Glenroy Station
| Company type | Pastoral lease |
|---|---|
| Industry | Cattle station |
| Founded | Early 20th century |
| Founder | Arthur Blythe, Reginald Nash Spong |
| Headquarters | Kimberley , Australia |
Area served | Western Australia |
| Products | Cattle |
Glenroy Station functions as a pastoral lease and operates as a cattle station situated in Western Australia. It lies approximately north of Fitzroy Crossing and east of Derby within the Kimberley area.
History
Glenroy was established in the early twentieth century by Arthur Blythe and Reginald Nash Spong, maintaining deep familial connections to the West Kimberley district. The Blythe family previously managed Brooking Creek Station along the Fitzroy River, while Arthur’s father, Joseph Blythe, later established Mount House Station. Together, Glenroy and Mount House encompass and sustain an estimated 20,000 head of cattle.
Around 1912, Jabez Pearson Orchard acquired Blythe’s interest in the property. By 1916, Sidney Kidman partnered with Spong and Orchard to create the Glenroy Pastoral Company, marking Kidman’s initial foray into the West Kimberley region. A significant droving event occurred in 1919 when 300 horses were driven over from South Australia to Fossil Downs and Glenroy, experiencing only minimal losses.
Kidman withdrew from Glenroy and Mornington Station in 1936 due to challenges such as cattle spearing by Aboriginal Australians and logistical difficulties in transporting cattle to Derby.
In the late 1940s, Gordon Blythe initiated the Air Beef Scheme, which involved building an abattoir at Glenroy in 1948 to facilitate air transport of beef to Wyndham and Derby. The rise of road train transportation led to the abattoir’s closure in 1964; it was mostly destroyed by fire two years later in 1966.
Between 1951 and 1953, a severe drought reduced cattle populations by half across Glenroy and neighboring stations including Noonkanbah, Liveringa, Quandan, Gogo, Cherrabun, Fossil Downs, Luiligui, Christmas Creek, and Bohemia Downs. In response, pastoralists drilled bores and procured supplementary feed to maintain their herds.