Marion Downs Station

For the former Cattle station in the Kimberley region of Western Australia, see Marion Downs Sanctuary

Marion Downs Station, often just referred to as Marion Downs, is a pastoral lease that operates as a cattle station in Queensland, Australia.

The station is located about 56 kilometres (35 mi) south west of Boulia and 282 kilometres (175 mi) north of Birdsville in the Channel Country of Central West Queensland.

The property is well watered by the Georgina, Burke, Hamilton and Mulligan Rivers. The land varies from floodplains to open rolling downs vegetated with Mitchell and Flinders grasses and to desert country of the Simpson Desert along the western boundary.

Marion Downs is run in conjunction with the Herbert Downs outstation, employing about 15 people, and together occupy a total area of 12,460 square kilometres (4,811 sq mi). The property is stocked with about 15,000 head of cattle and is currently owned by the North Australian Pastoral Company.

The station was established in 1877 along with several other well known properties in the Channel Country as pastoralists expanded westward from the grasslands at the headwaters of the Diamantina. Other properties established at the same time included Glenormiston Station, Headingly Station, Herbert Downs, Noranside and Roxburgh Downs. In 1878 the then owner, Mr F. Scarr, sold the property to a New South Wales investor, Mr Andrew Tobin, for £6000 cash. Tobi and company bought the property without any stock and without inspection, so well regarded was the country, thought to be particularly suited to sheep with its abundance of saline herbage and lime. Tobin thought otherwise and began to stock the area with cattle buying over 1,000 store cattle in an 1880 sale that were delivered shortly afterward. One of Tobin's partners in the station, John Leach Manning, died in 1883 leaving Tobin and the last partner, Daniel MacKinnon, with Marion Downs.

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