Gnowangerup History

Ellen and her husband Josiah took up land to farm at Nigalup. Josiah also cut sandalwood to bring in a second income. By 1872 Josiah had earned enough money from sandalwood cutting to purchase 600 sheep; lease 2,400 hectares of land at Nigalup and employ a shepherd (Bill Brown). That same year they relinquished the lease at Nigalup and took up 40 hectares of land in the vicinity of "Tambillilup Spring", building a makeshift house there, moving from Nigalup c1873. They named their farm "Tambellarup" and from this name the town of Tambellup was named. Josiah sat on the new Tambellup Council as Chairman.

Nigalup, an area that has been reclaimed by bush or developed as farmland now has no sign of buildings. This was the location of one of the first schools in the district which opened in 1906 at the urging of Mrs Herbert at Clear Hills. Nothing is known of her exact living conditions, however after living for ten years in Albany the isolation and deprivations of life at Nigalup must have presented many difficulties. She returned to her parents' home for the birth of her first two children but she gave birth at Nigalup to two other sons Charles and Frederick. Ellen later undertook the duties of midwife for other women in the area - assisting at the birth and usually staying a few days to do the housework and child care until the mother had recovered

When Josiah was cutting sandalwood he would be away for long periods of time. "In 1867 she had a frightening encounter with an escaped convict, William Graham. He had escaped early in the year from the Fremantle gaol with another convict, Thomas Scott. By the middle of the year they were robbing the scattered houses of the settlers between Katanning and the Pallinup River .... Both Scott and Graham had received long sentences for crimes of violence and Scott had been re-sentenced in the colony to 100 lashes, confinement in a dark cell and an additional three years. He had vowed he would never return to prison. Ellen was alone, except for her two children Jane and William, when Graham approached her with a knife in his hand and asked her where the grinding stone was. When he sow how fearful she was for her own and her children's safety, he assured her that he would do her no harm" (Country Cavalcade p41)

Ellen and Josiah had nine children. Frederick was drowned in the Gordon River at the age of 12 and is buried alongside his brother near their homestead. Rose is the only child who attended school; the other children were educated by Ellen at home. The boys became shepherds responsible for small flocks of sheep at an early age, possibly as young as 8 years.

After a long illness, (probably dropsy) Josiah died in March 1884 in Albany. This was the year the contract was signed for the Great Southern Railway, and the construction of this railway, along with the land policies set by the State Government under John Forrest, heralded the end of the pastoral era. The Norrish finally along with many others would no longer have access to large areas of unoccupied land for little or no money.

Following Josiah's death Ellen decided to continue to farm their land with the help of her eldest sons aged 17 and 13. These were difficult economic times and she forfeited many of the leases. However, her daughters were able to earn an extra income by killing and skinning sheep which they sold to the men working on the railway line. In 1892 Ellen forfeited another 6,400 hectares of land, and a further 2,400 hectares in 1893. However, by the end of the century the family had managed to increase its freehold land and had successfully made the transition from pastoralists to farmers. Ellen's granddaughter later recalled her regularly visiting the graves of her children. Ellen died in 1929. Her son Charlie lived to celebrate his 100th birthday.