Francis Henry William Thomas Winifred Brownrigg Peter Welsh Thomson Margaret Jean Caldow /Hodsdon Frederick Edward Senior James Roger Francis Wyman Clark Richard Robertson Patricia Mae Mulligan Joachim Dido

Biographical Dictionary - Coorow, Carnamah, Three Springs


Surname

"Jim" / "JK" James King FORRESTER

Born 2 November 1889 in Auchterderran, Fife, Scotland [28]
Son of "Bob" Robert Clark FORRESTER and "Effie" Euphemia KING [28]
After leaving school at the age of 14 years he undertook a seven year apprenticeship in a colliery surveying office [30] [P300]
     The colliery he served his apprenticeship with was the Bowhill Coal Company Ltd in Auchterderran, Fife, Scotland [30: item 4023274]
     While serving his apprenticeship he also attended the School of Mines for two and three quarter hours every weeknight [P300]
     Getting to the School of Mines involved riding his pushbike, half an hour on the train, and not getting home until 10 p.m. [P300]
Began playing soccer at the age of 15 years, and on changing to golf rode his bike to Saint Andrew's to play each Saturday [P300]
     Each year spent his one week holiday in July staying and playing golf at Saint Andrew's, which for the week cost 15/- [P300]
At the invitation of John BOWMAN took up a position as Surveyor for the coal mines on Labuan Island off the coast of Borneo [P300]
     His father had been working on Labuan Island as a mine manager since 1907 [P300]
     With only £10 in his pocket left Scotland and travelled by the Flying Scotsman to London, England [P300]
     Departed Harwich, Essex, England by steamer to the Hook of Holland in South Holland, and then through Germany by train [P300]
     Departed Genoa, Italy on another steamer which travelled via Rome in Italy, Port Said in Egypt, Aden in Yemen, and [P300]
     Kaular Lumper in Malaysia before arriving in Singapore, where he travelled for two days by junk to Labuan Island [P300]
Mining Surveyor on Labuan Island off the coast of North Bornea in 1910 and 1911 [P300]
     The island was only eleven miles by four miles in size, and from their bungalows on a hilltop they could see North Borneo [P300]
     The mine fields were at the northern end of the Island, and mine number five was managed by his father [P300]
     He, his father and John BOWMAN were among a small number of white men, the mine workers all being Chinese [P300]
     Went down to the beach each afternoon after the tide went out and collected fish to eat that had been stranded in water holes [P300]
     Some of the other men on the Island hunted wild boars and pigs, which they also ate [P300]
     On one occasion he had to investigate a fire that occurred in one of the mines following the spontaneous combustion of coal [P300]
     Another time the engine driver of the small train that transported the workers fell asleep and the train went out of control [P300]
Accepted a job offer as a Civil Engineer of tin mines in Penang, Malaysia [P300]
     His duties included updating surveys of the mines and drawing plans for a new office and bungalows for the mine [P300]
     Also re-surveyed the mine's railway line to make it straighter and remove its bad corners [P300]
     He had to survey a new tunnel after part of a mine was buried when a hill collapsed [P300]
     The tin mines produced 11,000 tons of tin oxide a month, the richest grade of which was exported to Singapore [P300]
     After suffering with recurring malaria and later also yellow jaundice he left the country and returned to Scotland [P300]
     On medical advice in Scotland he rested for two months and ate porridge and cream three times a day [P300]
Assistant Manager and Surveyor of Clydeside Colliery in Uddingston, Lanarkshire, Scotland for 12 months [P300]
     Clydeside Colliery employed 500 men and produced 500 tons of quality coal per day [P300]
Along with his parents and sister Christina departed London, England on the steamship Osterley on 9 April 1915 [P1]
     Also on board was his cousin-in-law Richard ROBERTSON, his cousin Mrs Jane ROBERTSON and their son Charles [P1]
     John BOWMAN, his wife Margaret and their three daughters Nell, Vi and Daisy also travelled on the Osterley [P1]
     The three families arrived on the steamship Osterley in Fremantle, Western Australia on 11 May 1915 [P1]
     After staying a few days at the King Edward Hotel in Perth travelled up to Carnamah by train on Saturday 15 May 1915 [P300]
Farmer in Carnamah, Western Australia in 1915 and 1916 [27] [34]
     Formed a partnership with his father and John BOWMAN which traded under the name of "Bowman & Forrester" [27]
     Together they acquired 2,141 acres of farmland in Carnamah from the Midland Railway Company in 1915 [27]
     1,641 of the acres were the partially developed Lots M926, M927, M928 and M950 of Victoria Locations 1934 and 2022 [27]
     The remaining 500 acres, which was virgin land, was Lot M1064 of Victoria Location 1934 [27]
     They resided in the house on Lot M950, which is situated just back from the east side of the Carnamah-Perenjori Road [P1]
Resided in Carnamah until enlisting in the Australian Imperial Force (A.I.F.) in Perth on 18 September 1916 [P300] [30: item 4023274]
     Upon enlistment he was 5 feet 6 inches tall, weighed 160 pounds and had a fresh complexion, brown eyes and dark brown hair [30]
     Trained in Sydney, at the Engineer Officers Camp on the Hawksbury River and with a Technical Battalion in Bendigo [P300]
     Embarked from Melbourne, Victoria, Australia for active service abroad on the H.M.A.T. A71 Nestor on 28 February 1918 [30]
     Disembarked in Liverpool, England on 28 April 1918 and on 14 May 1918 proceeded to France [30]
     Lieutenant 9543 in the 3rd Australian Tunnelling Company attached to the 251 Company Royal Engineers in France [18] [30]
     Obtained leave from the A.I.F. from the 21 December 1918 to the 1 January 1919, during which time he was married [28] [30]
     Married (1) "Chris" Christina Brown Dunsire IZATT on 27 December 1918 in Wemyss, Fife, Scotland [28]
     Witnesses to their marriage were Andrew H. DUNSIRE and Chris' sister Catherine McLeod IZATT [28]
     It was probably not known, but Chris was a third cousin of his former colliery manager and farming partner John BOWMAN [P1]
     Due to being a Civil & Mining Engineer was granted five weeks leave in mid 1919 to work at Clydeside Colliery near Glasgow [30]
     Along with his wife departed London, England on the steamship Port Napier on the 29 December 1919 [30]
     They arrived on the Port Napier in Fremantle, Western Australia on 2 February 1920 [70]
     Discharged from the Australian Imperial Force on 8 March 1920, and received the British War Medal and the Victory Medal [30]
Briefly worked for the Country Water Supply and lived with his parents in the Perth suburb of Fremantle [P300]
     The Bowman & Forrester partnership had ended in December 1916 with John BOWMAN buying out he and his father [34]
     His cousin-in-law Richard ROBERTSON suggested he acquire farmland on the Carnamah Estate and return to Carnamah [P300]
Through the Repatriation Department's Solder Settlement Scheme obtained a 719 acre farm on the Carnamah Estate [44]
     The Carnamah Estate was partially developed land the Midland Railway Company had sold to the Repatriation Department [P300]
     He met both conditions for first selection - to have previously been a farmer and to have enlisted from the district [P300]
     His 719 acres was Victoria Location 7180 on the west side of the Carnamah-Perenjori Road near Darlings Creek [44] [62]
     The farm had been cleared in 1914 and was originally heavy York Gum and Black Wattle country [5: 13-Jul-1934]
     With the farm he was allotted the house from former Lot M952 of John H. RANKINE's New Brunswick Farm, Carnamah [P300]
     Shifted up to Carnamah and initially resided on his farm in a humpy that was six feet by eight feet in size [P300]
     Employed the services of Henry PARKIN and John A. GRANT to take down the house and re-build it on his farm [P300]
     His wife stayed with his cousin Mrs Jane ROBERTSON on Woodbine Farm in Carnamah prior to the house being ready [P300]
Farmer of Dunester Farm in Carnamah 1920-1954 [P81]
     Mixed Farmer and Export Lamb Grower in Carnamah [185]
     The farm was named Dunester using the start of his wife's second middle name (Dun) and the end of their surname (ester) [P81]
     On arrival in 1920 he had to re-clear some the cleared portion of his farm which was overgrown with tree suckers [P300]
     Received a spring tooth cultivator and 15-disc drill as part of what John BOWMAN owed him from their former partnership [P300]
     Extended the farm with the purchase of the 1,232 acre Victoria Location 7185, which was also part of the Carnamah Estate [P300]
     On a sandy part of Victoria Location 7185 he scooped out a soak which supplied water for horses and sheep [P300]
     Took out a loan [P300] in May 1928 and purchased walk-in walk-out John J. CULLEN's 1,455 acre farm in Carnamah [81: 20-May-1928]
     The 1,455 acres purchased from CULLEN consisted of Victoria Location 7187, and Lot M1498 of Victoria Location 1936 [3] [P300]
     He later remarked he paid about £6,600 for the property [P300] while a report at the time said he paid £3/10/- per acre [81: 20-May-1928]
     Had to repair the fences on Cullen's, and shifted the house on the property to higher ground near the Carnamah-Bunjil Road [P300]
     In July 1933 purchased for about £3,000 cash the forfeited 1,021 acre farm of E. Noel BELL (Victoria Location 7184) [5: 28-Jul-1933]
     With his original farm and the three additional purchases of land his Dunester Farm in Carnamah totalled about 4,420 acres [3]
     The North Midland Times newspaper described him as one of Carnamah's "most foremost farmers" in 1937 [5: 5-Feb-1937]
     He had local builder Charles J. DALLIMORE [P7] build a substantial new brick house on his Dunester Farm in 1937 [5: 5-Feb-1937]
Employed clearing contractors "Lou" Louis JOHANSEN and Bill WILLIAMS to do further clearing on his farm [P300]
     They cleared 320 acres in two lots of 160 acres and when they had three acres left to clear a fire and willy willy went through [P300]
     The 320 acres was ready to be burnt and it went off like an inferno as there had been 100 York Gum trees to the acre [P300]
     Flames reached hundreds of feet high, and completely burnt out the 320 acres including Lou JOHANSEN's camp [P300]
     It was a clean burn with flames hundreds of feet high, and spread to his stubble paddock and his neighbour's fence [P300]
     Got his horses out of the paddock just in time, and had to replace the fence of his neighbour Malcolm M. MCSWAIN [P300]
     Also employed Lou JOHANSEN and Bill WILLIAMS to assist him in putting down a well near his house on Dunester Farm [P300]
     The three of them had no experience however he did the explosives and they made the well 33 feet deep [P300]
     The well gave 600 gallons per day, which wasn't fresh but was potable and was laid onto the house for drinking and washing [P300]
After losing a number of lambs Lou JOHANSEN said he had seen dogs which might have been to blame for the lamb deaths [P300]
     Spoke with Harry DUNNING, who had a dog, but he said his never wandered away and that neither did Jack LYNCH's dog [P300]
     He put down poison on his farm and the next day both Harry and Jack's dogs that "never wandered" were dead [P300]
Someone else's cattle kept wandering to the seed wheat on his farm so he decided to scare off them by firing barley at them [P300]
     He loaded barley into a double barrel shotgun he had been given by the colliery he worked for when he'd left Scotland [P300]
     Took a shot, and in the process the cow turned around and the barley hit its head and it dropped straight to the ground [P300]
     Over lunch worried about how he would tell the cow's owner, but on returning the cow was up and had only been stunned [P300]
On one occasion on a Thursday his five horses disappeared after the fence of the 100 acre paddock they were in broke [P300]
     Donald MACPHERSON advised him to take local Aboriginal man and splendid tracker Carnamah Tommy to find them [P300]
     After going home for sugar and tea Carnamah Tommy set to the task and on the Sunday he came back with the five horses [P300]
     Carnamah Tommy followed the horses tracks from the paddock in Carnamah to the back of Arrino, where he found them [P300]
     Years later he purchased a £30 Dorset Horn ram from Gnowangerup, and put it in a seven acre paddock near his house [P300]
     The next morning the ram was gone, and Donald MACPHERSON said it has passed his place as he'd seen the tracks [P300]
     Carnamah Tommy found the ram for him - in a culvert opposite John RAFFAN's Inchgower Farm in Winchester [P300]
Had an account with Carnamah blacksmith, wheelwright and motor mechanics Henry Parkin & Son from the 1920s to the 1940s [53]
Foundation President of the Carnamah Sub-Branch of the Returned Soldiers League [P300]
Committee Member of the Carnamah-Winchester branch of the Primary Producers Association in 1921 [9: 6-May-1921]
Attended and exhibited at the Picnic Race Meeting & Agricultural Show in Carnamah on Thursday 22 September 1921 [9: 30-Sep-1921]
     Won 1st prizes for Wheat for Hay and Wheat for Corn, and 2nd prizes for Onions and Collection of Six Varieties of Vegetables [9]
Member of the Carnamah Cricket Club in 1922-23 [9: 2-Mar-1923]
Signed the petition in February 1923 for the Irwin Licensing Court to grant a hotel license for Carnamah [10: 9-Mar-1923]
In 1924 purchased a four cylinder Chevrolet car for £238, which he picked up at the Carnamah Hotel [P300]
     The agent he purchased it from pointed out where everything was and despite having never driven a car he then drove home [P300]
     Along with his wife and two children paid a surprise visit to his parents in Fremantle, who didn't know he had a car [P300]
     They travelled home via Pithara, across to Meelyah, through Waddy Forest, Coorow, Winchester and then Carnamah [P300]
     At Winchester, where the road crossed to the west side of the railway, their car got stuck in a sandy creek [P300]
     After using bushes under the wheels they eventually got the car out and got home at about 2 a.m. [P300]
Dug out and lined with concrete a sheep dip 40 feet long by five feet wide, which a number of local farmers used [P300]
Obtained the telephone at his Dunester Farm in 1925 - was telephone number Carnamah-10S [60]
In 1925 his parents shifted back to Carnamah and he and a stone-mason built a cottage for them on his farm [19] [P300]
     The cottage was situated on a hill on part of the farm known as "Out Back" on Victoria Location 7187 [P300]
     Described his father as very well liked, a terrific worker and a very temperate person [P300]
Foundation Member of the Carnamah District Agricultural Society [P300]
     The society was stated by himself, his cousin-in-law Richard ROBERTSON and John S. ROOKE [P300]
     He was Vice President of the Society from 1928 to 1945 [4: 22-Sep-1928, 2-Nov-1929] [5: 22-Jan-1937] [13] [58]
     Committee Member 1931-1935 and a Financial Member 1932-1958 [4: 25-Apr-1931] [5: 26-Apr-1935] [13]
     Made a donation of £1/1/0 in 1932 and of £2/1/0 in 1937 to the Carnamah District Agricultural Society [13]
     Following the loss through fire he was one of four members who drew up new rules and regulations in 1935 [5: 26-Apr-1935]
     Presided over the Annual Meeting of the Carnamah District Agricultural Society on Friday evening 15 November 1935 [5: 22-Nov-1935]
     On behalf of the Society he compiled an exhibit of wheat for a competition at the 1936 Royal Show in Perth [5: 22-Nov-1935]
     In May 1937 he was appointed Steward of the Society's Agricultural Competitions [5: 28-May-1937]
     He had been made a Life Member by 1940, was Vice Patron 1947-1957 and Patron 1967-1969 [13] [58]
He was the most successful exhibitor at the Carnamah District Agricultural Society's Annual Show in 1926 [9: 15-Oct-1926]
     Won 1st prizes for a Bag of Chaff, Sheaf of Early Wheat and the Best Sheaf of Wheat in the Grain & Fodder section [9]
     Received 2nd prizes for Sheaf of Wheat (late Grain), Sheaf of Wheat (for Hay) and for a Sheaf of Oats (for Grain) [9]
     Won 1st prizes for Best Early Cabbage, Swedes, Carrots, Parsnips, Peas in Pod and Dish of Peas and 2nd for Cauliflower [9]
     Also won 1st prizes for the Best Collection of Vegetables and for the Best Fleece of Medium Wool [9]
In 1927 he grew experimental plots of Yandilla King, Bena and Nabawa wheats for the Agricultural Department [4] [39: 25-Oct-1927]
     A Parliamentary Party toured the Carnamah district and inspected the plots on Saturday 10 September 1927 [4: 17-Sep-1927]
     One of the plots, of Bena wheat, was almost a failure on account of rust, however the others were looking well in October 1927 [39]
Foundation President of the Carnamah Tennis Club [5: 9-Sep-1954]
     He was Vice President in 1927-28 and President in 1930-31[4: 11-Oct-1930] [39: 25-Oct-1927]
     Patron from 1934-35 to 1937-38 [5: 10-Aug-1934, 16-Aug-1935, 24-Jul-1936, 13-Aug-1937]
     In 1935 he and Charles ROBERTSON donated the iron for the Carnamah Tennis Club's new clubhouse [5: 6-Dec-1935]
     Donated a trophy to the Carnamah Tennis Club at a meeting of the Club on Tuesday 3 December 1935 [5: 6-Dec-1935]
     One of six locals who covered the cost of enclosing the Club's new courts at Centenary Park in Carnamah in 1936-37 [5: 5-Feb-1937]
Member of a committee formed to obtain a hospital for Carnamah in 1928 [9: 23-Mar-1928]
Elected as a member of the Carnamah District Road Board in April 1928 following the retirement of W. Henry WATSON [4]
     Won the election on a majority of 87 votes - he received 190 votes while the other candidate received 107 votes [4: 21-Apr-1928]
     Served on the Carnamah District Road Board 1928-1946, and was Chairman of the Board 1932-1946 [7: page 111]
     On Tuesday 2 May 1932 he was appointed Acting Chairman of the Carnamah District Road Board [4: 7-May-1932]
     He was appointed Acting Chairman due to the ill-health of the Chairman, who was his cousin-in-law Richard ROBERTSON [4]
     Served as Acting Chairman following the death of ROBERTSON and was appointed Chairman on 17 August 1932 [5: 19-Mar-1937]
     Represented Carnamah at the Road Board Association's 21st Annual Road Board Conference in Perth in 1936 [5: 7 & 14-Aug-1936]
In 1928 grew 200 acres of oats and 1,000 acres of wheat, the latter of which was expected to average 20 bushels per acre [4: 22-Sep-1928]
     Also grew experimental test plots of wheat on his farm for the Department of Agriculture in 1928 [4: 22-Sep-1928]
     In November 1928 he stripped 110 bags of Merredin wheat from a nine acre plot on his Carnamah farm [4: 17-Nov-1928]
In 1928 he was one of the local shareholders of the Carnamah Brickworks Company [4: 8-Sep-1928]
     The company had produced about 17,000 bricks of excellent quality from local clay by September 1928 [4: 8-Sep-1928]
Foundation Committee Member of the Carnamah Ratepayers & Citizens Association in 1928 [4: 6-Oct-1928]
     Member of the Carnamah Ratepayers & Citizens Association until at least 1936 [4: 13-Jan-1934] [5: 12-Jun-1936]
Attended Charles ROBERTSON and Winifred M. LANG's wedding and reception in Carnamah on 27 March 1928 [4: 31-Mar-1928]
Judge of the Poultry section at the Carnamah Show and Sports Carnival held on Thursday 4 October 1928 [4: 13-Oct-1928]
     Exhibited in the Show, winning 1st prizes for Sheaf of Wheat for Grain, Oats Grain, Oats Hay and for Best Sheaf of Wheat [4]
Foundation Vice President of the Carnamah Parents & Citizens Association in 1928 and 1929 [4: 6-Oct-1928, 14: 31-Aug-1929]
Attended a meeting at the Carnamah Hall on 19 April 1929 to discuss the establishment of flour mills in Carnamah [86: 20-Apr-1929]
Served on the Carnamah School Board in 1929 [4: 31-Aug-1929]
Attended the Plain and Fancy Dress Ball held at the Carnamah Hall on Thursday 8 August 1929 [4: 17-Aug-1929]
Came 2nd in the Married Men's Running Race at the Centenary Celebrations in Carnamah on 13 September 1929 [4: 21-Sep-1929]
Exhibited items in the Horse, Cattle, Wool, Vegetable and Grain & Fodder sections at the Carnamah Show in 1929 [4: 28-Sep-1929]
     Won 1st prize for a Farm Mare, 2nd prize for a non-Jersey cow, 1st prize for Fine Wool and 1st prize for the Best Sheep Skins [4]
     In the vegetable section he won 1st prizes for Early Variety Cabbage, Turnips, Carrots, Swedes, Peas and Onions [4]
     Also won 2nd prizes for Swedes, Onions, Peas and for a Collection of Vegetables in the vegetable section [4]
     In Grain & Fodder won 1st prizes for Bushel of Wheat and Bushel of Oats and 2nd for Sheaves of Wheat for Grain [4]
Founding Member of the Carnamah Masonic Lodge No.150 WAC on 21 March 1930 [96]
     He and his cousin-in-law Richard ROBERTSON had previously belonged to the same Lodge in Scotland [P300]
     In 1930 he was Junior Warden and his cousin-in-law Richard ROBERTSON was Senior Warden [P300]
     Served as Worshipful Master in 1932 and 1936 [96], was District Inspector of Working in 1940, and later a Life Member [P300]
Successfully exhibited in the Horse, Wool & Skins, Vegetable and Grain & Fodder sections of the 1930 Carnamah Show [4: 27-Sep-1930]
     Won both 1st and 2nd prizes for a Farm Mare, 1st prize for a Pair of Farm Horses in Harness and 1st for a Sheep Skin in Wool [4]
     Won 1st prizes for Early Variety Cabbage, Pod Peas and Potatoes and 2nd prizes for Onions and Pod Peas [4]
     He was the winner of the trophy for the Grain & Fodder section with five 1st prizes and four 2nd prizes [4]
     Won 1st and 2nd for Bushel of Strong Wheat and for Bushel of Oats and 2nd prizes for Oaten Chaff and Green Oats for Hay [4]
     Also won 1st prizes for Bushel of Premium Wheat, Bushel of Burt's Early Oats and Green Wheat for Hay [4]
Inmate of the Carnamah Private Hospital in November 1930, but was "making satisfactory progress towards recovery" [4: 22-Nov-1930]
Attended the funeral of "Father of Carnamah" Donald MACPHERSON at the Winchester Cemetery on 14 August 1931 [4: 22-Aug-1931]
For the 1931 season his wheat crops from 1,050 acres averaged 21 bushels per acre [120: 14-Jan-1932]
In 1932 was the owner of a Chrysler car and a Chevrolet truck with license plates CA-273 and CA-276 [4: 12-Nov-1932]
On 6 February 1932 while on his way to Perth with his wife and children the radius rod of their car broke away [4]
     The car immediately left the road and crashed into a deep drain - the front axle of the car being bent into a U shape [4]
     With the assistance of a truck driver they bent the front axle back into shape and slowly resumed their journey [4]
     Fortunately his and and his family's injuries were limited to several bruises and shock [4: 13-Feb-1932]
Proposed the toast to the King at the dinner following the opening of the new Carnamah Post Office on 30 June 1932 [5: 8-Jul-1932]
Chaired a meeting on Bulk Handling in Carnamah of farmers from throughout the North Midlands on 14 July 1932 [5: 22-Jul-1932]
Attended the Commemoration Dinner held at the Commercial Hotel in Three Springs on Friday 26 August 1932 [5: 9-Sep-1932]
Awarded 24 first and second prizes at the Carnamah District Agricultural Society's Annual Show on 15 September 1932 [5: 23-Sep-1932]
     Won 1st prizes for Premium Wheat, Nabawa Wheat, other Wheat and Oaten Chaff; and 2nd for Oats [5]
     Won 1st prizes for Sheaf of Green Wheat for Hay and Sheaf of Wheat for Grain; won 2nd for Collection of Fodder Plants [5]
     In the Sheep and Wool sections won 1st prizes for Two Locally Bred Ewes 2-tooth and for Merino Fleece Fine Wool [5]
     Won 1st prizes for Turnips, Carrots and Onions and 2nd prizes for Potatoes, Radish and both Late and Early Variety Cabbages [5]
     In the Horse section was awarded 1st prizes for a Medium Draught Gelding and a Yearling Draught Gelding or Filly [5]
     Won both 1st and 2nd prizes for the "2 year old Draught Gelding or Filly" class in the Horse section [5]
     Also awarded 2nd prizes in the Horse section for Clydesdale Stallion, Medium Draught Mare, Pair of Farm Horses in Harness [5]
Made a donation to the Carnamah branch of the Country Women's Association in 1932 to help them purchase premises [5: 29-Jul-1932]
In October 1932 won 1st prizes for Merredin Wheat and Gluyas Early Wheat at the Perth Royal Show [5: 14-Oct-1932]
He was one of 77 ex-servicemen who attended the Sailors & Soldiers Reunion Dinner in Carnamah on 22 October 1932 [86: 29-Oct-1932]
Made a speech of eulogy at the farewell to Frank and Mary BADRICK at the Carnamah Hall on 1 November 1932 [5: 4-Nov-1932]
Attended a large meeting in Three Springs to form a North Midlands Chamber of Commerce on 18 November 1932 [4: 26-Nov-1932]
Attended the meeting of wheatgrowers on the Wheat Hold-up issue at the Carnamah Hall on Sunday 4 December 1932 [5: 9-Dec-1932]
With a plot of Gluyas Early wheat came 1st in the Carnamah Agricultural Society's 50 acre crop competition in 1932 [5]
     With the same plot of wheat he also on the Royal Agricultural Society's 50 acre crop competition for Zone 1 [5: 20-Jan-1933]
Vice President of the Carnamah Cricket Club in 1932-33 and 1933-34 [4: 17-Sep-1932] [5: 1-Dec-1933]
Member of John BOWMAN's XI who competed against the Carnamah Cricket Club at the opening of the 1932-33 season [5: 21-Oct-1932]
On 9 February 1933 attended the meeting in Carnamah at which Federal Member A. E. GREEN, M.H.R. was entertained [5: 17-Feb-1933]
Attended the wedding of Robert S. KING and Mollie I. M. JAMES at the Church Hall in Carnamah on 17 April 1933 [5: 21-Apr-1933]
"I can not look upon it with anything but favour" were his remarks on the establishment of The North Midland Times [5: 26-May-1933]
Patron of the Carnamah Repertory Club 1933-1937 [5: 2-Jun-1933, 13-Apr-1934, 22-Mar-1935, 10-Apr-1936, 7-May-1937] [72]
     As Patron proposed the toast to the Club at the supper following their Concert at the Carnamah Hall on 20 August 1937 [5: 27-Aug-1937]
Started a local petition opposing the transfer of Norman SOMERS of the Shell Oil Company depot in Carnamah in 1933 [5: 30-Jun-1933]
Attended the farewell of Norman and Fielda SOMERS in Carnamah on Saturday 15 July 1933 [5: 21-Jul-1933]
Through the local Westralian Farmers agent he sold sheep skins - receiving price up to 9/- per skin in 1933 [5: 23-Jun-1933, 30-Jun-1933]
Assisted the Carnamah Golf Club with the creation of their new golf course at Centenary Park in Carnamah in 1933 [5: 28-Jul-1933]
     Attended the Official Opening of the Carnamah Golf Course at Centenary Park in Carnamah on Sunday 23 July 1933 [5: 28-Jul-1933]
     Member of the Carnamah Golf Club - Vice President in 1933 and President 1935-1937 [5: 5-May-1933, 8-Mar-1935, 1-May-1936, 5-Mar-1937]
     Donated the President's Trophy to the Carnamah Golf Club in 1935, which was won by George F. BROWN [5: 1-Nov-1935]
     Following the resignation of Henry W. SMITH he was appointed Vice Captain of the Carnamah Golf Club in July 1936 [5: 24-Jul-1936]
Won the 1st prize of £2/2/- in the Carnamah District Agricultural Society's Inaugural Fallow Competition in 1933 [5: 9-Feb-1934, 13-Jul-1934]
Attended the Coorow-Waddy Agricultural Show at Maley Park in Coorow on Thursday 7 September 1933 [5: 15-Sep-1933]
     Also exhibited in the Grain & Fodder section of the Show, winning both 1st and 2nd prizes for a Bushel of Wheat [5]
Steward in Charge of the Grain and Fodder section at the Carnamah District Agricultural Society's Annual Show in 1933 [13]
     Also exhibited in the Carnamah Agricultural Show, which was held at Centenary Park, Carnamah on 14 September 1933 [5]
     Won 1st prizes for Clydesdale Mare and Draught Yearling Gelding or Filly and received the Special Prize for a Yearling [5]
     2nd prizes for a Draught Mare in or with Foal and a 2 year old Draught Gelding or Filly concluded his Horse section winnings [5]
     1st prizes for Yellow Turnips and Carrots; 2nd prizes for Lettuce, Radish, Chinese Radish, Carrots and Collection of Vegetables [5]
     1st for Oaten Chaff and Australian Premier Strong Wheat; 1st and 2nd for Australian Strong Wheat and Green Wheat for Grain [5]
     Won the Farm Display, received 1st prize for Middle of Bacon and 2nd for Medium Wool Merino Fleeces [5: 22-Sep-1933]
Received 1st prize for Australian Premier Strong White Wheat at the Three Springs Agricultural Show in 1933 [5: 29-Sep-1933]
Purchased two Southdown rams at the stock sale following the Royal Show in Perth in 1933 [5: 27-Oct-1933]
Entered a sample of "Comeback" wheat in the Sydney Royal Show in 1933 was approached by interstate buyers [4: 9-Dec-1933]
Won 5th prize in the White Spring Wheat class at the World Grain Show held at Regina, Canada in 1933 [5: 4-Aug-1933]
     The sample that won 5th was Comeback wheat grown in medium red soil and yielding 25 bushels to the acre [5]
In October 1933 purchased two very fine quality Southdown rams from Leslie KEAMY of Watheroo [5: 10-Nov-1933]
Opened the Carnamah Presbyterian Church's Fete and Concert held in Carnamah on Thursday 2 November 1933 [5: 10-Nov-1933]
As Chairman of the Carnamah District Road Board officially opened the East Marchagee Hall on 11 November 1933 [5: 17-Nov-1933]
Travelled to Winchester to help look for missing school teacher Arthur JACKSON on the morning of 14 November 1933 [5: 17-Nov-1933]
In 1933 his reputation as a capable wheat grower was known throughout Western Australia [120: 5-Oct-1933]
Member of John BOWMAN's XI who competed against the Carnamah Cricket Club at the opening of the 1933-34 season [4: 9-Dec-1933]
Vice President of the Carnamah Rifle Club in 1933 and 1934 [4: 1-Sep-1934] [5: 30-Jun-1933]
On the evening of Thursday 15 March 1934 attended the Carnamah Race Club's Annual Dance at the Carnamah Hall [5: 16-Mar-1934]
Attended and made a speech at the Farewell to Miss Gladys M. DIXON at the Carnamah Hall on 22 March 1934 [5: 30-Mar-1934]
Received 1st prize in the Strong White Wheat class at the Sydney Royal Show in 1934 [5: 13-Apr-1934, 20-Apr-1934]
     The winning sample was Comeback wheat which had been grown on well fallowed medium red soil in the first week of June [5]
     The wheat had been sown at 45 pounds of seed to the acre with 120 pounds of super per acre, and yielded 22 bushels per acre [5]
     His sample of Comeback wheat gave 74 percent of flour - the highest out of all the wheats at the Sydney Royal Show in 1934 [5]
Attended the Farewell Social to Miss Doris MCLEAN at BERRIGAN's home in Carnamah on Wednesday 11 April 1934 [5: 13-Apr-1934]
In April 1934 purchased a new Sunderseeder form the local agent Oswald S. SOWERBY [5: 20-Apr-1934]
Attended the Carnamah Golf Club's Opening Season Dance at the Carnamah Hall on Saturday 21 April 1934 [5: 27-Apr-1934]
On Saturday 12 May 1934 attended the Carnamah Football Club's Grand Opening Ball at the Carnamah Hall [5: 18-May-1934]
His friend Reginald SNOOK spent a holiday staying in Carnamah as the guest of he and his wife in May 1934 [5: 18-May-1934]
Established an Australian Illawarra Shorthorn cattle stud on his farm in 1934; paid 21½ guineas for the bull for his stud [5: 8-Jun-1934]
The local newspaper revealed on 6 July 1934 that goods had arrived for him at the Carnamah Railway Station [5: 6-Jul-1934]
Gave the Carnamah Road Board a wheel and axle in August 1934 to enable them to get their grader into working order [5: 31-Aug-1934]
Exhibited in the Horse, Cattle, Sheep, Wool, Vegetable and Grain & Fodder sections of the Carnamah Agricultural Show in 1934 [5]
     Won 1st prize for a Clydesdale Mare and 1st and 2nd for Two Year Old Draught Gelding/Filly and Yearly Draught Gelding/Filly [5]
     Awarded 2nd prize for Milking Strain Bull and both 1st and 2nd for Milking Shorthorn Cow in the Cattle section [5]
     In the Sheep section received 1st prize for Three Fat Lambs in Long Wool and 2nd for a Border Leicester Ram [5]
     Won 1st and 2nd for Commercial Value Merino Fleece; and 1st for Swedes, Carrots and Beetroot; 2nd for Carrots and Onions [5]
     Won 1st and 2nd for Australian Strong Wheat, Australia Premier Strong Wheat and Oaten Hay; 2nd for Oats and Wheaten Chaff [5]
     Received The North Midland Times Trophy for the Best Bushel of Wheat exhibited in the Grain & Fodder section [5: 14-Sep-1934]
Won 1st prize for a Bushel of Wheat at the Perth Royal Show in 1934, with a sample of Comeback that scored 95.75 [5: 5-Oct-1934]
Came 3rd in the Carnamah District Agricultural Society's 50-acre Crop Competition in 1934, with a plot of Gluyas Early [5: 21-Dec-1934]
Won by a narrow margin the Carnamah District Agricultural Society's Fallow Competition in 1934 [5: 22-Feb-1935]
In 1934 he was the first in Carnamah and one of the first in Western Australia to grow the prize winning Boomey Wheat [5: 5-Apr-1935]
Supported the successful application for naturalisation in 1934 of his employee, Italian born Antonino GIOFFRI [30: item 1103217]
One of the speakers at the Farewell Social to local chemist Douglas WALDBY on 17 January 1935 at the Carnamah Hall [5: 8-Feb-1935]
Presided over the Farewell Social to Alf and Hannah HOLLINGSWORTH at the Carnamah Hall on 11 March 1935 [5: 15-Mar-1935]
Also presided over the Farewell Social to Brian and Gerda STACY, held at the Carnamah Hall on 16 March 1935 [5: 22-Mar-1935]
Chaired the meeting held in Carnamah on Monday evening 8 April 1935 to discuss the issue of local bulk wheat handling [5]
     The meeting, which had been convened by John BOWMAN, voted unanimously in favour of bulk wheat handling [5: 12-Apr-1935]
Spoke on behalf of the district at the Farewell to Herbert E. HELLEWELL at the Carnamah Hall on 28 May 1935 [5: 31-May-1935]
Attended the Official Opening of the Coorow Golf Club's golf course in Coorow on Sunday 23 June 1935 [5: 28-Jun-1935]
Presided over the afternoon tea tendered to William PATRICK, M.L.A. on his visit to Carnamah on 24 June 1935 [5: 28-Jun-1935]
Presented the trophies at the Parkinson Tennis Club's Presentation and Card Evening in Carnamah on 3 July 1935 [5: 5-Jul-1935]
Sold 707 sheep through Westralian Farmers Ltd through seven consignments to the Midland Market in 1935 [5: 26-Jul-1935]
    The sheep consisted of 224 lambs, 354 suckers, 62 ewes, 39 shorn ewes, 14 hoggets, 6 shorn wethers, 4 wethers and 4 unstated: [5]
    224 lambs (28 at 28/1, 10 at 19/10, 15 at 18/7, 16 at 18/1, 15 at 16/4, 39 at 15/7, 19 at 14/7, 74 at 14/4, 8 at 13/10 per head) [5]
    354 suckers (19 at 22/1, 43 at 18/10, 103 at 17/10, 72 at 17/1, 61 at 16/7, 16 at 16/4, 2 at 16/1, 1 at 15/-, 10 at 14/4, 27 at 10/4) [5]
    62 ewes (46 at 17/4, 16 at 15/4); 39 shorn ewes (5 at 6/10, 34 at 9/1); 14 hoggets (12 at 16/4, 2 at 11/-), [5: 2,  9, 16 & 23-Aug-1935]
    6 shorn wethers (4 at 8/1, 2 at 13/7), 4 wethers at 19/10, 4 unstated sheep at 14/1 per head [5: 27-Sep-1935, 15-Nov-1935]
Carnamah's representative in the North Midland Districts Bulk Handing Deputation in 1935 [5: 16-Aug-1935]
     He and the others in the deputation travelled to Perth and interviewed the manager of the Midland Railway Company [5]
     The purpose of the deputation was to get permission for bulk handling facilities to be established on the Midland Railway line [5]
Attended John and Mary LANG's Golden Wedding Celebration at Grianaig Farm in Carnamah on 18 August 1935 [5: 23-Aug-1935]
Awarded the Cuming Smith Mt Lyall Trophy, which was 5 cwt. of super, at the 1935 Coorow-Waddy Agricultural Show [5: 13-Sep-1935]
     Won 1st prize for White Oats, and 1st and 2nd prizes for both early season and mid season Medium Strong White Wheat [5]
Most successful exhibitor of the Carnamah Agricultural Show at Centenary Park, Carnamah on Thursday 12 September 1935 [5]
     From his 80 or so entries over eight sections he was awarded eleven 1st prizes, nineteen 2nd prizes, and won two trophies [5]
     Received the President's Trophy, which was a Cup, for gaining the most points (namely 57) in sections A, B, C, D, E and G [5]
     Also received the James L. Adams Trophy for being the most successful exhibitor in the Grain & Fodder section [5]
     Received prizes for Draught Gelding or Filly (1st & 2nd), Yearling Draught Colt or Filly (1st & 2nd), Clydesdale Mare (1st), [5]
     Draught Mare in or with foal (1st), Clydesdale Gelding (1st), Draught Mare (2nd), Four Horse Team in Harness (2nd), [5]
     Three Fat Lambs Longwool (1st & 2nd), Two Medium Wool Merino Fleeces (1st), Three Fat Merino Wethers (2nd), [5]
     Border Leicester Ram (2nd), Australian Strong Wheat (1st & 2nd), Oats (1st & 2nd), Three Varieties of Green Wheat (2nd), [5]
     Milking Strain Heifer under 2 years (1st), Pure Breed Dual Purpose Bull (2nd), Milking Strain Shorthorn Cow (2nd),
     Pure Breed Milking Strain Bull over 2 years (2nd), Black Orpington Hen (2nd), Ham (2nd), White Turnips (2nd), [5: 20-Sep-1935]
     Onions (1st & 2nd), Cabbage (2nd) and Beetroot (2nd); donated his prize money of £4/3/- back to the Society [5: 22-Nov-1935]
Sold three bales of wool for 14¾d. per pound through Westralian Farmers Ltd at a wool sale in Perth on 7 October 1935 [5: 11-Oct-1935]
Returned to Carnamah on 11 October 1935 after spending days in Perth during which he attended the Royal Show [5: 11 & 18-Oct-1935]
     Won four 1st prizes and two 2nd prizes in the Grain section for Number 2 Zone of the Royal Show in Perth in October 1935 [5]
     Awarded 1st prizes for Nabawa wheat, Merredin wheat, Gluyas Early wheat, and any other variety of strong wheat [5]
     Received 2nd prizes for Premier Strong wheat and for Mulga oats [5: 11 & 18-Oct-1935]
Presided over the Ratepayers Meeting of the Carnamah District Road Board at 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday 23 October 1935 [5: 25-Oct-1935]
Also presided over a meeting about Wireless Interference in Carnamah on Wednesday 23 October 1935 [5: 1-Nov-1935]
     The meeting was arranged to discuss the interference to radio reception and how to defray the cost of suppressors for engines [5]
Presented the trophies at the Carnamah Golf Club's Annual Dance at the Carnamah Hall on Thursday 24 October 1935 [5: 1-Nov-1935]
In October 1935 appealed to the Carnamah District Road Board against the rateable valuation of his property in Carnamah [5: 1-Nov-1935]
     A year later, in October 1936, he again appealed against the valuation owing to the prevalence of salt on all lot/locations [5: 6-Nov-1936]
     The Taxation Department advised the Road Board in December 1936 that his application was "receiving attention" [5: 24-Dec-1936]
Among those who met with the Commonwealth Grants Commission in Carnamah and Coorow on 21 November 1935 [5: 22 & 29-Nov-1935]
Motored to Perth on Friday 6 December 1935 and returned to Carnamah on Sunday morning 8 December 1935 [5: 13-Dec-1935]
Patron of the Five Gums Tennis Club from 1935-36 to 1940-41 [5: 4-Oct-1935] [89]
Won the Carnamah District Agricultural Society's 50-acre Crop Competition in 1935, with a plot of Nabawa wheat [5: 20-Dec-1935]
Came 2nd in the Carnamah District Agricultural Society's Fallow Competition in 1935 [5: 20-Mar-1936]
     Donated the money he won from the competition back to the Carnamah District Agricultural Society [5: 12-Jun-1936]
     Also donated to the Carnamah District Agricultural Society the prize money he had one from the Sunshine Wheat Competition [5]
Presented the trophies at the Parkinson Tennis Club's Tennis Tournament in Carnamah on Wednesday 1 January 1936 [5: 3-Jan-1936]
Along with his mother and sons Alan and Ian motored from Carnamah to Perth on Saturday 1 February 1936 [5: 7 & 28-Feb-1936]
In 1936 he was described as being "among of the best established farmers" in Carnamah [81: 26-Jul-1936]
Presided over the public meeting on the question of Saturday Afternoon Closing at the Carnamah Hall on Thursday 19 March 1936 [5]
     The proposition was to replace the half-day holiday on Thursday afternoons with a half-day holiday on Saturday afternoons [5]
     The driving force was some of the local sporting bodies, who wished to play their organised sport on Saturday instead of Sunday [5]
     On behalf of the Road Board he reported that they weren't willing to take up the matter unless it resulted in a referendum [5]
     Added that they wouldn't implement the change unless it was also adopted by the Three Springs and Mingenew roads boards [5]
Played for the combined Carnamah-Parkinson tennis team against Winchester-Waddy-Coorow on Sunday 5 April 1936 [5: 3-Apr-1936]
Speaker at the Farewell Social & Dance to George F. and Florence M. BROWN at the Carnamah Hall on 23 April 1936 [5: 1-May-1936]
Speaker at the Valedictory Dance for local postmaster Percy TEEDE at the Carnamah Hall on Tuesday 12 May 1936 [5: 15-May-1936]
Sold 73 ewes and hoggets on 27 May 1936, receiving 17/7 per for the ewes and 18/1 per head for the hoggets [5: 29-May-1936]
     A month later sold 1 lamb at 26/10, 15 lambs at 16/1, 6 lambs at 13/1, 2 wethers at 22/10, and 14 ewes at 16/4 [5: 3-Jul-1936]
     Sold 44 suckers (30 at 19/7, 14 at 17/-) through Westralian Farmers Ltd at the Midland Market on 2 September 1936 [5: 4-Sep-1936]
Sent his apologies for not being able to be present at the Farewell to the BREWER family in Carnamah on 5 June 1936 [5: 12-Jun-1936]
Vice President of the Carnamah Athletic Club in 1936 [5: 19-Jun-1936]
Speaker at the Farewell Social & Dance to Tom and Johanna BERRIGAN at the Carnamah Hall on 20 June 1936 [5: 26-Jun-1936]
Presided over the meeting in Carnamah on 31 July 1936 which led to the establishment of local Bulk Wheat Handling [5: 7-Aug-1936]
Grade A Winner of the Carnamah Masonic Lodge's Inaugural Annual Golf Meeting in Carnamah on 1 August 1936 [5: 7-Aug-1936]
A sheep demonstration by two sheep experts was held at the sheep yards on his farm in Carnamah on 12 August 1936 [5: 14-Aug-1936]
Won the Cuming Smith Trophy as the most successful exhibitor of Grain & Fodder at the 1936 Coorow-Waddy Agricultural Show [5]
     Awarded both 1st and 2nd prizes for Mid-Season Medium Strong White Wheat, 1st for Comback Wheat, 1st for Oats, [5]
     and 2nd for Early-Season Medium Strong White Wheat [5: 4 & 11-Sep-1936]
He and his cousin Charles ROBERTSON travelled from Carnamah to Perth on Friday 4 September 1936 [5: 11-Sep-1936]
     They returned on Monday 7th accompanied by Mrs Gladys R. BIERMANN and Miss "Billie" Adeline M. BREWER [5]
Proposed the toast to "The Visitors" at the Official Luncheon of the Carnamah District Agricultural Show on 10 September 1936 [5]
     Won the President's Trophy for gaining the most points in the Horse, Cattle, Sheep, Wool and Grain & Fodder sections [5]
     Also won the Francis Trophy for gaining the most points in the Horse section, where he exhibited "particularly fine horses" [5]
     Received prizes for Clydesdale Gelding (1st & 2nd), yearling Clydesdale Colt or Filly (1st & 2nd), Four Horse Team (2nd), [5]
     two year old Clydesdale Gelding or Filly (2nd), Border Leicester Ram (1st) which was "an outstanding animal in all respects," [5]
     Southdown Ram (1st & 2nd), Three Half-bred Ewes Suitable for Breeding Export Lambs (2nd), Dual Purpose Bull (1st), [5]
     Bull under two years (1st), Milking Strain Shorthorn Heifer of two years (1st), Milking Strain Shorthorn Cow (2nd), [5]
     Milking Strain Bull of two or more years (1st) which was also the Champion Bull, Australian Strong Wheat (1st), Oats (1st), [5]
     Australian Premier Wheat (2nd), Oaten Hay (2nd), Green Wheat (2nd), Brown Hen Eggs (2nd), Collection of Vegetables (2nd), [5]
     Onions (1st & 2nd), Cabbage (1st) and Beetroot (2nd) [5: 11, 18 & 25-Sep-1936]
Received a congratulatory toast at the conclusion of the meeting of the Carnamah District Road Board on 16 September 1936 [5]
     The toast on his engagement and impending marriage was given by the Vice Chairman, Angus A. N. MCGILP [5: 25-Sep-1936]
     At the next meeting of the Board in October 1936 he was presented with a Morris office chair in recognition of his marriage [5]
     He was flabbergasted and taken by complete surprise by the gift, which was from the Board's members and secretary [5: 30-Oct-1936]
Judge of the Grain & Fodder section at the Three Springs Agricultural Society's Annual Show on 17 September 1936 [5: 25-Sep-1936]
Attended the Inaugural Sale of the North Midlands Stud Stockbreeders Association in Carnamah on Friday 18 September 1936 [5]
     At the sale he purchased two Border Leicester rams at 6 guineas per head from LEISHMAN Bros of Winchester [5: 2-Oct-1936]
After two weeks at the Carnamah Private Hospital he was progressing favourably in early October 1936 [5: 25-Sep-1936, 2-Oct-1936]
     As a result he was unable to attend and sent his apologies for the Carnamah Football Club's Presentation Ball [5: 2-Oct-1936]
Won 3rd prize for Comeback Wheat grown in any zone at the Perth Royal Show in Perth in early October 1936 [5: 16-Oct-1936]
     For Zone 2 won 1st for Merredin Wheat and Australian Standard White Wheat, 2nd for Nabawa Wheat, 3rd for Gluyas Early [5]
Sold nine bales of wool at 15d. per pound through Westralian Farmers Ltd at the Perth Wool Sale on 5 October 1936 [5: 16-Oct-1936]
Married (2) Mrs Doris BOLTON on Saturday evening 10 October 1936 at the Presbyterian Church in Carnamah [5: 16-Oct-1936]
     He had first met Doris when she worked as receptionist for an ear specialist in Perth he took his daughter to see [P197]
     His best man at his second wedding was Carnamah farmer Charles ROBERTSON, who was his first cousin once removed [5]
Sent apologies for being unable to attend the Farewell Social for R. Arthur LINDSAY in Carnamah on 23 October 1936 [5: 30-Oct-1936]
In October 1936 the Carnamah District Road Board appointed him to investigate the matter of stockyards for Carnamah [5: 6-Nov-1936]
Addressed the gathering at the Official Opening of the first Wheat Bin in Carnamah on Monday 9 November 1936 [5: 13-Nov-1936]
Sold two cows (£9/12/6, £9/2/6) and four heifers (£6/17/6, £3/12/6, £1 and 17/6) at Midland Market in November 1936 [5: 13-Nov-1936]
Presided over the public meeting about the creation of stockyards in Carnamah on Saturday evening 14 November 1936 [5: 20-Nov-1936]
Purchased a two-ton Ford V8 truck through the North Midlands Farmers Co-operative Company Ltd in November 1936 [5: 27-Nov-1936]
Presided over the Ratepayers Meeting of the Carnamah District Road Board in Coorow on 25 November 1936 [5: 27-Nov-1936]
In late 1936 sold a quantity of Comeback Premium Wheat to Westralian Farmers Ltd for the high price of 5/7 per bushel [5: 20-Nov-1936]
Presented the trophies at the Parkinson Tennis Club's Tennis Tournament in Carnamah on New Year's Day in 1937 [5: 8-Jan-1937]
Speaker at the Valedictory Social to the pioneering PARKER family at the Carnamah Hall on Thursday 28 January 1937 [5: 5-Feb-1937]
     He mentioned that when the PARKER family arrived over 30 years earlier there were only two families in the Carnamah district [5]
     The two families were those of MACPHERSON and NAIRN, and Frederick W. PARRICK came shortly thereafter [5]
     He concluded this "early history of Carnamah" by saying he'd had the idea that a history of Carnamah should be written [5]
By 1937 he had very successfully exhibited wheat in Australia, Canada and America and won numerous trophies [185]
He and his son Ian returned to Carnamah on Monday 22 February 1937 after taking his son Alan to Scotch College [5: 26-Feb-1937]
On switching from horses to tractor power he held a Surplus Clearing Sale at his farm on Thursday 4 March 1937 [5: 26-Feb-1937]
     He disposed of the whole of his 32 horses which consisted of mares, fillies, geldings, one sulky pony and one hack [5]
     All of the younger horses had been fathered by the stallion Carngham Boy which had been imported from the Eastern States [5]
     Sold 200 Merino ewes of sound mouth that had been mated to Border Leicester rams and last shorn in August 1936 [5]
     Sold one three year pedigree Australian Illawarra Shorthorn bull and two yearling pedigree Australian Illawarra Shorthorn bulls [5]
     Also sold surplus plant and machinery including harness for the 32 horses, sulky, spring cart, 9-foot Big E harvester, [5]
     8-foot Sunshine header, 6-foot Shearer harvester, 20-run Horwood Bagshaw combine, 8-foot McCormick binder, hay rake, [5]
     17-run International Harvester Company combine, 17-disc International Harvester Company drill, 10-disc Sunderseeder, [5]
     14-disc Sundercut, 10-disc Sundercut, 5-furrow International Harvester Company mouldboard plough, 5-ton Bolton wagon, [5]
     1-35 tyne McKay cultivator, 9-inch Purser chaff cutter with 20-foot elevator, 400 feet of half inch galvanised piping.
     and two 3-horsepower International Harvester Company engines - with all items railed free from Carnamah to non-local buyers [5]
In March 1937 the Department of Public Health granted permission for him to install a septic tank sewerage system [5: 19-Mar-1937]
He "again leaped into prominence as a wheat grower" with two 1st prizes at the Sydney Royal Show in 1937 [5: 2-Apr-1937]
     The 1st prizes were for the Best Sample of Nabawa wheat and for weak wheat flour, both of 45 pounds but not more than 50 [5]
     He'd grown both on 150 acres of fallowed medium red loam with 45 pounds of seed per acre, yielding 14 bushels per acre [5]
Competed in the Carnamah Tennis Club's Easter Tennis Tournament at Centenary Park in Carnamah in March 1937 [5: 2-Apr-1937]
He was indisposed for a week in April 1937 suffering from an old complaint to his knee [5: 23-Apr-1937]
Addressed the children at the Coronation Celebrations at Centenary Park in Carnamah on Wednesday 12 May 1937 [5: 30-Apr-1937]
     The festivities celebrated the coronation of King George VI of the United Kingdom and the British Commonwealth [5]
Purchased a RD4 Caterpillar tractor in May 1937 which was worked 24 hours a day to complete his seeding operations [5: 28-May-1937]
Sold 103 sheep through Westralian Farmers Ltd with two consignments to the Midland market in June and August 1937 [5]
     The sheep were 2 suckers at 19/1 per head, 55 wethers (37 at 23/10, 14 at 24/4, 2 at 22/4, 2 at 19/10),
     and 46 lambs (5 at 19/10, 18 at 17/10, 12 at 17/1, 11 at 14/1) [5: 25-Jun-1937, 20-Aug-1937]
Sent apologies for being unable to attend the R.S.L. Valedictory for Charles A. METTAM in Carnamah on 28 July 1937 [5: 30-Jul-1937]
Attended the opening of the Nurse's Quarters in Three Springs and dinner at the Commercial Hotel on 27 August 1937 [5: 3-Sep-1937]
Won the Cuming Smith Mt Lyell Fertilisers trophy for the Grain & Fodder section at the Coorow-Waddy Agricultural Show in 1937 [5]
     Won 1st for Comeback Wheat, 1st for White Oats and both 1st and 2nd for mid season Medium Strong White Wheat  [5: 10-Sep-1937]
On the Carnamah Ratepayers & Citizens Association's grasshopper eradication committee in 1937 [0: image 02876]
Vice Patron of the Coorow-Waddy Forest Districts Agricultural Society in 1937 [5: 20-Nov-1936]
Member of the Carnamah Sub-Branch of the Returned Soldiers League - was President 2 December 1937 to 6 January 1940 [52]
Vice Patron 1937-1939 and Financial Member 1936-1946 of the Coorow-Waddy Forest Districts Agricultural Society [150]
As Chairman of the Carnamah District Road Board officially opened the swimming pool at Gunyidi on 9 January 1938 [0: image 03304]
Attended the funeral of Carnamah retiree Robert PALFREYMAN at Karrakatta Cemetery in Perth on 11 August 1938 [4: 20-Aug-1938]
Member of Carnamah's branch of the Australian Defence League - was President in 1939 [4: 19-Aug-1939]
     As President he addressed those present at the Military Ball at the Carnamah Hall on Saturday night 12 August 1939 [4: 19-Aug-1939]
Foundation Committee Member of Carnamah's branch of the Red Cross Society in 1939 [0: image 03834]
At some point was one of five people who loaned the Carnamah District Agricultural Society a debenture [13]
     In 1939 received a refund of debenture interest amounting to £1 from the Carnamah District Agricultural Society [13]
Won a number of prizes in the Grain section of the Perth Royal Show in 1939 [0: image 03858]
Foundation committee member of the Carnamah District War and Patriotic Fund 1940-1942 [0: images 03074, 04014 & 04174]
Member of the Voluntary Pre-selection Committee that dealt with local Royal Australian Air Force applicants [0: image 03942]
Married (3) "Vinnie" Lavinia SCOTT on 15 February 1941 in the Perth suburb of East Fremantle [0: image 02958] [P81]
     He'd spent a holiday in Cottesloe during which he played golf with Jasper W. GREEN at the Royal Fremantle Golf Club [P300]
     During the holiday he met Vinnie SCOTT, who at the time was working as a nurse for a doctor in Fremantle [P300]
In 1941 was appointed a Director of Bulk Handling Ltd representing the wheat-growers in the northern division of WA [0: image 04037]
Served on the board of Co-operative Bulk Handling from 1941 to 1963 [247: 28-Feb-1963]
Member of the Bowling Club that played at Howard H. CHAPPEL's Marathon Farm in Winchester in 1941 [4: 29-Mar-1941]
He was called to Perth on Saturday 12 April 1941 to see his wife, who was seriously ill [5: 18-Apr-1941]
      Along with his mother, who had been holidaying in Perth, he returned to Carnamah on Tuesday 15 April 1941 [5: 18-Apr-1941]
Captain in local Volunteer Defence Corps in the Australian Army during the Second World War [16]
Member of the Carnamah Bush Fire Brigade in 1944 [0: image 04590]
Made a fitting speech at the Victory in Europe Day celebrations in Carnamah on Wednesday 9 May 1945 [7: page 47]
Addressed the Thanksgiving Peace Celebrations at the Carnamah Town Hall on Thursday 23 August 1945 [0: image 04356]
Patron of the Carnamah Parents & Citizens Association 1946-1951 [0: images 04388 & 04611]
Government Nominee on the Western Australian Barley Marketing Board from its formation in 1946 until 1952 [247: 28-Feb-1963]
Member of the Carnamah Presbyterian Church's management board in 1947 [0: image 04468]
By 1947 had been made a Justice of the Peace for the Victoria Magisterial District of Western Australia [22]
     As a local Justice of the Peace presided as Magistrate over cases that went before the Carnamah Police Court [22]
     The Carnamah Police Court dealt with cases involving Carnamah, Winchester, Waddy Forest, Coorow, Marchagee and Gunyidi [22]
     Presided over his first case on 28 August 1947; presided and made rulings at 24 cases between 1947 and 1951 [22]
In 1947 transferred 1455 acres of his farm into his son Alan's name (Lot M1498 and Victoria Location 7187) [3]
Deputy Chairman 1947-1958 and Chairman 1959-1963 of Co-operative Bulk Handling, otherwise known as CBH [247: 13-Jun-1963]
In 1948 purchased neighbour Malcolm M. MCSWAIN's 676 acre farm in Carnamah (Victoria Locations 7181 and 7946) [3]
     The property was run down with no fences and an unreliable water supply, which he resolved by renewing an old well [P300]
Member of Carnamah's branch of the Farmers' Union of WA - was President in 1949 and 1950 [4: 22-Apr-1950]
He was appointed by the state government to the bench of the Carnamah Children's Court in September 1950 [39: 26-Sep-1950]
Patron of the Carnamah Golf Club in 1953 [5: 19-Feb-1953]
Member of the Board of Directors of the North Midlands Co-Operative Society for a number of years [5: 9-Sep-1954]
C.1954 transferred 2152 acres of his farm into his son Ian's name (Lot 1 of Victoria Location 7184, and Victoria Location 7185) [3]
After transferring land to his sons he had 1500 acres (Lot 2 of Victoria Location 7184, Victoria Locations 7180, 7181, 7446, 7954) [3]
He and his wife Vinnie were tendered a Valedictory Dinner by the Carnamah District Road Board on 9 September 1954 [5]
     Afterwards, at a Farewell Dance in their honour at the Carnamah Hall, they were presented with an inscribed lamp [5: 9-Sep-1954]
Along with his wife and their son Graham left Carnamah in July 1954 and shifted to the Perth suburb of Floreat Park [5: 9-Sep-1954]
Resided at 160 Grantham Street in the Perth suburb of Floreat Park [3]
Member of the Kitchener Park Bowling Club and later of the Floreat Park Bowling Club [P300]
     Fred WATERS previously of Carnamah and Fred BINGHAM previously of Coorow were also members of Kitchener Park [P300]
In 1963 was awarded an Order of the British Empire / OBE for work done in connection with Co-operative Bulk Handling / CBH [P81]
Resided in the Perth suburb of Floreat Park until his death in 1982 [2]
Father of Isabel, Alan, Ian and Graham [P81]
Died 7 May 1982; ashes interred Karrakatta Cemetery, Perth WA (IC Section, Rose Memorial, DA, 16) [2]


From The Western Mail newspaper, Friday 20 December 1928:
Country Towns and Districts - Carnamah-Coorow - Rapid Development - Carnamah Farms
"Mr J. K. Forrester, whose home farm, Dunester, is five miles north-east of Carnamah, owns three properties scattered about the district. He has some experimental plats under Government supervision, and has harvested off 150 acres 34 bushels of Nabawa stud wheat per acre. He claims that a 13-acre stud plot of Merredin this year averaged 39.2 bushels per acre. A portion of the 34 bushel crop is entered for the State 50-acre crop competition. A 120-acre plot of Burt's Early oats this year gave 850 bags. Mr Forrester is carrying 900 sheep - Koonoona ewes and Dorset Horn rams; and his last clip, the worst average for years, ran out at 8½ lb. per head."


From The Western Mail newspaper, Thursday 9 January 1930:
Country Towns and Districts - Carnamah's Advancement
"Another Scottish mining man who is now a successful wheat farmer, is Mr. J. K. Forrester. Leaving the old country in 1915, where he had been a mining and civil engineer, Mr. Forrester came out to Western Australia only to leave shortly afterwards with the 3rd Tunnelling Company for France, where he gained his commission. Mr. Forrester settled on Dunester, his homestead property of 750 acres, in 1920, and later purchased 1,200 acres and 1,500 acres. The 1,500 acres of wheat this season averaged 17 bushels, being the lowest average for seven years. Last season Mr. Forrester won the 50-acre crop competition in zone 1, having the fine average of 35 bushels, and this season he came second, although only one point below the winner, the crop averaging 26 bushels. At the last Royal Show he occupied second-place in "The Sunday Times" wheat competition. Mr. Forrester has occupied a seat on the road board for two years."


From The Western Mail newspaper, Thursday 5 October 1933:
Country Towns and Districts - Three Springs and Carnamah - Rich Pastoral and Wheat Lands - A Progressive Community
"Mr J. K. Forrester, the chairman of the Carnamah Road Board for the second term in succession, is well equipped with the qualifications required to carry out the onerous duties of the position. Prior to his election to his present office, Mr Forrester served as a member of the board for four years, during which time he studied and acquired a sound knowledge of the district and its requirements. The splendid condition of the 197 miles of road throughout the district, the well-made footpaths and kerbing of the town, the solidly constructed public buildings of the road board, and the undoubted signs of progress and permanent prosperity that are a feature of the town and district, are surely a tribute to the governing body and its chairman. Arriving in the State in 1915 from Scotland, where he followed his profession of a mining and civil engineer, he shortly afterwards joined the A.I.F. for active service abroad, where he won his commission. Returning to Carnamah after the Great War, Mr Forrester settled on Dunester, which then comprised 750 acres. To this he has added by purchase 2,700 acres, thus consolidating a very fine property that for average productivity compares very well with any in this prolific agricultural district. In the 1928-29 season Mr Forrester won the 50-acre crop competition in the Zone 1 with the splendid average of 35 bushels. In the season 1931 he was only one point below the winner with an average of 36 bushels, and at the Royal Show in 1931 he occupied second place in the "Sunday Times" competition."


From The North Midland Times newspaper, Friday 7 September 1934:
Bereavement Notice
"Mr. J. K. Forrester and family with to thank all friends for letters, telegrams, floral tributes and personal expressions of sympathy in their sad bereavement. Will all please accept this as a personal expression of thanks."


From The Western Mail newspaper, Thursday 15 October 1936:
Through the Victoria District - Carnamah - Two Men of Carnamah - J. K. Forrester
"The chairman of the Carnamah Road Board for the past four years is Mr. J. K. Forrester, who came out from Scotland to take up Midland land in 1915, when Carnamah, which was then part of the southern end of the Mingenew Road Board district, boasted only one house. Upon returning from the Great War, Mr. Forrester settled on a repatriation block and later purchased three adjacent farms, on which are some Government experimental plots. On numerous occasions he has exhibited wheat in Sydney, Chicago and Regina, and has received first prizes and awards from these places. Mr. Forrester is vice president of the Agricultural Society, president of the golf club and patron of the tennis and repertory clubs.


From The North Midland Times newspaper, Friday 14 May 1937:
[James King FORRESTER made the following speech to the children of Carnamah on Coronation Day, Wednesday 12 May 1937]
"Boys and girls, it is my privilege on this, the Coronation day of King George and Queen Elizabeth, to address you briefly. This gathering is one of many thousands being held throughout the British Empire today, celebrating the Coronation of our King and Queen. I would like your little minds to travel with me into the jungles of Central Africa, where the Chiefs and tribesmen are gathered; into the mountainous regions of northern India; into the Arctic Circle of northern Canada and in many other places where like gatherings, some larger, some smaller than ours are being held to celebrate the occasion. Coronation means that on this day in London a ceremony is taking place; it finishes, or has its climax at Westminster Abbey, where the King and Queen take an oath to serve the British Empire as rulers. I am sure very few of you girls and boys have not in recent weeks seen photographs of the little princesses in the daily press nor have felt something in you, something born within you that makes you feel proud when you look at these photographs. Little princess Elizabeth may some day be Queen of the British Empire. This takes me back many years to a similar gathering as today. I was a little boy standing in a line, my mind more on how many races I was going to win than on our head master's address, although the little message he conveyed to us has always stuck to me. He used as his text the word 'Loyalty.' He said then as I am saying to you today:- 'It is Loyalty of the boys and girls of today that will make the Loyal men and women of tomorrow. It is this loyalty that binds together this wonderful Empire of ours.' I want you to take this little message with you. In giving loyalty to your town and district, to your State, and the Commonwealth of Australia, you will be giving loyalty to the King and Queen, who also rule this Commonwealth of ours."


From The Western Mail newspaper, Thursday 30 May 1946:
Progressive Carnamah - Export Lambs
    "The farming activities of Mr J. K. Forrester, who is Chairman of the Carnamah Road Board, are a feature of Carnamah. His property Dunester is situated some five miles from town and comprises approximately 4,500 acres. His annual crop returns since 1938 have averaged from 18 bushels to 28 bushels per acre. An indication of the sheep standard attained on this property is reflected by the high percentage of lambs grading for export. In 1944, 84 per cent of those reared were given export grade. This holding is carrying between 2,000 and 3,000 sheep - Border-Leicester and Merino ewes.
     Features of Mr Forrester's property, apart from the first-class soil, are the very fine house... and a grain storage bin which has been constructed by him. This structure which is erected on a reinforced concrete foundation, is vermin and water proof and has a capacity of 3,000 bushels of grain."


James King FORRESTER was a pallbearer at the following funerals held at the Winchester Cemetery in Carnamah:
Thomas Brian SOMERS, who was buried on 7 December 1931; Mrs Jane ROBERTSON, who was buried on 15 May 1932
Richard ROBERTSON, who was buried on 9 July 1932; Herbert MURRAY, who was buried on 26 January 1933
Miss Mary Lochhead LANG, buried on 26 November 1935; William Bernard SHERIDAN, who was buried on 27 January 1936
Mrs Florence PRICE, who was buried on 1 September 1936; Mrs Eileen Elizabeth WITHNELL, who was buried on 5 January 1938
Miss Elizabeth MACPHERSON, who was buried on 24 July 1939; Thomas Gordon PERRY, who was buried on 28 January 1941
John MCINTOSH, who was buried on 8 August 1941; Mrs Mary LANG, who was buried on 22 February 1942
John Maurice HAIG, who was buried on 4 May 1946; Mrs Lilias Michie POWER, who was buried on 2 December 1947
William Henry WATSON, who was buried on 13 September 1948; John BOWMAN, who was buried on 28 July 1952


From the Wesfarmers News newspaper, Thursday 13 June 1963:
Queen's Birthday Honours
"Mr J. K. Forrester, of Carnamah and Floreat Park, has been awarded the O.B.E. Mr Forrester took up land at Carnamah in 1915 where, since returning with a commission from the first world war, he has developed and expanded his property to a total area of 5,000 acres. He has specialised in grain, sheep, and fat lamb grazing. Wheat from his property has been exhibited in Perth; Sydney; Chicago, USA; and Regina, Canada. Mr Forrester's public services include a period as president of the Carnamah branch of the Farmers' Union; 18 years on the Carnamah Road Board, 15 as chairman; 7 years membership on the Australian Barley Marketing Board; and 22 years on the board of Co-operative Bulk Handling. Mr Forrester was elected to the CBH board in 1941. He became deputy chairman in 1947, and chairman in 1959. During his term as chairman, CBH carried out a busy programme of expansion. Modern, multi-cell terminal facilities were built at Fremantle, Albany, Bunbury, and Geraldton, and improvements were introduced at many country centres. Mr Forrester resigned the chairmanship on March 6 this year."


Reference:  Carnamah Historical Society & Museum and North Midlands Project, 'James King Forrester' in Biographical Dictionary of Coorow, Carnamah and Three Springs, retrieved 26 April 2024 from www.carnamah.com.au/bio/james-king-forrester [reference list]




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