CLOSE to a century of extended one-family ownership will come to an end next month with the public offering of Fullerton Station at Laggan, one of the founding pastoral holdings of the Crookwell district.
Coming hard on the heels of the recent pre-auction sale of another Southern Tablelands founding station, "Merrill" at Gunning, the offering has sparked intense local and investor interest.
The 1309-hectare (3215ac) property has been listed for auction on November 12 by Landmark and Schute Bell Property to wind up 50 years of ownership by the Reynolds family.
Raddon and his wife Dian Reynolds took over the property in 1966 upon the retirement of Mrs Reynolds' parents, Dorothey and Jack Bushell (the latter a member of the Bushell's Tea family) who had held it since 1932.
Fullerton Station started life as the 512ha "Bolong" property of Southern Highlands pioneering cleric-cum-grazier, Thomas Hassall, who took up the block in about 1830.
Renamed "Fullerton" in 1874 (in recognition of its then owner, Thomas Fuller), the property by 1895 was a substantial station, carrying more than 15,000 sheep and 400 head of cattle.
Its present ownership dynasty began in 1919 when the property was bought by Joseph McCulloch of "Rudd's Point" at Carrathool in the Riverina.
Keen to set up all four of his daughters on properties of their own, McCulloch transferred "Fullerton" to his fourth daughter, Dorothey, shortly after her marriage to Jack Bushell.
Under the Bushells' ownership, and Dorothey's inspired supervision, "Fullerton" underwent substantial development and in due course came into national prominence for its highly successful Poll Shorthorn stud.
When the Reynolds took over, however, the Poll Shorthorns were quickly replaced by the Hereford herd Raddon Reynolds had bred up on his previous Boorowa property based on the Hobartville bloodlines of his uncle, Raymond Reynolds.
The Hereford herd remains a defining feature of "Fullerton" today, along with a Merino flock that has been highly placed in the local Crookwell ewe competition, and home-bred first-cross ewes.
Fullerton Station's current level of stocking equates to just under 11,000 DSE and there is ample scope for lifting production through further development.
The Reynolds' son, Bruce, manages the property, which has a stocking mix of 1850 breeding ewes (Merino and first-cross) and 278 Hereford females, plus wethers, prime lambs, bulls and replacements.
Situated 30 kilometres north-east of Crookwell, Fullerton Station occupies a large valley of undulating country surrounding the permanent Bolong River.
Five permanent or semi-permanent creeks intersect the property on their way to the Bolong River (a tributary of the Abercrombie River), making "Fullerton" one of the best naturally watered properties in the district.
Average rainfall is 700mm and the sloping terrain provides reliable catchments for the property's 21 dams.
Soils range from alluvials flanking the various creeks to soft grey loams of granite origin, and of the total area, 620ha is considered arable and a further 620ha is lightly timbered natural pasture country.
A feature of "Fullerton" is its stately double-brick, six-bedroom homestead, built in the early 1930s, while working improvements include a four-stand shearing shed and two sets of sheep yards, a cattle complex incorporating steel yards, a bull shed and calving shed, enclosed workshop, hayshed and silos.
Based on recent strong sales results in the area, Fullerton Station is expected to attract bidding upwards of $3.6 million.
Peter Austin
Former editor and long time columnist and property writer for The Land.
Former editor and long time columnist and property writer for The Land.
