Ramsay Retro Farmstay

For special occassions during the year, the population of Ramsay more than doubles as members of the extended family come to visit from Melbourne and Wagga Wagga.

Last Easter, the Porter family hosted an Easter egg hunt for all the children. The Easter eggs were collected and the children showed a lot of constraint as they waited for all the eggs to be found.

Here you can see Laura found other things to do than think about the Easter eggs stockpiled on the outdoor chair.

Location:

• Ramsay is located near the town of Booroorban in the Riverina, New South Wales, Australia
• On the Cobb Highway approximately 75 kms north of Deniliquin and 45 kms south of Hay.

Size:

• Over 4,000 hectares (or nearly 10,000 acres)
• Home block freehold 2914 ha (7,198 acres)
• Leasehold 1094 ha (2,702 acres)

Improvements:

• Prattley steel cattle yards with Warwick crush
• Machinery shed with enclosed workshop
• Rhino 260,000 litre tank
• 4 x 45T silos
• Hay shed
• 4 bedroom homestead and cottage

Airstrip:

• All weather airstrip on Sandy Ridge

• Educated at Boorooban Public Primary School.
• Two years at Deniliquin High School where he did well playing soccer.
• Boarded at Xavier College in Melbourne and at Hamilton College in Hamilton.
• Attended St Michael's in St Kilda for Year 12 while living in Carlisle Street, St Kilda with his sister, Maree.
• Captained the St Michael's school AFL First XVIII team.
• Returned to Ramsay after deciding that farming was what he wanted to do. His school mates tried to convince him to stay on as they wanted him to continue to Captain their footy team!
• Also worked at the Deniliquin Rice Mill and saw the opportunity to grow rice at Ramsay.
• Played cricket, tennis, and AFL in Deniliquin.
• He married Fiona McVicker in 2003 who was working in Coleambally at the time. They have two girls, Mia (2005) and Laura (2007).
• He installed the 260,000 litre water tank to store water for the homestead and property.
• A Stock & Domestic bore was installed near the Woolshed to service paddocks with stock water & domestic water for the House & Cottage.

• Educated at St Columba's Primary School, Elwood, Melbourne and Xavier College 1945 to 1953.
• Noel lived in Elwood with his mother and two brothers until about 1948 when they moved in with grandfather (maternal) George Turner at "Thalatta" Beaconsfield Parade, Middle Park. His father would travel down from Ramsay as often as he could.
• Noel went to work at Ramsay for a few months, after leaving school in 1954, returning to Melbourne on the death of his grandfather.
• He worked at New Zealand Loan and MA Co Ltd, woolbrokers in Melbourne and then at Goldsbrough Mort & Co Ltd where in 1958 he was transferred to Finley after a period working at the Newmarket Saleyards.
• After two years at Finley his father asked him to return to Ramsay following the dividing up of the family property which he duly did.
• He played cricket in the Deniliquin District Association of Conargo, Postal Institue and West, representing Deniliquin at Bendigo Country Week in 1961 when they won the A grade final.
• In one year he played cricket in both the Deniliquin and Hay Associations as they were playing on different days at the weekend.
• He was a member of the Hay representative team which won the O'Farrell Cup at its first challenge in the early sixties.
• He married Rosemary Daly of Deniliquin in 1964 and their children were Maree (1965), Caronne (1968) and Joel (1970) all born at Deniliquin.
• They built their new house at Ramsay in 1964.
• 1965 was a notable year for Booroorban as the first water came down the Euroley Creek from Coleambally, electricity was extended to the district and the sealing of the Cobb Highway between Deniliquin and Hay was completed.
• In 1983, the Ramsay team of wethers won the third year's wool production at the Riverina merino Wether Competition in Deniliquin. No doubt because of the classing expertise of Noel Edward Porter.
• He was Captain of the Booroorban bushfire brigade from 1968 to 1993.
• Noel was councillor on the Windouran Shire from 1987 to 2000 including three terms as Mayor.
• Irrigation was laid out on Ramsay through the eighties and nineties to take advantage of the excess water from the CIA and rice was grown between 2000 and 2002 with the assistance of Joel.

• Born at Bungendore, NSW.
• Educated at Xavier College from 1918 to 1922.
• Was an exceptional leg spin bowler, winning the bowling averages in the Senior team in 1920.
• During drought periods at Ramsay he used to take the sheep away droving on the Long Paddock as far away as Leeton, NSW and Rochester, Victoria.
• Married Molly Turner from Middle Park, Melbourne in 1936, when she was the governess at Oaklands looking after the Symons children.
• Their children were Noel G (1936), Clive (1938) and Drew (1940). All born in Melbourne.
• Molly could not live at Ramsay in the early years of the marriage because of family conflict and so lived in Elwood until about 1948 when she and the three boys moved in with her father George Turner at "Thalatta" Beaconsfield Parade, Middle Park. Noel would travel down from Ramsay as often as he could. Molly also occasionally visited Ramsay.
• His favourite hobbies were cricket, duck shooting and following race horses. He was a member of the Melbourne Racing Club.
• He was the main one responsible for the excess drainage water from Colleambally Irrigation Area being directed down the Euroley Creek to Booroorban to give more permanent water supply to the District. He lobbied the NSW Government personally with Joe Lawson, Member for Murray.
• In 1960, the Ramsay property was divided between Noel Edward Porter and John Geoffrey Porter with Noel taking Ramsay Homestead and John taking Miegunyah.
• He was the first Captain of the Booroorban bushfire brigade which was re-formed in 1960.
• He was known as an excellent judge of Merino sheep and classed the ewe flock at Ramsay for many years.

• Educated at Geelong College from 1890 to 1893.
• Was part of the school's champion football team, best batsman and a top medium pace bowler in the cricket team and a gifted athlete.
• Married Sarah Colls schoolteacher from Bungendore in 1897.
• Purchased the property Oaklands, 14 kms west of Booroorban in 1898, but after a series of droughts, grasshopper and rabbit plagues forced them to walk off in 1907 only to buy back the Royal Mail Hotel.
• Their children were Stephanie (1898), Hubert (1900 deceased), Ronald (1901), Noel (1904), Joan (1905), John (1907) and Kathleen (1910)
• Purchased Ramsay in 1911. Hubert rode his bicycle to Hay to obtain first offer after hearing that the property, which was the back station of Warwillah, was being offered for sale. The price was 1 guinea per acre.
• Hubert was councillor on the Windouran Shire from 1927 to 1937.
• He also added the properties of Miegunyah, Ayr and Baynton which were about 30 kms west of Booroorban so bringing his total holding to about 35,000 acres.
• In his obituary it was said by the old timers that he was the best cricketer, the best tennis player and the best field shot of all the Porter family.

• Born in Wrington, near Bristol, County of Somerset, England.
• Sailed to Melbourne Australia in 1855 on the ship Utopia.
• Arrived in Deniliquin about 1864 and shown as a member of the Mechanics Institute.
• Built the Royal Mail Hotel, Pine Ridge (Booroorban) in 1868 at a cost of 1400 pounds.
• Married Margaret O'Donohue at the Black Swamp between Pine Ridge (Booroorban) and Wanganella in 1869.
• Their children were Florence (1869), Mary (1871), Adelia (1873), Hubert (1874), Martha (1875), Eva (1877), Ethel (1879) and Sydney (1881).
• Margaret died in 1900 and Samuel in 1906 having lived at the Hotel until their deaths.

1923: Bureau of Meteorology - Commenced as a site for Rainfall Observation

• Rainfall data from the Bureau of Meteorology

26 April, 2001: Elders VP - Supreme Clip of the Sale (Certificate is awarded to NG and RE Porter)

"Based on style, preparation and presentation, your clip was selected as the most outstanding clip of the sale, from an offering of 15,868 bales in Sale M33"

Ramsay is a beautiful property with rolling sandhills, a channel, plenty of trees, as well as clear, flat paddocks. All are a joy to ride a horse through. Such a sense of freedom and fresh air is a precious treat. The sunsets are breathtaking and the huge space makes the curve of the horizon a uniquely special experience.

The opportunity exists to experience a retro rural lifestyle.

Ramsay Retro Farmstay is now available with modern conveniences available for individuals, families or group bookings: Read more...

Information about the Porter family have been provided by Noel G Porter and Caronne Vella and information about the property, fauna and flora are supplied by Joel and Fiona Porter.

All care has been taken in preparing the information at the time of publishing, however Business On A Page Gateway nor its members do not guarantee the details and cannot accept any responsibility for errors or correctness, if any.

Photographs taken between 2003 - 2010.