Gunbower farmer Bill McGillivray talks to Robyn Ballinger about how his family has used the Patho plains for grazing.

Like other Victorian rural areas, the rural population of the Patho Plains is decreasing. When landowners move out of the district, they take a wealth of historical knowledge and experience with them.

The Patho Plains Oral History Project was developed to capture the historical knowledge of farmers and landowners to better understand the changing landscape. These interviews and photographs form part of that project.

Further Information

Patho Plains Oral History interview excerpt 9: Bill McGillivray

AUDIO TRANSCRIPT

ROBYN BALLINGER: Just tracing your family, your dad and your mum were in Gunbower.

BILL MCGILLIVRAY: Yeah, on Gunbower Island. Where the abattoirs is now.

ROBYN: OK.

BILL: They owned the sandhill from the abattoirs now right into Gunbow... all the sandhills, back in about the 1920... late '20s, early '30s.

ROBYN: And how did they use that land?

BILL: Uh... he used to cattle deal.

ROBYN: Grazier.

BILL: Grazing, dealing cattle.

ROBYN: Mm-hm. Not milkers - cattle.

BILL: Grazier.

He might have milked for a little while, I think, did he? I think. But, yeah, mainly grazing.

ROBYN: OK.

BILL: Land on the Patho Plains, as we call them, and further over towards Pyramid, they probably had about 11,000-12,000 acres at one stage, back in the '50s and '60s, during the war boom.

ROBYN: And what did they use that land for, Bill?

BILL: Sheep and occasionally cattle. Used to deal in a few cattle. It used to run about 4,000 or 5,000 Merino wethers.

ROBYN: OK. And how many cattle?

BILL: Cattle were periodically, when the feed suited, they might buy it, and not a lot. It depended on seasons.

ROBYN: Right, so it was more of a seasonal thing.

BILL: More of a seasonal thing. I can remember there, I think it was in the late '50s, they held a special sale for themselves. They drove all the cattle off the Plains - about 500 or 600 of them.

ROBYN: OK.

BILL: That was back in the late '50s.

ROBYN: And did they use the island with the Plains? Were they moving cattle between the island and...?

BILL: Not really, no, no. It was run as a separate identity out here.

ROBYN: Was it?

BILL: Because it was Foster and McGillivray.

ROBYN: So it was a partnership.

BILL: A partnership. Mainly used to shear, as I said, they ran 3,000-5,000 wethers at a time, and used to shear out here for about a month to six weeks, in the four-stand shearing shed.

ROBYN: So how did he transport the cattle? Like, when he went to market, where did he take them?

BILL: The kids mainly drove them home. Not me. (Laughs)

ROBYN: Yeah, yeah.

BILL: Got two older brothers, one's dead now, but he would buy at Cohuna, Leitchville, Echuca, and he'd put the boys on the horse, and they would drive them home.

ROBYN: OK.

BILL: I'm the youngest of seven.

ROBYN: Alright.

BILL: My droving days were in sort of the late '50s, early '60s, but it was nothing for him to buy couple of thousand sheep in Echuca and we'd unload them off the train and drive them home.

ROBYN: Right.

BILL: Yeah, back to here.

ROBYN: Back to here.

BILL: At Potters.