Koolpinyah

Koolpinyah station, stretching between Howard Springs and the Adelaide River, north to the Adam Bay coastline and south toward Humpty Doo, was created from 1907 when Charles Edward Herbert applied for leases over the area. Herbert was then Northern Territory Government Resident and the leases were issued in the names of his sons Lloyd and Oscar. The brothers moved onto the property in 1907.

Lloyd was later killed in action during World War One, but younger brother Evan joined Oscar at the station and the two men rarely left the property until their deaths in 1974. Their father Charles Herbert had first come to the Territory in 1884 to practice law in Darwin. He later represented the Territory in the South Australian parliament before being appointed Government Resident in 1905.

It seems that Charles Herbert was always keenly interested in the possibilities of live cattle exports and saw a special opportunity for developing this trade from Koolpinyah.

At first, Koolpinyah also included the area of “Umpty Doo” station, and it was probably Evan and Oscar Herbert who changed the name to “Humpty Doo.” The brothers established their homestead at a waterhole which Aborigines called “Gulpinyah”.

The Herbert brothers managed the station on the basis which was commonplace in the Top End until recent times. They did little to develop fences, yards or artificial waters, which would have been unnecessary in any case due to the abundance of springs, soakages and freshwater streams. The Herberts hunted and gathered the wild cattle on the station, according to seasonal conditions and market demand. They employed local Aboriginal labour and supported a group of Aborigines on the station. They also hunted buffalo.

Koolpinyah has an important place in the history of the development of the Brahman breed of cattle, now so important in northern Australia. During his term as Administrator of the Northern Territory (1912 – 1919) the distinguished veterinary scientist Dr. J.A. Gilruth often visited Koolpinyah. He noticed wild Zebu cattle on the property, the descendants of cattle earlier brought to the Darwin area for milk production. Gilruth saw that the Zebus appeared to be resistant to cattle ticks and seemed to thrive where British breeds of cattle did not. Gilruth later applied these observations in scientific work for CSIRO. This led to the evolution and popularisation of Brahman cattle.

Between the wars, Koolpinyah was a popular venue for shooting parties from Darwin. The brothers lived roughly in a homestead which they relocated from the Batchelor area in about 1918 – earlier they had lived in a bark hut.

In 1943 the Allied Works Council established sawmills at Koolpinyah, Black Jungle and McMinns siding. These mills produced timber for all kinds of military and civil purposes. Up to 230 men were employed on timber getting and milling operations at the three venues.

After the war the Herbert brothers lived reclusive lives on the station, content as long as the property generated sufficient income to maintain their very modest lifestyles and to support dependant Aborigines on the station.

The brothers died within a few weeks on one another in 1974, Evan aged 69, Oscar aged 87. The station is now carried on by Laurence Ah Toy, member of another Territory pioneering family. Extractive industries, especially sand, and the production of mulch hay, are now important activities on the station.