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Stan Brown, as Chairman of the Central Australian Pastoral Lessees Association, in 1939, sent Les Clough,
the Alice Springs-based Lands and Survey Branch Field Officer, an article regarding stock carrying capacity
(avoidance of overstocking). The response was positive.
The Minister (of the Department of the Interior) approved the transfer of the Stirling pastoral leases from
Sir Sidney Kidman and W S P Kidman to W S Brown on 8 April 1938. Stan’s two older brothers, Aubrey and
Harold, joined him on Stirling. That pastoral lease (PL145CA) was split between Stan and Bill Heffernan.
In May 1950 Stan lost the sight of one eye while fencing at Stirling, and he had to go to Adelaide for treatment.
In three weeks he was in the Alice Springs Lands Office seeking information on Mount Octy near his southern
boundary. While travelling from Elkedra to Annitowa in 1951 the axle of Stan’s truck failed and he and others
had a 50-kilometre walk to the homestead. Subsequently there appeared in this section of track 200-litre drums of
water at 8 kilometre intervals.
In January 1951 Stan checked the bangtail muster at Neutral Junction for the transfer to his stepson,
Alan Hayward. Goldsbrough, Mort and Company in 1957 arranged the transfer of Stirling Station pastoral leases
from Stan Brown to Sandy Pye for a ‘substantial’ sum. Stan then directed his resources to Annitowa 600 kilometres
northeast of Alice Springs, which he held as Grazing Licence 1403. This was adequately developed and he was
successful in securing it when it was advertised as available as a pastoral lease in May 1959.
W S Brown is listed as a life member from the early 1960s of the Alice Springs Show Society. His transporting
exhibits the long distance to Alice Springs demonstrated his interest. Stan and his wife Stella attended each Sydney
Royal Show from 1948 until after his retirement following the sale of Annitowa in August 1969 to Mortons.
Their travels within Australia and overseas continued despite an accident involving the bull wheel of the pump jack
at Annitowa 4 November 1962. Sister Joyce Ellis, the aerial medical nurse involved, provided the full story and
this is printed in Health Services in the Northern Territory. The next day Stan was sitting on the side of his hospital
bed, his right leg stump bandaged, giving instructions for Annitowa to Brian Muldoon, the Goldsbrough Mort
manager, for the expected period of his enforced absence. In recognition of her assistance Stan gave a substantial
gift of money to Joyce Ellis and to the Royal Flying Doctor Service. By 1980 he still had not located Dr Hampton
to thank him financially.
Throughout his career in the Alice Springs District, Stan contributed to the work of the Centralian Pastoralists’
Association. He maintained a relatively high level of physical fitness in his retirement, camping and travelling
in the Daly River/Dorisvale area with his nephews in the 1970s, and visiting them in Darwin each July. Later in
1984 he offered substantial financial resources to two great-nephews to help develop a pastoral-related enterprise.
He stated his wish to live beyond 100 and to maintain an overview. On their response the correspondence ceased.
In March 1986 two of his nephews called on him at the Alice Springs Old Timers Home. They were shocked to
behold the condition of this man whom they had known continually from childhood and knew him as a person
who would not be diminished. When asked, he said that Stella was in Adelaide and would return on Thursday.
A nurse in attendance, when asked about his physical exercise, said that on occasion he would drive himself, in his
wheelchair, vigorously all over the grounds whether the brakes were applied or otherwise. The next day the two
nephews saw him in his wheelchair lined up with others. He did not respond to greetings and his head was on his
chest. He died in Alice Springs on 4 July 1986 aged 94, raised, lived and buried as an Anglican.
A number of people of diverse interests made about 19 tapes from interviews with him. Some are kept in the
oral history section of the Northern Territory Archives Service. Stan’s interest in the aspect of sustainability in land
use became known from about 1932 and in July 1978, Bill de Vos, a member of the Board of Enquiry into Feral
Animals, asked about his well-being.
Stan Brown was a positive contributor, throughout his life, to the Territory. It would appear that Stan’s greatest
contribution to the Territory was an indirect one in that his case and the subsequent petition by his fellow Territorians
were responsible for the re-introduction of trial by jury.
Administrator’s annual reports 1912–1915; Australian Archives, Australian Capital Territory CRS A1/1 28/7425; Central Australian Show
Society Inc, letter dated 21 June 1995 signed by L Kittle; Argus (Melbourne), 1 August 1928; E Kettle, Health Services in the Northern Territory,
1991; D Lewis, research notes, by permission; Northern Territory Archives, F9 B25 L8, F294, F297, F670, F671 PL150N; Northern Territory
Times and Gazette, 9 January 1913, 1 January 1914, 18 June 1914, 24 September 1914, 26 November 1914, 7 January 1915, 8 April 1915,
29 April 1915, 20 May 1915, 27 July 1915, 12 August 1915, 15 August 1915, 30 March 1916, 20 July 1928, 31 July 1928 and subsequent
issues; Lands Department plan 166 signed by AA Briggs 10 October 1915; personal communication TW Prior.
R W WILSON, Vol 3.BUCHANAN, NATHANIEL (NAT) (1826–1901), explorer, overlander and cattleman, was born of Scottish stock
near Dublin, Ireland. He was the third son of Lieutenant Charles Henry Buchanan, and his wife Annie, nee White.
He arrived in New South Wales as a child with his family, which subsequently settled at Rimbanda Station in the
New England district of New South Wales.
As a young man, Buchanan purchased Bald Blair Station in New England jointly with his brothers Andrew
and Frank. In 1850, the three brothers joined the Californian gold rush but, being unsuccessful, worked their way
home on a sailing ship. They found Bald Blair had been mismanaged and therefore it was surrendered. The next
few years Buchanan spent droving cattle to the goldfields, and between New South Wales, South Australia and
Victoria, providing him with valuable overlanding experience.
In June 1859 Queensland became a separate colony from New South Wales, and Buchanan became one of the
pioneers of exploration and pastoral development in the new state. He and William Landsborough first explored
the tributaries of the Fitzroy and Belyando rivers behind Port Denison (Bowen) looking for country suitable for
grazing. This began a move to explore further westward into completely unknown territory, a move that did not