"Jim" James Slater STRAITON
Born 3 June 1893 in Persie, Perthshire, Scotland [28]
Son of forester Alexander STRAITON and Agnes SLATER [28]
He was born at 7:00 at night at Craighead in Persie [28]
In 1901 was living with his parents, brother Alex and sisters Lilias and Rachel at Craighead in Persie, Perthshire [20]
He was working as a Cattleman on a farm in 1911 and living at Ashintully Bothy in Kirkmichael, Perthshire [20]
Departed London, England on the steamship Orontes and arrived in Fremantle, Western Australia on 21 July 1914 [70]
Initially worked shearing up north before shifting to Waddy Forest in the Coorow district of Western Australia [P89]
In September 1914 was employed by the Midland Railway Company working on farms in Coorow, Winchester and/or Carnamah [34]
His work would have been in connection with the company's Ready-Made Farms which were being developed [34]
Received £6 wages on 11 September 1914 and £5/10/- wages on 23 September 1914 from the Midland Railway Company [34]
Teamster on Waddy Waddy Farm in Waddy Forest 1915-1917 [50]
Farmhand and Share-farmer with Angus A. N. MCGILP on Waddy Waddy Farm in Waddy Forest [10: Feb-1922] [P89]
Married Ivy Frances RANDALL on 21 October 1921 at Christ Church in the Perth suburb of Claremont [39: 1-Dec-1921]
Gave up share-farming in early 1922 and held a clearing sale to sell his horses and machinery at Waddy Waddy on 7 March 1922 [10]
His machinery included an 8-foot Sunshine harvester, 14-disc Sun drill, 5-foot McKay disc plough, Barger disc cultivator, [10]
sulky and harness; six sets of spiders; 16 horse collars, hames and winkers; eleven pairs of plough chains, swings and a stove [10]
Horses sold at the sale were six medium draught mares and geldings, three medium draught colts and fillies, and one sulky mare [10]
Also sold 25 bags of Algerian and Burt's Early oats and a host of sundries [10: Feb-1922]
He and his wife left Waddy Forest and shifted to the Perth suburb of Claremont where they ran a cake shop [P89]
By 1925 they had left Perth and shifted with their son Donald to farmland in Winchester [19]
Purchased 863 acres of farmland in Winchester from James L. B. WEIR (Lots M913 and M1307 of Victoria Location 2023) [44] [64]
Farmer of Hursley Farm in Winchester 1925-1939 [19] [P89]
On 4 January 1926 extended his farm by 1,000 acres with the purchase of Lot M1610 of Victoria Location 2023 [27]
Purchased the 1,000 acres from the Midland Railway Company for £375, payable by instalments over 15 years [27]
The 1,000 acres was virgin land on purchase, consisting of tanma and mallee country [4: 27-Apr-1929] [27]
By 1929 he had cleared 650 of the 1,000 acres, and in 1928 had harvested a five bag crop from the block [4: 27-Apr-1929]
On 15 May 1929 put the 1,000 acres up for auction, however it obviously didn't sell as he remained its owner [3] [4: 27-Apr-1929]
The southerly end of his Hursley Farm adjoined the Winchester townsite [0: image 02913]
He purchased ten acres of the Winchester townsite for £152 from the Midland Railway Company on 20 August 1926 [27]
The land was 38 quarter-acre blocks, which were Lots 41 through to 49 and Lots 52 through to 80 of Victoria Location 2023 [27]
Lots 41-39 and 52-60 were all but two lots of the east side of Cooleran Street while Lots 61-80 was the entirity of Kirkar Street [382]
He donated the land for the Winchester State School in the Winchester townsite in 1926 or 1927 [P89] [7: page 84]
Had an account with Carnamah blacksmith, wheelwright and motor mechanics Henry Parkin & Son in 1927 and 1929 [53]
At a meeting in November 1927 he offered the Winchester Sports Picnic Meeting Committee the use of part of his farm [4: 10-Dec-1927]
Approached by the Winchester Sports Ground Committee to sell ten acres of his farm for £7 per acre in August 1928 [4: 1-Sep-1928]
Took his sheep to the shearing shed of William J. PETHICK on Petan Farm, Winchester to be shorn in August 1929 [4: 17-Aug-1929]
He was among those who attended the Centenary Ball held at the Carnamah Hall on 26 July 1929 [86: 3-Aug-1929]
The ball was to celebrate 100 years since the founding of Perth and the establishment of the Swan River Colony [86]
Attended the Euchre Party and Dance held in Winchester on Saturday 10 August 1929 [4: 17-Aug-1929]
In 1932 arranged a Dingo Hunt in Winchester which was successful in locating and destroying a dingo that had been seen [4]
Paid a 10/- Vermin Bonus by the Carnamah District Road Board in February 1934 for helping to control vermin by killing a fox [300]
Committee Member of the Winchester Parents & Citizens Association in 1934 [5: 23-Mar-1934]
Helped build a bush shelter shed for the children of the Winchester State School on Saturday 10 February 1934 [5: 16-Feb-1934]
In early May 1934 installed a wind driven electric lighting plant on his farm, which he'd purchased from Dalgety & Co [5: 11-May-1934]
Breeder of an Australian Illawarra Shorthorn cattle stud on his property in Winchester [5: 8-Jun-1934]
Extended his cattle stud in mid 1934 with the purchase of two New South Wales bred heifers for 22½ and 21½ guineas [5: 8-Jun-1934]
Boarded the passenger train at Winchester on Monday 9 July 1934 on his way to Perth for a short visit [5: 13-Jul-1934]
Attended the funeral of Mrs Christina B. D. FORRESTER of Carnamah at the Winchester Cemetery on 31 August 1934 [4: 8-Sep-1934]
After spending a holiday in Perth he returned to Winchester by car with John BRADLEY in late February 1935 [5: 1-Mar-1935]
Sold 46 suckers at 16/2 per head through Dalgety & Co Ltd at the Midland Market on Wednesday 4 September 1935 [5: 6-Sep-1935]
Along with his wife and two sons travelled from Winchester to Perth by train on Monday 7 October 1935 [5: 11-Oct-1935]
Purchased two Dorset Horn rams at the sheep sales of the Royal Show in Perth in October 1935 [5: 1-Nov-1935]
Member of a deputation that met with the Carnamah District Road Board on Wednesday afternoon 22 January 1936 [5: 24-Jan-1936]
Himself and five other Winchester farmers met with the Board to discuss the inadequacy of the facilities at the Winchester Well [5]
His input at the deputation was that the troughing at the well was insufficient for people to water their livestock at the well [5]
The Board wouldn't put an engine at the well, but did agree to install a trough and put the pump, buckets and windlass in order [5]
Part of the his new shed was unroofed by a storm that ravaged Carnamah and Winchester on Monday 23 March 1936 [5: 27-Mar-1936]
Sold 243 sheep through Westralian Farmers Ltd at Midland Markets between July and October 1936 [5: 24-Jul-1936, 28-Aug-1936, 11-Sep-1936]
The sheep comprised 64 suckers (7 at 21/7, 5 at 20/7, 24 at 20/1, 14 at 16/10, 13 at 16/1, 1 at 13/4), 2 rams at 16/10, [5: 9-Oct-1936]
57 lambs (18 at 24/1, 1 at 21/1, 13 at 20/7, 13 at 19/1, 12 shorn at 11/10), 31 hoggets (6 at 23/10, 25 shorn at 16/7) [5: 23-Oct-1936]
67 shorn ewes (14 at 19/10, 19 at 18/4, 16 at 15/10, 18 at 10/7) and 22 wethers (9 at 26/1, 2 at 23/1, 9 shorn at 19/4, 2 at 18/-) [5]
Sold nine head of cattle through Westralian Farmers Ltd at the Midland Market on Wednesday 10 February 1937 [5: 12-Feb-1937]
2 heifers (1 at £4/2/6, 1 at £3), 1 steer at £2, 1 bull at £2/2/6, and 5 calves (1 at £1/17/6, £1/15/-, £1/12/6, £1/10/-, £1/2/6) [5]
Sold 54 lambs (42 at 17/7, 12 at 16/7) and 22 hoggets at 18/7 per head through Westralian Farmers Ltd on 11 August 1937 [5: 13-Aug-1937]
Financial Member of the Carnamah District Agricultural Society in 1937 and 1940 [13]
The Winchester Cemetery lies on what was originally part of his farm [P89]
In 1937 the Carnamah District Road Board hoped to resume part of his farm to extend the cemetery [5: 21-May-1937]
The Carnamah District Road Board made a deviation on The Midlands Road opposite his dam in Winchester in mid 1937 [5: 18-Jun-1937]
Won 1st prize for two year old milking strain Shorthorn heifer at the Carnamah Agricultural Show in 1937 [5: 17-Sep-1937]
During the 1938-39 financial year he sold his 1,863 acre farm in Winchester to Clarence R. MILLARD [3] to clear a debt of £3,000 [P89]
The farm consisted of Lots M913, M1307 and M1610 of Victoria Location 2023 [3]
He also sold 18 of his adjoining quarter-acre blocks in the Winchester townsite to MILLARD but retained a further 20 blocks [3]
The 18 blocks that he sold were Lots 53 to 70, which was most of the south east corner of the Winchester townsite [3]
He held a clearing sale on his farm on 26 January 1939 where he sold his sheep, cattle, horses and machinery [0: images 02913, 02914]
Also in 1939 his wife purchased the 491 acre farm of Frederick J. BOWRA, that they had been farming for five years [3]
Relocated to the small house on the 491 acres in Winchester which they also named Hursley Farm [P89]
Farmer of the second and much smaller Hursley Farm in Winchester from 1939 until his death in 1942 [P89]
Established a Dorset Horn stud on his Winchester property [0: image 02970]
Fire Control Deputy of the Winchester Fire Control Committee in 1939 [0: image 03880]
On the afternoon of 23 November 1940 a fire on his property destroyed a considerable amount of hay and stubble [0: image 03958]
During the 1940-41 financial year purchased the premises (but not the business) of the Winchester General Store [3]
Father of Donald, Ian and Bruce [P89]
Died 19 February 1942; buried at the Karrakatta Cemetery in Perth, Western Australia (Presbyterian, CC, 456) [2]
From The North Midland Times newspaper, Friday 27 February 1942:
Late Mr. James S. Straiton
"The news was received in Carnamah on Thursday evening of last week that Mr. J. S. Straiton, a well-known resident of the Winchester district had passed over the Great Divide that day. Although the Deceased gentleman had been failing in health for some time past, this was not generally known, and the news of his death came as a severe shock to all who had known him. The late Mr. Straiton had been engaged in farming pursuits at Winchester for a number of years. Originally he farmed two separate properties close to the [Winchester railway] siding, but about three years ago he disposed of the larger of these properties and decided to concentrate on his smaller holding which is near the Winchester School. The late Mr. Straiton established a small Dorset Horn stud on this Property, and last year he received a particularly good price for all of his export lambs. He did not take a very active part in the social life of the district, preferring to concentrate on the improvement of his farm. A widow and two young sons (Ian and Bruce) are left to mourn their loss, while one sister (Mrs. R. Power) resided in Carnamah. The funeral took place in Perth."
| Reference: Carnamah Historical Society & Museum and North Midlands Project, 'James Slater Straiton' in Biographical Dictionary of Coorow, Carnamah and Three Springs, retrieved 26 April 2024 from www.carnamah.com.au/bio/james-slater-straiton [reference list] |
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