Legacy of the Land

What of this lovely farmland today? Much of it through the years was subdivided and passed into other hands, but I am happy that a portion of it remains in the Williamson family. Noel, my brother—the eldest son of the eldest son of Francis—today farms the land and does much the same as his grandfather did more than a hundred years ago. Wheat is grown, flocks of sheep are kept, and the love of horses remains. Even though it is a fully mechanised farm, you will always find several horses near the homestead. There is a road nearby this farm, named Williamson Road, and this is just one little reminder of the early settler who strove to help make this country what it is today.

I lived on the larger block of this country in a lovely old farmhouse until about six years of age. I have happy remembrances of the wide old bannisters going up to the bedrooms above. Another vivid memory is that of the stables and the row of horses—mainly draught—that were kept for farm work. Men were employed and the horses were well cared for. It was fun to see them at the end of a day’s work with their nose bags of chaff around their necks, or in the stalls eating from the corner feed box.

Another interest I well remember was the annual horse clipping. The horse clippers were worked by two men—one turning the clipper as the other carefully clipped the horse from the belly down. The shearing shed was a large one too, and one more unforgettable experience was standing watching the shearers at work—the fleecos tossing their mountains of wool were none the less interesting.