A Varied and Versatile Life
The Memoirs of Frank Wittenoon
1855 - 1939
Edited and annotated by R.F.B. Lefroy
ISBN 085905 317 2, (2003 upgraded reprint), 110 pp, A4 wire bound, illustrated, 325 grams
$30.00* + POST
Frank Wittenoom was a grandson of the first Colonial Chaplin who arrived off Fremantle with his family on 30th January 1830.
He was born on the family farm near York in December 1855 and died in Perth in September 1939.
Following his mothers death in 1861 the family moved to Perth where he was educated and worked for the West Australian Bank.
After a period as a jackaroo at Northampton he was sent by his Uncle, at the age of 19, to assist John Perks to supervise the mainly ex convicts who were shepherding about 20,000 sheep on his Yuin lease.
He went on to explore a large are a of the Murchison, to areas where no white person had been before, where he once disturbed cannibals feasting. He established both cattle and sheep properties in an area which later became famous for the quality and quantity of its wool, especially his Boolardy Station.
About 1893, he and his brother had a supply business. Frank in Cue and Edward in Geraldton. They always had 500 cases of whisky in transit on wagons at the one time. (To keep the miners happy!)
He established Race Clubs in the Murchison and later in Kalgoorlie.
From Cue he went back to Boolardy for a time and then on to Kalgoorlie where he became a mine manager and share broker, then on to Perth to manage Dalgety and Co.
He took up 12,000 acres near Walebing to establish the well known sheep stud, Cranmore Park.
He was a world traveller, all the time keeping in touch with his interests at home through his three nephews and his accountant, often issuing advise and instructions from the other side of the world.
All this is told in his own words.