Booleroo Centre

History

In 1853 a pastoral lease was taken out by partners William Spence Peter and George Elder who then pioneered a sheep station which they named the Booleroo run. The name was derived from a local Aboriginal word. Sources vary on its meaning with suggestions including "plenty" or "soft mud". In 1856 W.S. Peter, who also owned Gum Creek Station near Hallett, became a brother in law to George Charles Hawker of Bungaree and Anama Stations. George Elder was a brother of Alex Elder, founder of Elders Limited. On 28 February 1861 the Booleroo run was profitably auctioned when W.S. Peter decided to settle in the Canterbury region of New Zealand as a stud sheep breeder. The purchaser was former Londoner Philip Levi, whose pastoralism interests eventually included Moolooloo, North-West Bend, Gum Creek, Mount Margaret, among others. Land reforms of the 1870s saw many pastoral leases resumed by the government in order to subdivide the land for closer farming settlement, the Booleroo run being among them. The pastoralists were to be replaced by grain farming agriculturalists. The Hundred of Booleroo was officially proclaimed in 1875 however no town was surveyed at this time. A town site in the hundred was surveyed by the colonial government in 1878, but the early settlers established the town elsewhere. The town's location at the centre of the Hundred of Booleroo led to the name Booleroo Centre. The historic Booleroo Whim well on the Willowie-Booleroo Road is listed on the South Australian Heritage Register.

Most-observed species

• Australian Magpie

  Gymnorhina tibicen (Latham, 1802) · Aves
  186
• Galah

  Eolophus roseicapilla (Vieillot, 1817) · Aves
  171
• White-plumed Honeyeater

  Ptilotula penicillata (Gould, 1837) · Aves
  154
• Crimson Rosella

  Platycercus elegans (Gmelin, 1788) · Aves
  148
• Willie-wagtail

  Rhipidura leucophrys (Latham, 1802) · Aves
  137
• Laughing Kookaburra

  Dacelo novaeguineae (Hermann, 1783) · Aves
  117
• Gray Shrikethrush

  Colluricincla harmonica (Latham, 1802) · Aves
  116
• Red Wattlebird

  Anthochaera carunculata (Shaw, 1790) · Aves
  107

Most recent

• M 4.3 — 2024-04-17
  8 km ENE of Jamestown, Australia
• M 4.4 — 2020-05-14
  15 km WSW of Burra, Australia
• M 3.3 — 2018-07-09
  9 km NNW of Jamestown, Australia
• M 4 — 2017-04-24
  29 km ENE of Quorn, Australia
• M 4.6 — 2011-10-15
  73 km E of Quorn, Australia
• M 4.1 — 2011-09-04
  16 km SW of Peterborough, Australia