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the Daly River. They steamed upstream to view the abandoned plantation hopefully set up by Owston and soon
to be taken over, with no greater success, by the Daly River Plantation Company, in which Gray was the chief
shareholder. The neglected plantation was sad enough, but only a short distance away (unknown to those aboard
Maggie), some copper miners had been fatally attacked by some Aborigines, a tragedy compounded by the actions
of punitive expeditions.
Back in Palmerston, Gray and his son, before returning to Adelaide, attended a public meeting, at which the
Aboriginal question, the problems of sugar growing, and the conduct of Judge Pater were discussed, all in vigorous
manner. Herbert Gray noted in his diary: ‘It was really funny to hear them slandering one another, almost as good
as a play’.
Gray was by far the largest absentee owner of town land. Initially he selected 39 lots in Palmerston and nine
in Southport. In 1887 and again in 1892 he was permitted to select further lots, at the original price, along with
the accompanying rural acreage. At various times Gray also acquired other lots in Palmerston, frequently from
bankrupt or deceased estates. In 1896 the Palmerston District Council issued rate notices to Gray for 100 lots
in the town of Palmerston. The rates were always paid by him and later by his trustees, unlike many other early
speculators whose land was eventually sold for non-payment of rates. No rates were levied on the Southport
lots, which saw little, if any, development. After his death his executors purchased further lots in the town. Many
of the Palmerston blocks were for a long time remote from the main centres of activity, some had disappeared
when adjustments were made to Goyder’s plan, others were wholly or partially resumed when the Palmerston to
Pine Creek railway was constructed between 1886 and 1889.
Gray’s first agent, the ill-fated ex-Premier Thomas Reynolds, who was drowned in the wreck of Gothenburg,
arranged a number of early leases, and the Darwin allotments were progressively sold through the years. Twenty-one
lots, for example, were in Cavenagh Street and Chinese who had long been lessees eventually bought many of
these. The town lots unsold were compulsorily acquired after the Second World War. The many thousands of
acres of country lands he selected were also either privately sold or acquired by the Government. Apart from
town lots in Southport, they included areas of Rum Jungle, Humpty Doo and much of the land in the new town of
Palmerston.
William Henry Gray died on 6 September 1896 but in his will he directed that his estate was not to be distributed
until the death of his last surviving child. This did not occur until 1964 so for about 60 years the fate of his Northern
Territory lands was in the hands of his trustees; the last country land was not sold until his estate was being wound
up. Even though it took nearly 70 years, Gray and his descendants did profit from his investment in the town that
became Darwin. When his blocks were sold they generally brought what were, for the times, good prices.
Gray’s name and that of his wife are commemorated in the new town of Palmerston, in the suburb named after
him and in the street names Rosetta and Bagshaw.
E Hasenohr, W H Gray, 1977; family information.
E HASENOHR, Vol 3.
GREATOREX, ANTHONY GEORGE WORSLEY (TONY) (1905–1981), pastoralist, soldier, public servant,
politician and businessman, was born on 4 February 1905 in London, the son of Canon T Greatorex and his wife.
The family travelled to Western Australia in 1907. Greatorex attended the Pinjarrah State School and gained a
scholarship in 1917 to Guildford Church of England Grammar School, which he attended from 1918 to 1922 and
where he attained his Junior Certificate in 1920 and matriculated in 1922. He was a prefect from 1921 to 1922 and
captain of his school in 1922. He was active in sports, including cricket and football.
In March 1924 he went to Woodstock Station, near Port Hedland, as a jackeroo to R W Parker. The station was
switching from cattle to sheep and Greatorex received good experience with both kinds of stock, and assisted with
horse breaking. He also did fencing, well sinking, mill and tank erecting, cement plastering of tanks as well as
stock work and yard building. In 1926 Parker sold his interest and Greatorex went to a farm in the Dardan district,
which he and his brother had acquired in 1923. In 1927 Parker purchased a station in the Nullagine district and
Greatorex returned to him as Overseer, working with almost virgin country and building improvements and a
considerable flock of sheep. He remained there until 1930 when he went as Overseer to Bonney Downs. He took
over as Manager and stayed until 1937.
On 2 November 1933 he married Mona Suraski and they had one son and one daughter. From Bonney Downs
Greatorex moved with his family to the farm he owned in the Dardan district, taking over from his brother who
was ill. Eventually he was running up to 2 000 sheep but when the war broke out he leased the farm and enlisted
in the Australian Imperial Force as a Private in April 1941.
He went to the Middle East in November as a reinforcement to the 2/11th Battalion. He was transferred to
the 2/24th Infantry Battalion in June 1942 and served with it until 1945, seeing active service in the Middle East,
New Guinea and Borneo. He was commissioned and won the Military Cross (MC) for gallantry in action at the
Battle of El Alamein. He was discharged in March 1946 with the rank of Captain. During his war service he had
been platoon and company commander and an acting quartermaster. A bullet wound in the neck affected nerves
down a side of his body, causing him to walk with a slight limp.
In September 1946 he went to Darwin, where, after a month’s holiday, he obtained a position with the
Department of Works and Housing in the Works Expenditure Control Section, which accounted for all monies spent
on works by the department. He was in charge of the section from late 1947. In July 1948 he received a temporary
appointment as Field Officer with the Lands and Survey Branch of the Northern Territory Administration, then
part of the Department of the Interior. He was appointed a permanent officer on 22 September 1948 and was