Sturts Meadows Station

Sturts Meadows Station most commonly known as Sturts Meadows is a pastoral lease that has operated as a cattle station and a sheep station in outback New South Wales.

It is situated about 77 kilometres (48 mi) north east of Broken Hill and 140 kilometres (87 mi) west of White Cliffs.

The station was established by Abraham and Matilda Wallace in 1863, the name given to the property was taken from Charles Sturt whose expedition travelled farther to the west. The Wallaces travelled to the station from Mingarie in South Australia with 25 horses and 1,400 sheep via the Barrier Range in 1864, squatting at different water holes. Lack of water drove them further north and they didn't return to the area until 1868 only to find that Joseph Panton had moved onto the property and named it Sturts Meadows. In 1869 the property was transferred to Abraham Wallace, but a continued lack of water meant the Wallaces stayed on the move. By 1876 a well on the creek near their original camp was providing permanent water and the station was 100,000 acres (40,469 ha) in size.

Wallace embarked on a trek from Sturts Meadow in January 1880 heading north to the properties he had acquired leases to in the Northern Territory along the Roper River in 1879. On arriving in Longreach, some 750 miles (1,207 km) from Sturts, he bought 2,728 head of cattle and continued his journey eventually arriving in July 1881 after covering a distance of about 2,000 miles (3,219 km). The property was later named Elsey Station and Wallace left the next day to return to Sturts Meadows.

By 1882 the station shore 32,000 sheep, and by 1883 the owners had spent £24,080 on improvements.

Wallace retired in 1884 and appointed a manager to run the property.

Sackville Kidman, the brother and business partner of Sidney Kidman, once worked at Sturts Meadow as the station manager until silver was discovered at the Barrier Range and he started a butchering business in Silverton. Kidman acquired the property some time prior to 1924 and was making plans to build up a flock of 100,000 sheep across his properties in the area including Sturts, Morden, Longawirra and Corona Stations. By 1924 the area was being plagued by dingos, Sturts Meadows had been carrying flocks of up to 100,000 sheep but since the pest arrived numbers had dropped substantially.

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