Milly Milly Station

Child Places

• 18200 Forrest Plaque
• 18201 Hooley Plaque

Statement of Significance

Milly Milly has considerable historic significance as an early pastoral station established in the Murchison district and for it's association with the O'Grady Brothers and later the Mulcahey family, under whose possession the amalgamation of smaller leases into a large lease holding was carried out. The group of buildings that comprise the Milly Milly Homestead group reflects both the impact of flooding and the development of the station, from the remnants of the c1881 homestead and wagon shed to the 1908 homestead, trough tot he more recent out buildings. Furthermore, the place is evidence of the use of local building materials, including ant bed floors, and is characteristic of pastoral station homesteads of this era.

Physical Description

The Milly Milly station comprises a group of buildings within a fenced garden area including the main house, the store and office building, and the kitchen all forming a U around the grassed courtyard, as well as a bough shed, a former meat house and laundry. Nearby are various outbuildings, while several hundred metres to the west along the access road are the ruins of the wagon shed and the original homestead. Further west and adjacent to the river crossing are several graves.
The main house is of stone and mud brick construction with a twin hipped corrugated roof. The building features separate surrounding verandahs which are supported on chamfered timber posts. The verandahs are partly enclosed with lattice while the roof is punctuated by three corbelled chimneys. The house has pounded ant bed floors, timber framed sash windows, French doors which open onto the verandahs and features decorative fireplace surrounds and high pressed metal ceilings. A foundation stone located southern facade of the house states, "This stone was laid by FH Ceasar Esq 1.2.1906." Interestingly the foundation stone was not laid at the time of the original construction, but rather many years later in the 1970's by Peter Klopek. The store and office building and kitchen are of similar construction with hipped corrugated iron roofs and surrounding verandahs. The buildings have cement block quoining to corners and openings. The main house and kitchen are linked by a raised walkway across the lawn. Adjacent to the kitchen is the former Meathouse, a simple timber framed structure with a pyramid shaped corrugated iron roof extending over surrounding verandahs. This building has been renovated to accommodate the school room. A stone out house is located immediately to the east of the fenced homestead complex.
Several hundred metres to the west of the Milly Milly Homestead along the Beringarra-Byro Road are the stone ruins if the second c1881 Milly Milly Homestead (on the north side) and the Wagon Shed (on the south side). Some sections of the remnant stone walls are up to approximately two to three metres in height. Further tot he west on the other side of the creek are four graves, each with metal surrounds. One grave has a headstone that bears the following inscription: "In loving memory of our dear husband and father Joseph Frederick Waldeck died 10th April 1938 aged 69 years."

History

There appears to be conflicting accounts of the early history of the Milly Milly Station. One version purports that the leases on which Milly Milly is located were
first taken up by brothers, Thomas and Robert O'Grady, in 1876-7. The men has built a small hut and make shift shearing shed approximately 10 miles down river from the current homestead, on the small lease of Dalla Camp. of which there are no remains, to a site on the Murchison River, known locally as the east branch. It was here that they built the second homestead in c1881, a stone building with a thatched roof and surrounding verandahs. Near the homestead was a kitchen, men's quarters and further away a store, blacksmith's workshop, cart shed, harness room and bachelor's quarters. Unfortunately the location of this complex of buildings adjacent to the river resulted in considerable flood damage and eventual relocation.
Theother version claims that the original lease was taken up by Mr Creswick in January 1879 before being transferred in November to J Forrest, Charles Crowther, H Darlot and Aitkin & Birrell. The role of the latter two in the development of Milly Milly appears to have begun after 1887, prior to which they were involved with a nearby lease, now known as Innouendy. Following the death of Mr Birrell, Mr James Aitkin took complete possession of the lease and gradually set about making Milly Milly one of the best stations in the Murchison district. When James Aitkin died, the lease passed onto his brother-in-law, Mr McKellar, who in turn sold it to Daniel and Michael Mulcahey in 1906-07. It was at this time that the smaller leases were amalgamated into one large pastoral lease- Milly Milly.The third, and present homestead, was built a mile away on higher ground and was completed in 1908.
In addition to manger George Halleen (1931-1952), various members of the Mulcahey family have been involved with Milly Milly over the years until 1981, when CC Broad Family Trust bought the property. (Road to Murchison, pp. 139-145 and a "Varied and Versatile Life", p.31)

Integrity/Authenticity

Integrity: High

Condition

Good

Uses

Historic Themes

Creation Date

Publish place record online (inHerit):

Last Update

Disclaimer

This information is provided voluntarily as a public service. The information provided is made available in good faith and is derived from sources believed to be reliable and accurate. However, the information is provided solely on the basis that readers will be responsible for making their own assessment of the matters discussed herein and are advised to verify all relevant representations, statements and information.