Cheetham Harry Doris. Cheetham Harry Doris. Cheetham Harry Doris.
1st Generation
Harry (Henry) James & Doris (Dot) Mary (nee Watson)
“Moorilla” Williams location 11702
1949 – Current
Harry (Henry) Cheetham was born in 1922 was the ninth of eleven children of George and Dulcie Cheetham. George and Dulcie were amongst the first settlers at Datatine having arrived from Dunolly, Victoria in 1911. After serving in the Army in WW2, Harry returned to Katanning and worked in several jobs. (War Record – Click Here)
In 1949 Harry purchased 400 acres (162 ha) from Bill Broadhead north east of Nyabing for £800 ($1600). Two hundred acres (81 ha) was cleared and it had a bit of a house on it. Harry named the farm “Moorilla” meaning many rocky ridges, which were predominant through the farm.
In 1952 Harry married Doris Mary Watson in the Katanning Methodist Church. Harry and Dot (Doris) had four children; Denis in 1953, Brian in 1954, Susan in 1955 and Gary in 1957. Sadly, Susan died as a child. Denis and Gary are still farming in Nyabing and Brian is a university lecturer at Armidale, New South Wales. Brian and Margaret have three sons.
In 1950 Harry took up 1900 acres (769 ha) of virgin bush that was bought from the Government. It was Conditional Purchase Land (CP) meaning that there were time limits for it to be cleared, fenced and poison removed. A certain amount of money had to be spent on development each year, with money for the land being paid off over a twenty year period.
Harry’s first tractor was a Caterpillar 22, and his first truck was a Chevrolet bus, which was converted to a truck with a wooden cab. In 1953 Harry bought an Austin A70 car. Up until that time the only form of transport was the truck. Dot taught herself to drive and she tells the story of spending a lot of time doing kangaroo hops across a paddock but was proud to become a competent driver.
Whilst clearing the land, Harry was also share cropping with his brother Victor in Nyabing. Victor supplied the machinery and Harry supplied the labour. The land was mostly new ground. Harry received one third of the returns, and this arrangement lasted until 1956, when Victor pulled out. This left Harry with no source of income whilst he was developing his own land. Harry and Dot discussed leaving, however as the land was CP and undeveloped it could not be sold. This would result in walking away from seven years hard work. The few years to follow were extremely difficult financially.
When Harry bought his first 36 sheep for seven pound ($14.00) each, wool was selling for a pound (.45 kg) a pound ($2.00). This was not the case when Harry sold his first wool clip, with the wool market falling. The first wool clip was three and three quarter bales, and by this time, his sheep numbers had increased to around 100.
Many hours were spent clearing land and burning piles. Harry remembers all the effort that was put into picking mallee roots in the morning and fallowing in the afternoon. He remembers there were plenty of punctures, the most being seven in one day. In 1965 Harry bought a root rake, which made developing paddocks considerably easier.
In 1967 the telephone was connected to Harry and Dot’s house and, in 1968, they first had television with the mains power being connected in 1978. Harry purchased a neighbouring property in 1972 from Albert Beagley. In 1985 Harry and Dot retired to Katanning, Harry visited the farm regularly and, in 1987, Harry split the farm and Denis and Gary leased half each. Harry passed away in 2002 and Dot still lives in Katanning.
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2nd Generation
Gary Raymond and Susanne Jane (nee Wellstead) Cheetham
“Moorilla” Williams location 11297
Gary and Sue (nee Wellstead) were married in 1981 and live and farm on Moorilla. Gary and Sue have three daughters; Belinda born in 1983, Cassandra in 1985 and Tracey in 1987.
Belinda is a primary school teacher at Gnowangerup. She married Kalevi Guy in 2011 and they live in Ongerup. Cassandra is also a primary school teacher in Wongan Hills. Tracey is a physiotherapist and currently works in Albany.
Gary and Sue are still farming on Moorilla with additional blocks purchased from Ian and Pam Langley in 1995 and another from Bert and Joan Bray in 2002.
GEORGE & MOLLY CHEETHAM
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