A LARGE number of family and friends of the Geier family of Nukarni gathered at their home on October 1 to celebrate 100 years to the day of the family farming in the area.
The first people to settle on the farm were William (Bill) H Geier who was granted the lease on October 1, 1910.
Bill was born in South Australia in 1876 but came to Esperance via boat in 1896.
He had many occupations including a time as a butcher, a boarding house proprietor in Ravensthorpe, a rabbit proof fence inspector and prospector.
He was one of the founders of the now Youanmi gold mine.
In 1902 Bill married Ellen Matthew and in 1905 they had a son Merv, but Ellen died in January, 1906, and Merv was looked after by two aunts until 1913 when he came to Newcarnie to live with his father.
His arrival made up the numbers required for the establishment of the Nukarni school at Kittyea’s corner.
Bill and Merv worked the lease until 1937 when ownership passed to Merv, before his marriage to Beryl Priestly.
In 1938 a house was moved from the school site at Goomarin and restored ready for Merv and Beryl after their marriage.
Together they raised six children, Dora, Louis, Douglas, Judith, Walter and Elizabeth, at Hilltop farm.
Beryl and Merv remained on the farm until 1975 when they moved to Merredin, leaving the day-to-day running of the farm to their sons Doug and Walter.
In the 1960s the name of the farm changed from Hilltop to Warrubush, after the Warrubush Jersey cow stud, which was established by Beryl on the farm in the 1960s and produced many award-winning cows,
Beryl was also renowned throughout the district for her delicious scones, pikelets and cakes, which attracted stockmen, bank managers, wool buyers and more to the farm to enjoy morning tea whenever possible.
Beryl’s morning tea and cakes also contributed strongly to the Nukarni Football Club throughout the years.
Walter left Warrubush and moved to his property at Wilgoyne in the early 1980s.
During Merv’s later years he kept a herd of goats so just about every type of livestock was kept on the farm at some stage and the farm now is home to two alpacas.
On the death of Merv in 1995 the ownership passed to Douglas.
The whole family reunited there on October 1 to celebrate the centenary of Bill Geier’s first arrival at the farm.
The celebration featured a cake designed to represent the various aspects of the farm’s history.
“We wish to thank our father and mother, for being the wonderful role models they were, for their words of wisdom and mum’s caring nature and support,” Dora Bushe-Jones (nee Geier) said.
“We can proudly say thank you for all the great memories we have to share with our partners, children and grand-children.”
