- Kanyaka Station
Kanyaka Station was a cattle and sheep station in the
Flinders Ranges ofSouth Australia approximately 40 km north ofQuorn, South Australia [ cite web | url=http://www.southaustralianhistory.com.au/kanyaka.htm | title = Kanyaka Station ] .History
. The Flinders Ranges is very dry country, so it is both tragic and ironic that in August that same year, Hugh Proby was drowned when he was swept from his horse crossing the swollen Willochra Creek while trying to herd a mob of cattle during a thunderstorm.
Under subsequent owners, the station grew in size until it was one of the largest in the district with 70 families living and working there. Because of the difficulties of transport, the station had to be very self-sufficient and Kanyaka station grew to include a large homestead, cottages for workers, workshops, huts and sheds, mostly built from local stone due to limited supplies of workable local timber. The station switched from cattle to sheep, but had cows, pigs, and vegetable gardens to supply food for the residents. There was also a cemetery for those who died, so far from medical help. Note Hugh Proby was not buried in the Kanyaka cemetery, as it had not been established at the time of his death.
Severe droughts resulted in massive losses of sheep and eventually the station was abandoned. Due to its stone construction, many of the buildings survive today as ruins and are a popular tourist attraction.
Hugh Proby
Hugh Proby was the third son of the third
Earl of Carysfort of Ireland [cite web | url=http://www.thepeerage.com/p3812.htm#i38120 | title= thePeerage.com] . He was born on 9 April 1826 at Stamford in Lincolnshire, England, the son of Admiral Granville Leveson Proby (the third Earl) and Isabella Howard. Hugh Proby emigrated on the ship "Wellington" which arrived on 30 May 1851 at Port Adelaide, South Australia. He died on 30 August 1852 in Willochra Creek, South Australia aged 24 years. He was buried the following day. Six years later in 1858 his grave was marked with an engraved slab shipped from Britain by his brothers and sisters; it was said to weigh one and a half tons and posed a significant challenge to transport it to the grave site.External links
* [http://www.chapelhill.homeip.net/FamilyHistory/Photos/Kanyaka_Homestead-SA/ Photos of Kanyaka Station, the cemetery and its headstones]
References
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
