for two years, at the Lancefield Mine near Laverton and the Ida H Mine in Kalgoorlie [P462]
After seven years on the farm 450 acres were cleared of which 300 were cropped, and 250 acres were fenced [152]
In 1916 he and his family were living in a four roomed house made out of hessian and iron [152]
Gave evidence to the Royal Commission on the Agricultural Industries of Western Australia in Latham on 24 November 1916 [152]
Signed the petition and financial guarantee in 1917 for the Midland Railway Company to provide a resident doctor at Three Springs [34]
H6T was his registered horse and cattle firebrand in 1924 [80: 28-Oct-1925]
Resided in Latham until his death in 1929 [2]
Father of Teddy, Arthur, Gordon, Rosie and Mary [14]
Died 19 May 1929; buried at the Karrakatta Cemetery in Perth, Western Australia (Anglican, ZA, 332) [2]
From the Progress Report of the Royal Commission on the
Agricultural Industries of Western Australia on the Wheat-Growing Portion of the South-West Division of the State:
Friday 24 November 1916 at Latham
HARRY TAMBLYN, Tamblyn Bros, Farmers, Latham, sworn and examined:
"We have been seven years in this district and hold 2,140 acres, of which 1,700 acres was 5s. 9d., for 200 acres 10s., the balance is a homestead block. We have 10 miles carting west from the railway station. We have 450 acres cleared, 250 fenced, two wells and two bores. The wells give a fairly good supply; one of them is drinking water and the other not. We have a dam of 500 cubic yards and another of about 120 cubic yards. I am a married man and have a house of four rooms constructed of hessian and iron, stables and machinery shed, 40 x 40, of iron. With the exception of a harvester I have all necessary farming implements. We have 10 draught horses and 13 other sorts. I had previous experience of farming in Yorke's Peninsula, and when we came here I had £2,000 capital, but this has been found insufficient to carry on with. The Agricultural Bank advanced £550, but I cannot say what is due to the Industries Assistance Board.
Were last year's advances cleared out of [the proceeds] of your wheat? No.
I have 300 acres under crop, but none of it was fallowed; it was all ploughed. Still I believe in fallow. This year I have fallowed about 50 acres for next year. Last year I had 50 acres fallowed. It shows a splendid crop, far better than the rest. I would have fallowed more this year, but I had to let the horses go in the paddock. My highest yield has been 18 bushels. That in the first year I came here, 1910. In 1911 I got 58 bags from 130 acres. I think that the average for the district, including the two bad seasons, would be about 10 bushels. I should think it would take about 12 bushels to pay the cost of putting in and taking off [the crop]. I sow about a bushel to the acre and 60lbs. of super. I use a big Shearer disc cultivating plough with eight discs. It takes six big horses to pull it and sometimes seven, and I do eight or nine acres a day. I have a Massey-Harris drill which does 13 acres and I do about 14 acres a day with it. I have done 15 or 16 acres. I use a May's stripper and can do about seven acres [a day] with it, it has a 5ft. comb. I employ a man, but not all the time; in fact last year I put in the crop on my own.
Do you think a man working under similar conditions to yours could reduce costs by using the largest possible machinery? Certainly he could. This year I have hired a 7-ft. harvester to do my work. About bulk handling [of wheat] I know nothing, but the duty on implements is too high.
Last year we had blight' there was no wheat in the crop. I pickle my wheat. Last year I was late in getting the crop off on account of the bad weather, and this year the crop is not very good. It is light and short. I have not tried artificial grasses or fodder crops, but vegetables do well, and I think fruit trees ought to. I have to hand-feed my pigs, and I grow green stuff for them. We have poultry for our own use. When I employ a man I pay him £2 a well and keep in the harvest time and 30s. a week and keep in the ploughing season, but in these [war] times men cannot be obtained for that money. The average working hours are none or 10 hours a day. No man should have less than 2,000 acres to make a living out of in this district, and he should be able to handle [cropping] 300 acres himself. I have not given the question of co-operation among the farmers any thought, but so far as the land regulations are concerned I consider that the farmer has far too much to pay. He should have his land in this part of the country for nothing. Sandplain here is no good whatever, and it is dearer to clear than the timber land.
Would it be rushed if the Government gave it away? I do not know a single farmer which has paid his way yet; I know we have not. If a man went on the Agricultural Bank and did more clearing he would be able to do more cropping. I think we should be given an extension of time in which to pay rents on this land. We should have 40 or 50 years instead of 20 to pay it off. I intent to go in for sheep, but at present dogs are a great trouble. We hold a pastoral lease of 3,000 acres in addition, and my intention is to get a few hundred sheep and some old man to look after them. Mixed farming is a far better proposition than wheat growing."
| Reference: Carnamah Historical Society & Museum and North Midlands Project, 'Harry Tamblyn' in Biographical Dictionary of Coorow, Carnamah and Three Springs, retrieved 26 April 2024 from www.carnamah.com.au/bio/harry-tamblyn [reference list] |
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