Curran Wright History

Category: Kelleen Station

  • Pooncarie

    Pooncarie, or Pooncaira as it was originally gazetted, (meaning large sandhill in the Barkindji language) is a very small town in south west, New South Wales, Australia.

    The Barkindji people lived in the area for around 40 000 years, prior to the arrival of white people.

    Established in 1840 through illegal grazing runs, Pooncarie gained prominence as a paddle steamer port to take workers and provisions to sheep stations, and wool bales to markets in the south It came to be known as ‘The Port’ by locals.

    Explorers Burke and Wills passed through the area in 1860 in their south to north expedition across Australia.

    There are a number of sheep properties in the Pooncarie region.

    Sources:

    Dunn, J. https://www.outbackmag.com.au/pooncarie-nsw-2648/.

    visitnsw.com/destinations.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pooncarie

    https://www.aussietowns.com.au/town/pooncarie-nsw

    Curran and Cullinan Families in Pooncarie

    Two stations in Pooncarie are linked to the Curran and Cullinan families: Mullingar (Curran Family) and Kelleen (Cullinan Family).

    Mullingar was established in 1910 by Patrick Curran.

    Kelleen was established in February 1888 by Michael Cullinan.

    See the Michael Cullinan and Patrick Curran posts for further details of their lives in Pooncarie.

    Curran Family

    Entrance to Mullingar Station

    Cullinan Family

    1915: Michael Cullinan is fined and given good behaviour bond for 6 months for using “threatening language in a public place” at a landsale at Endfield near Pooncarie. His appeal on the basis that it wasn’t a public place was dismissed with costs of 10 pounds, 10 schillings costs.

    Threatening Language Charge
    Source: Richmond River Herald – Northern District Advertiser, 10 December 1915

  • Michael and Betsy Cullinan-Kelleen Station

    1888: Michael Cullinan (36 years old) and Betsy Wakefield (27 years old) moved to Kelleen Station (Pooncarie, NSW), one year after their marriage in Kapunda, South Australia.

    Together with their first child, Michael, they arrived on a two horse driven cart. Michael had 1000 pounds to his name courtesy of his rabbiting period with Tom Wakefield who was Betsy’s brother.

    Betsy Wakefield and Michael Cullinan
    Betsy and Michael Cullinan with family

    Initially Michael and Betsy lived on the bank of the Darling River, in an area known as the Old Woodshed Billabong. 

    …a flood [in 1890] drove them out and they lived in tents on the bank of the deep creek near where the bridge over the creek is today. They lived there till the floods went down, then [Michael] built a 2 roomed house out of pine logs and a bark roof, where Kelleen is today…

    … It had a iron roof just over the bark which made it cooler in summer.

    There was 6 blocks shown on Para station at one time, 10 000 acres [each] and he got one. There was no improvements or fences so he had to put up a boundary fence. 

    Kelleen was 6 miles by 3 miles wide. He and his brother Jack put in 3000 acres cropping.”

    (Phyllis Plant, letter)

    According to Gordon Curran (Curran, D, The Family History of James Cullinan 1816-1990), Michael called his property Killeen named after his birth place but it was registered as Kelleen.

    Gordon Curran describes their two roomed house as having:

    pine slab walls and bark room with gum saplings for purlins, fastened with wire from an old fence. This was later extended and covered with an iron roof. The floor was probably dirt to start with but later was of pit sawn gum.

    Gordon Curran

    They have sheep but the wool clip doesn’t pay enough. Michael and other homesteaders try to sell back their leases for 50 pounds each but they are rejected. He then plants 600 acres of grain crops using river boats for transport. Chaff was transported by camel trains to Cuthero and Moorara. 

    Michael installs a production line system in his chaff shed with a double bagger chaff cutter and grain mill, driven by a Marshall steam engine, which is later used to drive the shearing machines

    Source: Gordon Curran in Curran, D, The Family History of James Cullinan 1816-1990.

    Marshall Steam Engine
    A Marshall Steam Engine. Source: https://collection.maas.museum/object/46878

    Michael and Betsy had seven children at Kelleen Station, Michael 1887, Florence 1889, Mary-Ann 1891, James 1893, Andrew 1896, Kelleen (my paternal grandmother) 1899, and Catherine 1901.

    1900: Tom Wakefield (Betsy’s brother) comes to work for Michael as a station hand. He is granted a small piece of land called Corifin. It has no water available so Tom and his family live in a four room cottage at Kelleen. He works for Michael for four years (Source: Wakefield Family History).

    On June 2, 1904 Betsy died. She was 43 years old. The previous year her seventh child, Catherine had drowned in the Darling River at Kelleen Station. She was 2 years old.

    1905: Tom Wakefield sells Corifin to Michael Cullinan. 

    For further Information, see the Kelleen Station page.

  • Stations

    Our ancestors, the Curran and Cullinan families, lived and worked on Pastoral Stations for many years of their lives.

    Curran Families

    • 1910-1945 Mullingar Station, Pooncarie, New South Wales, Australia
      • 14, 700 acre property leased by Patrick Curran in 1910
      • After the second world war, Patrick left the running of the property to his son, Dan Curran.

    Cullinan Families

    • 1874 – Beltana Station, South Australia, Australia
      • Michael Cullinan worked here upon arrival in Australia
    • 1870s – Avoca Station, Wentworth, New South Wales, Australia
      • Michael Cullinan worked here.
    • 1888 – 1921 Kelleen Station, Pooncarie, New South Wales, Australia
      • Michael Cullinan successfully applied for this then 10, 000 acre block.
      • He lived and worked on it, till he sold it to his son , Frank in 1921.
    • 1921 – 1924 Burungie Station, Broken Hill, New South Wales
      • Michael Cullinan bought this station.

    Further Information on these stations, is available on the relevant pages. See categories above.

  • Mary Ann Cuff – Cullinan

    Mary Ann Cuffe was the daughter of Patrick Cuffe (a farmer) and Mary Keller. She was born on the 16th July, 1858 in Deloraine, Tasmania. 

    Her sister, Catherine Cuffe (26 February, 1860) married John Valentine Burns. One of their children, Kathleen Burns married James ‘Tom’ Cullinan in 1920. Tom as he was known was the fourth child of Michael and Betsy Cullinan. It seems that’s how Mary Ann came to be known to Michael Cullinan, as his daughter in law’s auntie.

    Mary Ann’s first marriage was to John West in 1878, in the Church of the Holy Trinity, Westbury, Tasmania. She was 20, he was 21 years old. According to the Archdiocese of Hobart Archives (1984), they had three children, Lily May (26 April, 1881), Kathleen Augusta (1882), and Emily Maude (29 February, 1884).

    It appears Mary Ann also married a Haywood. No details are known about this marriage.

    Mary Ann Haywood (nee Cuffe) later married Michael Cullinan in Wentworth, NSW, Australia in 1914. She was 55. He was 62 years old (Marriage Registration: 1914/16550).

    Mary Ann and Michael lived at the following properties:

  • Michael Cullinan and Ellen Dhann – Kelleen

    1905 – 1907 Michael Cullinan continued to live at Kelleen Station, River Darling, Pooncarie, NSW, Australia after marrying Ellen Dhann in 1905 in Wentworth, NSW.

    1907: Ellen Cullinan (nee Dhann) was reported missing after going for mail across the Darling River.

    Source: The Age, 14 May, 1907

    1907: Ellen Dhann’s body was found in the Darling River. The Coroner found that there was “not sufficient evidence to show how she got into the water…”



    Source: The Scrutineer and Berrima District Press, 18 May, 2007, p. 4
    Source: The Register, 23 May, 2007, p.7