My Cudmore forebears were pastoralists with stations in Queensland, New South Wales, and South Australia.

My third great grandfather Daniel Michael Paul Cudmore (1811-1891) arrived in Australia in 1835.

Daniel Michael Paul Cudmore about 1865. Image from the State Library of South Australia reference B30912

From his entry in the Australian Dictionary of Biography:

In 1847 he inherited property in Ireland but sold it to take up a pastoral lease of 80 sq. miles (207 km²) at Yongala, which carried 18,000 sheep. In the 1850s he also leased Pinda, Beautiful Valley and Paringa stations. In the 1860s, after a 1700-mile (2736 km) exploratory journey from Rockhampton, he acquired still larger leases in Queensland and New South Wales.

Detail of 1867 map of Queensland published in Pugh’s Almanac showing Rockhampton in the south and Rockingham Bay in the north. The map indicates treks by explorers such as Leichardt. (click on image to enlarge)

There is mention of Cudmore’s exploration in the Brisbane Courier of 10 December 1861:

Local Intelligence. (1861, December 10). The Courier (Brisbane, Qld. : 1861 – 1864), , p. 2. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article4602679 
Burdekin River at Sellheim, ca. 1925. Image from the State Library of Queensland and retrieved from Wikimedia Commons.

Rockingham Bay was named by James Cook in 1770.  It is 150 km south of Cairns. To the immediate south is the town of Cardwell and Hinchinbrook Island.

Daniel Cudmore wrote a report of his journey in the South Australian Advertiser of 8 January 1862

My great great grandfather, James Francis Cudmore (1837-1912), the oldest son of Daniel, took over and extended his father’s pastoral enterprises. From 1859 he managed  Paringa, 208 sq. miles (531 km²). In 1860 he leased Ned’s Corner, further up the Murray. From these properties he overlanded sheep to Queensland and took up leases there. In 1870, in partnership with his wife’s brother Kenneth Budge (1842-1878), he bought Gooyea station on the Bulloo River, Queensland . He expanded Ned’s Corner in partnership with Robert Barr-Smith and A.H. Peglar. He then acquired Welford Downs on the Barcoo River and combined it with Milo, formerly Gooyea, making a run of 5100 sq. miles (13,209 km²). He took on additional partners Sir Thomas Elder and W. R. Swan, and with them established the Milo and Welford Downs Pastoral Co. .

In the 1880s James Francis Cudmore ran into financial difficulties. He moved from cattle to sheep on some properties with substantial costs in changing the yards, fences and equipment required. He was also badly affected by the rabbit plague which reduced his wool clip by 80%. James Francis Cudmore transferred his unencumbered Queensland leases, Tara, Dartmouth and Blackall, to his sons.

James Francis Cudmore had six sons. Five of his sons went onto the land. His other son Arthur Murray Cudmore, my great grandfather, became a doctor.

Some of my Cudmore cousins are farmers. A 1951 article in Queensland Country Life, however, when reporting the sale of a Queensland property by Robert Milo Cudmore (1889-1969), the youngest son of James Francis Cudmore, spoke of the Cudmore family’s leaving the land.

Further reading