Mt William Station is located 15 kilometres from Willaura township and was one of the district’s largest working sheep and wool growing properties.  The property has been in the hands of the Barr-Smith family since 1919. 

The property was originally pioneered in 1842 by Thomas and Andrew Chirnside.  Their first simple huts were soon replaced by more permanent buildings on the land now known as the Mount William Pre-emptive Right.  The original homestead was built of stone and in 1862 after the Government granted the Chirnside brothers freehold purchase, they built a 20 stand bluestone woolshed. 

Originally a leasehold of 38,000 acres, by 1880 the freehold of Mount William was nearly 57,000 acres.  100,000 fine wool merinos were shorn annually, and a comfortable weatherboard house and church were built on the property. 

Mount William was the first of the large pastoral properties to make land available for cultivation to share-farmers and tenant farmers because sons of the 1865-66 selectors wanted farms of their own.  Disappointed Mallee wheat growers came south looking for land outside the drought area.  Strong pressure was brought on the Government to resume the large estates for closer settlement, either voluntarily or compulsorily. 

In the winter of 1897 the trustees of Andrew Chirnside (Jnr) estate asked the manager of Mount William to arrange blocks of 100 to 300 acres to be farmed.  There was a constant stream of applications and soon 10,000 acres was taken up. Before long wheat growing which was to become so successful in the Willaura district was well established. 

By 1902 more men were asking for land and leases were arranged with over half the total acreage of Mount William being farmed by more than 60 tenants.  After much pressure on the Government to acquire the land for closer settlement the property was offered for sale in October 1906.  It comprised 56,985 acres and approximately half the area was leased to tenants.  Every influence was brought to bear on the Government to purchase, however the trustees of Andrew Chirnside had reserved the right to make one bid which was placed in a closed envelope, their bid of £260,000 was the winning bid and they retained the property.  Sometime later a Hamilton Syndicate purchased 37,000 acres and the land was cut into farms and sold at 5-8 pounds an acre.  The remaining 20,000 acres, which was initially kept for young Russell Chirnside, was later sold to William Philp. 

This 20,000 acres comprised the original homestead and woolshed.  William Philp owned the property for a short period before selling to Robert Barr Smith in 1919 after the First World War.  During this time the original homestead was destroyed by fire and later rebuilt which is what stands today. 

In the early 1980s Robert Barr Smith divided the remaining 15,000 acres between his four daughters and their families.  Today daughter Anne Abbott runs Charolais Cattle Stud.  Four generations of the Barr Smith family currently occupy the homestead. 

In February 2006 the Mount Lubra bushfire in the Grampians burnt 80% of the property including 58 kilometres of fencing, 200 sheep and $50,000 worth of hay.  The homestead and woolshed were not affected. 

Today, daughter Anne Abbott’s family extends the Barr Smith legacy to the fifth generation.  Varied enterprises of wool production, a Charolais cattle stud and an impressive hospitality venue in the homestead now take Mt William Station into the 21st century. 

Ref – Like the Ark, The History of Willaura and District 1835-1985.