The area known as Yannawah was a part of Geralda Station and was adjacent to Gibbs' Berthong Station on the eastern side. Geraldra was settled after Young, Cootamundra and Wallendbeen.
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The area did not have a good water supply except for the Bland Creek which had some excellent water holes. Also the area was covered with large and dense timber.
WH Davidson rode his horse from Western Victoria to Central Queensland looking for land to purchase in 1875/1876.
He bought Geraldra, 75,000 acres, at Young in NSW and a large sheep station in Blackall, Queensland. His younger brother GD Davidson, came to live with him at Geraldra as did another partner AW Robinson. Geraldra extended from Flagstaff, Congou and Yannawah to Grogan, some land was sold off to some early employees. About 1912 ,Yannawah, was sold, possibly to pay out A.W. Robertson.
By 1914 Geraldra was split between the families of GD and WH Davidsons and families.
The five sons of WH Davidson all settled in the area from Victoria. Frank Davidson was the first to do so, he started with Yarran in 1914 with approximately 3000 acres.
Yannawah was purchased by Young and Ralli from South Australia, Mr Young had previously purchased Milong .
Young and Ralli were entrepreneurial types and they tried to develop the concept of a Farmers Co-Operative using Yannawah as a base. This led to the development of the all electric 20 foot cut "Milong Harvester".
The project failed for a number of reasons not least the fact that the large big four oil tractor blew up at a picnic day at Yannawah, to raise money for the war effort, killing two men.
The area did not develop as expected, the residents went to Young or Cootamundra for shopping and business. The roads were just tracks through the trees and the Yannawah Lake and the Hampstead Race course and sports ground were under utilised.
The Forbes to Stockinbingal rail line eventually came through but the promised siding for Yooronga was never built.
"Largest Harvester in the world."
This statement was taken from an article in a local paper on 12 December 1912.
Messrs Illman and Sons, Engineers and Machinists, of Balaklava, have constructed for Messrs Young and Ralli, of Young NSW, what is probably the largest complete harvester in the world.
The wheat growing area controlled by Messrs Young and Ralli are very extensive.
The soil has been turned over with the help of a large traction engine and they have approached Mr Frank Illman to construct a complete harvesting machine which would do the work of three stripers and that would allow them to use their tractor for harvesting as well as preparing the soil for seed.
While the machine was under construction the progress was followed by many interested parties and it was accepted that for easy turning and running it came up to expectations.
The harvester has a cut of 26 feet and an overall width of 30 feet. The comb is in three sections, which rack independently. The machine is driven by three electric motors, and a large oil tractor leads it along.
On the tractor is a generator to supply the currant for the motors.
The stripped grain is conveyed to the thrasher and then to the winnower.
The clean wheat is delivered into four bins of a capacity of 50 bags each. In a good standing crop two men will be sufficient to handle the harvester and the tractor, one on each.
The machine should strip and clean about 400 to 700 bags per day.
The tractor is what is know as "the big 430 oil tractor" and is equal to the work of 30 draught horses. It steers automatically. The harvester was patented by Messrs. Illman in the Commonwealth and America.
- The information for this article was sourced from files held at the Lambing Flat Museum at Young. Brian James produces his column for publication in the Young Witness each Tuesday.
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