BOWMAN & FORRESTER
John BOWMAN, "Bob" Robert Clark FORRESTER and "JK" James King FORRESTER [27]
They departed London, England on the steamship Osterley and arrived in Fremantle, Western Australia on 11 May 1915 [34] [70]
Along with the ROBERTSON family, they had travelled to Western Australia to each purcahse a Ready Made Farm [34]
John BOWMAN had arranged before departure to purchase Lot M950 in Carnamah from the Midland Railway Company [34]
Robert Clark FORRESTER had made no definitive arrangements but was probably going to purchase Lot M935 in Carnamah [34]
John, Robert and Robert's son James went into partnership and in 1915 purchased Lot M950 in addition to another four lots [27]
Farmers in Carnamah in 1915 and 1916 [27] [34]
In 1915 took out contracts with the Midland Railway Company to purchase 2,141 acres of farmland in Carnamah for £8380/7/6 [27]
The 2,141 acres consisted of Lots M926, M927, M928, M950 and M1064 of Victoria Locations 1934 and 2022 [27]
On settling in Carnamah they began with just the 434 acre Lot M950, and took up the remainder later in 1915 [34]
Lots M926, M927, M928 and M950 were Ready Made Farms and partially developed, however Lot M1064 was virgin bush [34]
The deal with the Midland Railway Company when they purchased M926, M927 and M928 was that more of it would be cleared [34]
John BOWMAN called for tenders for the clearing of the 850 acres in The West Australian newspaper on 9 November 1915 [39]
The 850 acres was said to have included 700 acres of salmon gum forest, which had been rung about three years earlier [39: 9-Nov-1915]
After failed attempts with clearing contractors the Midland Railway Company offered to pay them to clear the land themselves [34]
They were paid £561/13/0 for clearing 561 acres of land on their Lots M926 and M927 [34]
Their first crop on Lot M950 was to be sown by the Midland Railway Company, however hadn't been sown when they arrived [34]
Samuel J. M. GREEN of Green Bros planted their crop by contract using the Company's Steam Traction Engine tractor [P300]
During the 1915-16 harvest they harvested a total of 4,000 bags of wheat from their crops, which they sold for 4/- per bushel [34]
In 1916 they had between 1,650 and 1,700 acres of their farm planted in crop[34]
Their feat of 1,650 acres in crop in 1916 was from 970 to 1,550 acres more than any other settler on Midland Railway farms [34]
In February 1916 A. J. BARBER, General Manager of the Midland Railway Company in London, England remarked: [34]
"From all accounts both Bowman, and his partner, Forrester, are the best type of Settlers we have had yet, as they are both [34]
evidently putting energy and capital into the development of the farms and undoubtedly this is the only sure way to make good" [34]
In April 1916 they were employing about 45 men and had 55 horses at work in addition to a tractor [34]
The wages and food for their men, the cost of the horses and petrol for the tractor was costing them over £30 per working day [34]
Owing to men serving in the Armed Forces it cost them more for workmen in 1916, and for men of a poorer ability [34]
Also undertook large amounts of contract work with the Midland Railway Company on unsold farms in the Carnamah district [34]
Harvested 2,121 acres of crop in Carnamah for the Midland Railway Company over the 1915-16 harvest for 7/6 per acre [34]
The crops were over 19 farms, namely Lots M929 through to M938, M942 to M944, M946, M952, and M954 to M957 [34]
In mid December 1915 were using two harvesters and three teams of horses, however had to stop owing to rain [34]
Re-commenced harvesting but were held up for 11½ days in January 1916, initially with rain and then due to getting bogged [34]
Bagged and carted all the harvested wheat from the Company's farms to the Carnamah and Yarri railway sidings [34]
In early February 1916 they had to cart all wheat to Carnamah as the road through the bush to Yarri was impassable [34]
They harvested 10141 bags of wheat, 95 bags of seconds and 36 bags of samples from the Company's farms in 1915-16 [34]
In 1916 cultivated and seeded Lots M929-938, M942-944, M946 and M952-955 in Carnamah for 15/6 per acre [34]
In 1916 contracted to plough, cultivate, scrub rake, burn and seed 241 acres on M968 and M969 in Coorow for 23/- an acre [34]
In addition also cultivated and seeded 110 acres on Lot M967 in Coorow for 16/- per acre in 1916 [34]
During the second half of 1916 cleared M916 and M917 in Winchester and a number of blocks in Carnamah [34]
Around August 1916 were paid between 2/6 and 1/- per acre for scrub-cutting 1140 acres in Carnamah [34]
The scrub-cutting was done on portions of Lots M932, M933, M935, M936, M937, M942, M943 and M953 [34]
The clearing involved cutting to the ground all Wattle, Jam, Eucalyptus, Hibiscus and other trees and shrubs [34]
In 1916 harvested and bagged crops on Lots M929-938, M942, M943, M946, M952 and M953 in Carnamah for 8/6 per acre [34]
Also harvested and bagged Lots M963, M967, M968 and M969 in Coorow for 8/6 per acre over the 1916-17 harvest [34]
In 1916 they put it to the Midland Railway Company, for contract harvesting, that they may be able to harvest 50 acres per day [34]
They would employ at least 15 men - seven on harvesters, three bag sewing, three carting, one cook and one to do repairs [34]
The man who did the repairs would also oil the machinery and supervise generally, and they would use sixty horses [34]
With the cost of men's wages, hiring of horses, meals, repairs and machinery depreciation it would cost £24/-/6 per day [34]
Dissolved partnership in December 1916 with John BOWMAN buying out Robert C. and James K. FORRESTER's smaller share [34]
After the dissolution Robert C. FORRESTER shifted to North Fremantle and James K. FORRESTER was serving in the A.I.F. [P300]
The contracts to purchase Lots M926, M927, M928, M950 and M1064 were transferred solely into the name of John BOWMAN [27]
John BOWMAN remained farming the five lots in addition to other land he purchased in Carnamah until his death in 1952 [P1]
James K. FORRESTER returned to Carnamah in 1920 after obtaining a former Ready Made Farm as a soldier settler [P300]
Robert C. FORRESTER returned to Carnamah in 1925 and took up residence on part his son James' Dunester Farm [P300]
Superintendent of Farm Lands for the Midland Railway Company, Robert L. GILBERT,
had the following to say about Bowman & Forrester in a letter dated 20 May 1916:
"...they are settlers who will succeed and pay every penny of their liabilities. They are far and away the most progressive men we have on the scheme. They have put in, I understand, over £2000 of their own money and to do this Mr Bowman had to sacrifice some of his investments in Scotland last year owing to his selling on a bad market... This firm has over 40 men working for them, 53 horses, a 45 H.P. tractor, as well as a number of ploughs, drills, harvesters and other machinery. It is costing them something like £80 a week for stores alone... Bowman and Forrester are in my opinion two of the straightest men I have ever met... They do not owe a penny to the Industries Assistance Board... In addition to seeding our crops Messrs Bowman & Forrester are sowing 1700 acres on their own farms."
| Reference: Carnamah Historical Society & Museum and North Midlands Project, 'Bowman & Forrester' in Biographical Dictionary of Coorow, Carnamah and Three Springs, retrieved 18 November 2024 from www.carnamah.com.au/bio/bowman-and-forrester [reference list] |
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