BALL Nathaniel (Nat)

"Lyndhurst, the farming property at Gnowangerup was a reward of the dedication and foresight of Nat and Dorothy Ball.
The development from virgin bush started when good farming land was readily available in Western Australia.

The history of Nathaniel's (Nat’s) ancestors is included for family interest and begins with the birth of James Ball (1820) in St. Luke's Hospital, London.

Ball but little is known of the life of James and Jessie at Burnt Creek, Dunnolly, Victoria.

He was a small landowner and a “digger” in 1856.
They had a large family, Janet (1851), Elizabeth (1852), Euphemis (1854), Benjamin (1856), James (1857), William (1859), Charles (1862) and Alex (1870).

NATHANIEL BALL            #1
 

NATHANIEL & DOROTHY ON THEIR WEDDING DAY BALL            #2
 

Charles and William came to the Northwest of Western Australia in 1880. Later William joined his brother Alex in Katanning and bought ‘Mianelup' at Gnowangerup and three hundred acres at Cambellup.
In 1904, Benjamin joined his brother on ‘Mianelup' at Gnowangerup. Bill had bought land in Katanning and was anxious to sell his other properties.
He offered Mr. Cuneo, the station master at Broomehill, the sum of ten pounds or the three hundred acres at Cambellup, if he could interest new settlers in purchasing Mianelup.
Mr. Cuneo was able to arrange the sale of the property to Mr. A.R. Richardson and claimed the ten pounds.
Bill gave Ben the Cambellup block. This block of land has been referred to as the 'Old Place' for many years. Ben, overjoyed with his possession of land, returned to Victoria to discuss its development with his sons.

In 1879 Ben Ball married Eliza Lemon (1856). For interest I mention Eliza's parents John, son of Sir Joseph and Lady Dinah Lemon (Bart), Somerset, England and Eliza, daughter of Rev. John Davey a Methodist minister from Cornwall, England.
It is thought the Lemon family were French, descendants of the Le Mons from France, who lived in Castle Carey in Somerset, England. Ben owned a small property at Bear's Lagoon on the Serpentine River in Victoria.

Nat Ball bought this "buggy and pair" from the National Bank at Gnowangerup.This was the entry at the 1919 Tambellup Show(by the river), his passenger was Jim Richards of "Christmas Farm", Gnowangerup. The ponies were bred in the Jackitup District.
 

NATHAN IEL BALL AND JIM RICHARDS IN BUGGY           #3

 

He also managed a creamery in Prairie – a regular Jack of all trades.He was also the village blacksmith. Widely known as the ‘Professor', he had a good general knowledge accompanied by a great sense of humour, and was well respected in the community
I digress here to mention that the wagon used to take cream to Prairie from Fernihurst.
Ben gave it to his son Joe. who later presented it to the museum in Gnowangerup. The wagon was once covered with black canvas to protect the cream from the sun. Ben and Eliza lived at Bear's Lagoon, a pepper tree marks the house site today.

They had twelve children, James (1880), Eliza Ann (1882), John (1883), Benjamin (1884), Charles (1886-87), William (1887), Nathaniel (1888), Charles (1890), Edith (1892), Joseph (1893), Robert (1895) and Ruby (1898).

The challenge to establish a future for his sons motivated Ben to visit his brothers in Western Australia. His sons were leaving home and looking for work. In 1901 a sturdy twelve year old left home at sunset, his change of clothes tied into a red handkerchief hanging from a stick over his shoulder. He walked to a neighbour's property to begin his working life as a roustabout in the shearing shed. His name was Nathaniel (Nat), the seventh child of Ben and Eliza.
Nat was a happy carefree boy, secure in his mother's love he enjoyed his short childhood. It was his pleasure to recall those days in stories to his children. He was brought up to respect his father and to benefit from his advice to "Go West and buy land”.
 

Every endeavour has been made to accurately record the details however if you would like to provide additional images and/or newer information we are pleased to update the details on this site. Please use CONTACT at the top of this page to email us. We appreciate your involvement in recording the history of our area.

References:                 Article:      From Una’s book “Into the Sunset with Nathaniel Ball 1888-1976”   Self-Published in 1981.

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Copyright : Gordon Freegard 2024