History of Beltana Station – Flinders Rangers Research
Beltana is an Indigenous word meaning “running water.”
First set up in 1862 by Robert Barr Smith. It had 17 705 sheep and some cattle. In 1866 camels were bought to Beltana by Afghan handlers. These camels were used for transporting goods and later a camel breeding program was set up at Beltana Station.
1874: Michael Cullinan works at Beltana Station for a few months.
After arriving in Australia and assisting his sister, Bridget to get a job in Adelaide, [Michael Cullinan] rolled up his swag and made for Beltana Station owned by Thomas Elder…stayed there a few months.” (Phyllis Plant, letter)
Michael briefly works at Beltana, driving the bullock team. According to Doug Curran (The History of James Cullinan, p. 13) “…this proved too much to handle as he finished with the wagon locked between two trees.”
Further information on, and photos of, the camel and bullock teams can be found at the Flinders Ranges history website.
Late 1870’s
Michael Cullinan has a number of jobs in Port Augusta, South Australia, Australia: horse-work, fencing, and wheat lumping (carrying bags of wheat on the shoulders).
He also works building railway lines for Barry Brooks and Fraser who were building a railway line through the wheat country north of Port Augusta (Source: Doug Curran, The History of James Cullinan, pp. 13, and Phyllis Plant, letter).
To serve the mining and pastoral industries in the far north of the state, the Great Northern Railway was built from Port Augusta to Quorn in 1879, with the line reaching Marree [outback town at the junction of the Birdsville and Oodnadatta Tracks] in 1883, and Oodnadatta in 1891.
Source: https://nrm.org.au/connect/blog/11-a-brief-history-on-railways-in-south-australia
Later, Michael works on the goods van that carted supplies to the head of the railway line (Source: Phyllis Plant, letter). He also works with a survey party in the hills around Adelaide (Source: Doug Curran).
Related:
1878: The South Australian Governor “turns the first sod of the Port Augusta and Government Gums Railway.” (Source: The Express and Telegraph, Adelaide, South Australia, 18 January 1878, p2)
Locomotive no.53. Used on Port Augusta and Government Gums (Farina) Railway. Built in Manchester in 1877. Used on construction work by Barry, Brooks and Fraser until 1882 when sold to South Australian railways.” Source: https://collections.slsa.sa.gov.au/resource/B+9843
Further information on Commonwealth Railway Locomotives can be found at: https://comrails.com/cr_locos/r_nf.html
Michael Cullinan works on the rail lines in Port Augusta, South Australia in the late 1870s.
Port Augusta is Nukunu country. It is 310 km from Adelaide.
It was proclaimed on 24 May 1852 by Thomas Elder, named after the wife (Augusta Sophia) of the Governor of South Australia, Henry Edward Fox Young. Augusta was the daughter of Charles Marryat Senior who had been a slaveholder in the West Indies (source: Wikipedia).
Port Augusta was considered the ‘cross-roads of Australia’ since it was the junction of major roads and rail links at the head of Spencer Gulf (source: Wikipedia).
Kapunda is in South Australia, Australia. It is 77 km from Adelaide and began as a copper mining town in the 1840’s. This mining continued till 1879. Marble was also mined here.
According to Wikipedia, miners were traditionally Cornish, labourers were Irish and smelter specialists were Welsh. Trade and agriculture were Scottish and English. There were German farmers and timber cutters.
2 June 1886: Michael Cullinan and Betsy Wakefield are married here.
