Philip Gatacre

Reginald Melmoth Gordon Gatacre Philip Gatacre

A boy from Wooroolin, Queensland, set off on the expedition of a lifetime at the age of eighteen. Gat went from jackaroo to manager of the most respected merino stud in Australia, Boonoke, then started his own empire in the great district of the Riverina. He bought a modest block next to the land he had managed and worked hard to expand Claverley, achieving much more than he ever intended by the time he retired.




Gat was a great sheep man, and having been manager of both Boonoke and Zara, he used the skills he had acquired to win the Farmer and Settler Merino Ewe Championship at the Royal Sydney Show in 1952, just two years after purchasing Claverley.




Gat was as comfortable with the wealthy owners of Falkiner & Sons as he was in the company of the labourers and workers on the stations he managed. To my knowledge there was never a bad word said about Gat; he was loved by all who met him and adored by his grandchildren who hung on every word of the stories from his most interesting life.