"The Burrandowan Cyclone"

A Fine Stockman

Charlie McNamara was considered to be one of the finest stockmen in the Kingaroy District during the early decades of the twentieth century.

The slightly built man with the ramrod straight back had learned to ride almost before he could walk as he grew up at Auburn station. His horsemanship, like that of his father was second to none.

Station Overseer

Charlie worked as an overseer for the Borton family at Burrandowan during World War 1 at a time final sections of the property were resumed for the Australian Government's Soldier Settlement Scheme.

During this period his oldest brother James Joseph worked for Charlie Persse at Hawkwood while another brother William was employed as a stockman at the Richard Tancred owned Cooindah Station.

The Big Wind

The hyperactive Charlie was conscientious and reliable but if he had a fault it was his unrestrained enthusiasm to get the job done as quickly as possible, often leaving the easy going station hands in his wake.

It was no surprise that at Burrandowan meaning "Big Wind", he earned his nickname the "Burrandowan Cyclone" as he went about his tasks at a whirlwind pace in his trademark white moleskin trousers which some station larrikins believed never got dirty, no matter how hard they worked.

Never far from Charlie's side was his pride and joy, a striking brown chestnut station stock horse called "Brown Bess", named after a British Land Musket of the era.

Family Affair

The McNamara Family had been associated with Burrandowan long before Charlie was born. His father James Senior had worked there as a stockman in the early 1870's and had seen the property change hands twice in two years.

In 1872, Robert Towns and Alexander Stuart of Towns & Co. sold the property to Alexander Campbell and John Hay.

Charlie's eldest sister Sabina was born there, 4 March 1873. In the late 1870's Burrandowan was restocked with cattle. Twenty years earlier, the largest property in the South Burnett, carried over 65,000 sheep.

Noted Pastoral Property

Burrandowan was a 655 square mile property of eleven blocks, 60 miles from the Dalby railhead. The lightly timbered, well grassed pastures were watered by the Boyne and Stuart Rivers and numerous creeks.

When put to auction in 1878, there were 6,000 cattle on the run with over 200 stock horses and brood mares. The head station boasted a 12 room residence with front and back verandahs 12 feet wide. Detached kitchen, bachelor quarters, stores, workshops, stables and men's hut.

A short distance from the homestead was a shingled woolshed accommodating 25 shearers and storage for over 200 bales.

Severing Ties with the Land

There is no record of when Charlie left Burrandowan to work for Harry Wilson at Coven Station near Tingoora, north of Kingaroy.

He turned his back on the land in 1939 following a disagreement with management. The newly married Charlie objected to his wife Jane Horrobin having to eat in the kitchen with the rough and tumble station hands. He became a wardsman at Kingaroy Hospital where Jane worked as a staff nurse.