Thomson Stan Jack. Thomson Stan Jack. Thomson Stan Jack. Thomson Stan Jack.
“The Fosse”, Lot 1094 Datatine Road
1911 –Current
Written by Yvonne & Lindsay Thomson
“The Fosse” was first settled in 1911 by Alfred Montague Stanley Thomson (known as Stan) and John Gamble Thomson (known as Jack). The two brothers emigrated from England, arrived in South Australia in January 1910, and from there, they took a coastal vessel to Albany.
From Albany they walked north looking for work. Their first job was fighting bushfires around Donnybrook. From there they travelled to Katanning by train, and then walked to the Badgebup area to find a job with the Warrens. Stan worked for Bob Warren on “Walyaming”, while Jack worked for John Warren on “Dyliabing”.
Whilst working there on their days off, they borrowed horses from Warren’s and rode out searching for suitable land. They eventually chose the bush block of Kojonup Location 3589, and named it “The Fosse” after a Roman Road along which they lived in Leicester, England. Their first crop was harvested in 1914. It was 144 acres (58 ha) of wheat yielding only one bag per acre due to it being a drought year. By 1915, the cleared area was 500 acres (202 ha).
Jack Thomson [2] enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in June 1915. He embarked for Europe that same year. During the Battle at Villers Bretonneux in April of 1918, he was fatally wounded. His brother Stan was listed as the next of kin and would have received the sorrowful news.
Stan & Lillias in 1916
In 1918, Stan married Lillias Eunos Joy, who was from a farming family at Badgebup. They were blessed with three children; Lillias Kendall (known as Bubbles) born in 1920, John Ivo born in 1921 and Frederick James in 1924. All attended school at the Boongadoo Hall. As a child, John helped milk nine cows before going to school. The cream would then be sold and sent to Katanning by road mail.
Christmas Day 1924
Back: (L-R) unknown, Lillias & Stan.
Front: Bubbles, John & Fred
After finishing his schooling at Boongadoo, John went to Narrogin Agricultural College but had to cut short his studies after one year (at the age of 14) to help his father out on the farm due to his father suffering ill-health. When Fred left school he also returned to help on the farm.
In 1940 John enlisted for military service, and after training in camps near Perth, he was posted to Adelaide in 1942 and then Darwin.
Also at this time, Bubbles joined the Royal Australian Air Force as a Dental Nurse. Whilst in the RAAF, Bubbles met, and was engaged to, her husband-to-be, Ray Harvey.
Fred married Aileen Parker from Gnowangerup in 1951 and left “The Fosse” to continue his farming career at Lake Grace.
Yvonne (nee Morgan) first came to Nyabing from Cuballing in 1949 to visit her sister Gladys, who was married to Noble Patterson. During her stay in Nyabing, Yvonne managed to secure a job at the Katanning Library and had a second job with an accountant. Yvonne boarded in Katanning and met John at the Katanning Show where they were introduced by mutual friends. They married a year later in November 1950. John and Yvonne’s first born was Christine Anne in 1951 followed by Lindsay John in 1953.
By 1950 the cleared area of the farm was 1500 acres (607 ha). Helping John on the farm during the early 1950’s doing clearing and cleaning up was Max Toms. He played in the Kent District Football Club 1953 premiership side. Also about this time Gus Mindamarra and his partner lived in a tent in the paddock; they did clearing and cut Jam posts with an axe. Gus’s partner gave birth to a boy in their tent.
Christine and Lindsay attended school in Nyabing for their primary schooling and Gil McLaren was their school bus driver for their entire time at school. They completed their high school at boarding school in Perth. After completing High School, both Lindsay and Christine returned to the farm after spending brief periods away trying other ventures.
In 1974, Christine travelled to Africa with her then boyfriend Lloyd Jury. During their trip Lloyd contracted Malaria and lapsed into a coma. Due to good medical treatment, Lloyd was able to overcome the virus and, after a period of convalescence, returned to normal. Later that year Christine and Lloyd married and commenced their farming careers at Pingrup. They had two children; Joshua and Cassandra. Joshua now runs the farming operation at Pingrup, with Christine and Lloyd coming up from Bremer Bay to help during the busy periods. Cassandra lives and works in Margaret River. Lindsay had a son born in 2006; Ashley John Thomson who currently lives in Perth with his Mum.
John, Yvonne and Lindsay continued to run and develop the farm with seasonal help and contract workers and expanded their land area when opportunities arose. One contractor, who lived in the Nyabing area for a time, was John Atkinson. He did the shearing contract at “The Fosse” for 32 consecutive years up until his retirement. Until recent times, sheep have been a major part of the farming operation at “The Fosse”.
Nowadays cropping is the major activity undertaken on the farm, aided by modern technology and machinery. Whilst working on the land with these modern tools, thoughts must be given to those who took to the land with an axe over 100 years ago.
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