When the Seymour family first took up a pastoral lease in 1847 on the Mosquito Plains between one third and a half of the area was inundated with water for much of the year.
Subscribe now for unlimited access to all our agricultural news
across the nation
or signup to continue reading
A new book Killanoola: The story of the Seymour family highlights their triumphs and tribulations as pastoral pioneers at Bool Lagoon, between Penola and Naracoorte.
Within a decade, they had prospered, running a flock of 30,000 sheep on about 130 square kilometres. But in the latter half of the 1850s, they also had to contend with fires, floods, labour shortages due to the gold rush and sheep scab in their flock.
The book also chronicles the division of Killanoola and South Killanoola in 1913 and how successive generations of the Seymours have left their mark, not just on the land but also SA agriculture.
The family are the longest continuous landholders in the South East and are still the custodians of South Killanoola, which is 3200 hectares, running a respected sheep flock and cattle herd, dairy and cropping.
Robert Seymour says he wanted to ensure the family history was not lost and enlisted respected historian Rob Linn in 2019 to write the book. Unfortunately Rob passed away before it could be finished, but he is grateful Rob's wife Jane saw the project through.
"It was never the intention to market the book but it will be helpful for anyone looking back at the history of SA and the life and communities they lived in at those particular times," Robert said.
Thomas Conway Seymour and his wife Eliza first set foot on SA soil in April 1841 with their six children, emigrating from Galway, Ireland.
Prior to their arrival they bought land near Mount Barker - an area considered to be some of the best in the new colony - but it was not as productive as they had hoped.
After several overland expeditions between Port Phillip Bay, Vic and Adelaide, news of the vast tracts of fertile land in the South East had spread and, after being assigned an occupation licence, two of Henry's sons set out for the SE.
Unfortunately tragedy struck with Henry Junior dying after a gun was accidentally discharged when they were unloading the wagon at their new home. Within a few years, the whole family was living at Killanoola.
Robert says Henry's foresight in recognising the need to drain the flats stands out as one of his greatest agricultural achievements.
"It just about broke the family. They didn't have the modern machinery of today but they drained the low lying into the swamps," he said.
He also developed a top quality Merino flock on Bungaree bloodlines.
This association began when Henry and Eliza's daughter Elizabeth married Charles Hawker from Bungaree at Clare.
This pursuit of excellence in livestock breeding has carried on in further generations of Seymours, including Robert's father Conway, who not only had a Poll Hereford stud but also registered a Hampshire Down stud in 1960, which South Killanoola has maintained.
"My father saw the Hampshire Downs at a show on a trip to the United Kingdom and could see the potential for them to breed good fat lambs," Robert said.
A chapter of the book is also dedicated to Conway's influence on agri-politics, which included a term as president of the Stockowners Association of SA.
Robert has also recounted some memories from his childhood, including the time as a toddler he ventured off the verandah into the nearby paddock with a stud Hereford bull.
"I found a very good pillow on the bull's testicles and I had fallen asleep," he said.
"My poor mother was beside herself when she walked out and told my father to go and get the gun and shoot the bull. As my father was getting the gun, the bull stirred and walked away with no harm done."
All families have their ups and downs, usually they have a dispute here and there but we have been able to keep it going.
- ROBERT SEYMOUR, South Killanoola
The book concludes in 1972 after the death of Mary Seymour at the grand age of 97. She bequeathed a substantial parcel of bushland to the state government, which is now the Mary Seymour Conservation Park.
A couple of years later, the original Killanoola homestead and land also changed hands to the DeGaris family, who own it today.
"Mary was the last of that generation of the Seymour family and I didn't want to go much further (in time) because while you are living, you are not history," Robert said.
Throughout the years, partnerships have been formed and dissolved but Robert is proud the Seymour family still own South Killanoola.
"All families have their ups and downs, usually they have a dispute here and there but we have been able to keep it going," he said.
Now retired at Robe, Robert still enjoys visiting South Killanoola regularly.
One of his sons, Digby and his family, live on the property, which is capably managed by Dean Eastwood.
"Of course I will have no say but it is hopeful it will keep going - even if there is not a genuine farmer in the short term, hopefully one might pop up," Robert said.
"There is a very good future for producing food, especially in the South East where we have these aquifers to supply water."
Killanoola: The story of the Seymour family will be launched at the Naracoorte Public Library on Tuesday, May 2 at 2pm.
- Copies are available by emailing Robert at rhcseymour@bigpond.com
