Wellshot Station
Wellshot Station is a pastoral lease that operates as a sheep station. It is located about 45 kilometres (28 mi) south of Ilfracombe and 175 kilometres (109 mi) north of Jundah in Queensland, Australia.
The station was established in 1872 when Alexander Buchanan acquired 1,000,000 acres (4,047 km2) of land which formed the initial station. Buchanan sought financial assistance from Scottish and New Zealand backers to develop the property and build permanent waterholes. The backers were The New Zealand and Australia Land Company based in Scotland, and the name Wellshot was taken from a major shareholder's estate near Glasgow.
In 1876, the property had an estimated size of 1,821 square miles (4,716 km2) running westward to the Thomson River and Westlands Station, bordered by Darling Downs to the south and Beaconsfield Station to the north.
Neither the river or creeks are perennial and even if they were it would still be too long a distance to the centre of the run to make it useful. The average rainfall is 22 inches (559 mm), but at irregular times, so water was a priority. The station manager set to work and constructed many dams and tanks to capture as much rainfall as practicable. 48 reservoirs with a volume of 35,000 cubic yards (26,759 m3) were excavated. Several bores were sunk as far 3,500 feet (1,067 m) to find water, giving a regular supply of 1.3 million gallons.
In 1881 and again in 1884, the area was struck by drought resulting in terrible stock losses.
A total of 27 from Wellshot moved the biggest ever single mob of sheep when a flock of 43,000 were droved through the area in 1886.
Industrial trouble arose at Wellshot later in 1886 during shearing when shearers would not accept conditions proposed by the employer and promptly went on strike. News of the strike spread swiftly through surrounding districts and the men marched on Blackall, the centre of Queensland via Portland Downs, Isis Downs and Thornleigh until over 600 men had joined in. As a result, the Shearers' Union was born.
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