Unreserved Historic Sloane Family Estate (A741)

Estate of the Sloane Pastoral Family of the Riverina.

From the port of Glasgow on the misty shores of Scotland to the dusty plains of Australia’s Murray River region, the story of the Sloane family of the Riverina in many ways mirrors the story of early white Australia itself. When two young brothers, Alexander and William Sloane left their parent’s merchant trading business in Glasgow in 1849 for far-off Australia, little did they know they would build a dynasty as one of Australia’s most notable pastoral families.

The brothers arrived in Victoria to the beginnings of the gold rush and quickly realised their skills in numeracy and bartering were best utilised in buying and selling gold. With their fortunes rising, Alexander set back to Scotland to marry his sweetheart, Annabella Gibson, herself from a well-known Scottish family, (Annabella’s brother James Gibson would go on to open up the Queensland & far north hinterland with the explorer William Landsborough). Alexander & Annabella settled in Mulwala in 1862, the first white pastoral family in the region to permanently live on their property. The Sloane’s run at Mulwala and Savernake stretched from a 4 mile wide frontage on the Murray River to 32 miles north into NSW. William Sloane went on to establish William Sloane & Co one of Australia’s earliest stock and station agencies, which was eventually subsumed by Elders Pastoral Co. Alexander and Annabella went on to have 11 children, all of whom established themselves as successful pastoralists and expanded the family empire. But it is the family’s interaction with early parts of Australia’s history that has the most fascination. From evading and hiding the family silver from the Kelly gang and Mad Dan Morgan the bush ranger to lobbying the colony of NSW to remove border taxes and establish a railway link to the local townships, the Sloane family found themselves involved in many historic moments. The Sloanes attended the early Federation meetings in Corowa NSW, and were involved in the birth of Australia’s Federation, (the family still retains the collected history of memorabilia to this day). They were close friends and neighbours of early parliamentarian Mr William Hay, and the Sloanes also have one of Australia’s earliest Merino stud registrations, which is still held in the family. Of Annabella and Alexander’s children, Thomas Sloane became a word renowned entomologist considered to be one of the pioneers in Australia’s entomology field. William Sloane represented Australia overseas in the sport of shooting and the aunts - Janet, Helen, Lucy, Lavinia and Maggie - all travelled the world bringing their rich, diverse collections back to the vast family estate, Mulwala Homestead. While the Sloane’s Mulwala Homestead is now owned by the Commonwealth of Australia, it is possible to peek back in time from the diary entry of Jeanie Sloane, a daughter in law of Annabella and Alexander. The Sloane Mulwala Homestead gardens were designed by Baron von Mueller, the designer and first director of the Melbourne Botanic Gardens.

The story of the Sloanes of the Riverina stretches over three centuries and many hundreds of thousands of acres. This is the first time the Sloane family have offered their historic collection and their estate auction is a once in a lifetime chance to capture a piece of early Australian history.

***Ever thought of selling at auction? It’s easy. Just call Shane Benson on 0402345651 or email [email protected].***

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