William Hayes (pastoralist)
| William Hayes | |
|---|---|
| Born | c1827 Liverpool |
| Died | 17 November 1913 |
| Occupation | Pastoralist |
| Spouse(s) | Mary Hayes |
| Children | James,William, Mary, John,Elizabeth, Edward |
William P. Hayes (c1827 – 17 November 1913) was a pioneer and pastoralist in Central Australia. He is best known for establishing a cattle empire over 13,478 square km of land, including Undoolya, Deep Well, Maryvale, Mount Burrell and Owen Springs Stations near Alice Springs in the Northern Territory of Australia.
Hayes was born in c.1827 in Liverpool in the United Kingdom and grew up in Wales, where as a young adult, he became a butcher.
Hayes migrated to Australia at the age of 21, arriving in Adelaide. He took up work in various locations throughout remote South Australia, ubcluding Yednaloo Station, north of Port Augusta and then Canowie. He purchasing a team of bullocks. In the drought of the mid-1860s, he lost all 30 bullocks. Of the wide variety of work he did during this period, it was the "conveyance of five tonnes of copper ore in one lump from Yudanamutpna Mine to Port Augusta for exhibition in London" that he regarded as his finest achievement, as he did it single-handed.
William and his wife Mary (née Stratford) arrived in Alice Springs in 1884 after the birth of their first child Edward. They undertook fencing work on Mount Burrell Station and Owen Springs Station for Sir Thomas Elder. In 1890 they hauled a large consignment of steel telegraph poles to Alice Springs, to replace the original wooden poles of the Overland Telegraph Line.
The Hayes applied for a lease on what was to become Deep Well Station in 1893, purchasing 162 cattle from Tom Williams of Paddy's Hole Arltunga. They expanded their holdings during the drought of the 1890s, securing a lease at Mount Burrell upon the withdrawal of Thomas Elder from the region. He was soon to own five others and abandon Deep Well. In 1903, he transferred his seven leases into the name Hayes and Family, his sights next on Undoolya Station. Over the next two decades the Hayes's holdings continued to expand until they owned more 11,000 cattle over 13,478 square km of land, which was about the same size as land owned by Sidney Kidman's at the time and included:
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