Hewitt Cattle Company
History
The first steps which would forge the agricultural future of the Hewitt Family were taken in 1904, when Deane Hewitt (Colin’s grandfather) left his home in Parramatta NSW to work as a jackaroo on ‘Banana Station’ in Moura.
By 1929, Deane and his wife Milly Davey were living with their children at their newly purchased property, ‘Glenmoral Station’ at Theodore. Until 1953, Colin’s parents, Mervyn and Loye Hewitt , worked on Glenmoral. Then, with a partner, they jointly purchased the undeveloped property of ‘Rhyddings’, where they lived in a bark hut with their young family. In 1959, ‘Rhyddings’ was sold to purchase ‘Charvel’, a 10,000 acre property close to Theodore. Here, Colin Hewitt and his brother Alan were taught to be cattlemen, develop the land to its full potential, build infrastructure and establish farming on the fertile river soils. It was also at ‘Charvel’ that the Hewitt’s began a Hereford bull breeding program in 1966. Charvel Herefords was registered in 1969 and for the next 38 years, was recognised as one of Australia’s leading stud operations.
In 1976, Colin Hewitt married Linda Hockings, who had been born and raised on Thursday Island. Linda’s family were successful members of the pearling industry of north Queensland, cultivating real and cultured pearls.
Following the birth of their eldest son Ben in 1978, the family negotiated the buy-back of ‘Glenmoral Station’ from relations. Colin and his family redeveloped the commercial cattle enterprise on this property, and built a sale ring for the ‘on-property sales’ of Charvel Herefords. The business continued to grow - they purchased neighbouring property ‘Mt Martin’ in 1986. So too did the family, with the birth of sons Micheal in 1980 and Jack in 1981. Daughter Lisa was born in 1985. All children worked alongside their father and grandfather building the foundation of the company that exists now.
Colin took full control of ‘Glenmoral’, ‘Glen-Waiben’ and ‘Mt Martin’ in 1986 and remained in business with his father. ‘Krismark Downs’ at Theodore was purchased in 1988, then sold in 1994 to buy ‘Pony Hills’ at Injune, some 2.5 hrs south west.
After selling ‘Mt Martin’ in 1998, the Hewitt family and their operations base was re-established at the newly acquired ‘Stirling Station’ also near Injune. Several years of drought saw the family look towards the north and in 2000, they purchased ‘Fairview Station’ (near Winton) in partnership. Building on the benefits of the northern purchase, the Hewitt’s sought to purchase other places in the north, but to no avail. Alternatively, they purchased females and agisted them on ‘Dosey Springs’ (north of Charters Towers) to support operations during the drought.
In October 2002, the Hewitt family completed the purchase of ‘Mt Cooper’ at Charters Towers. Then ‘Harvest Home’, which bordered with ‘Mt Cooper’, was added to the asset portfolio in 2004. Next was the purchase of ‘Currawong’ near ‘Stirling’ - which would serve as the ‘depot’ for the feedlot cattle. Other properties were sold during this expansion, fulfilling a strategy to acquire a property group well equipped to streamline management, deal with seasonal conditions, and optimise production.
In 2005, the Hewitt family made the inevitable move away from Herefords and purchased Fairhaven Droughtmaster Stud. In the same year, the properties ‘Alpha Station’ at Alpha, and ‘Fork Lagoon’ at Emerald were added to the portfolio.
A total dispersal of the Charvel Hereford stud was conducted in 2007, and within a month the Hewitt family had sold ‘Stirling’ and ‘Currawong’, with the new home and operational base for Hewitt Cattle Company established at ‘Fork Lagoon’.
Currently, Hewitt Cattle Company runs over 25,000 head across their five properties, and continues to build both the quality and herd numbers of the Fairhaven Droughtmaster Stud.
Colin Hewitt, Principle of Hewitt Cattle Company, manages the commercial and stud cattle at both ‘Fork Lagoon’ and ‘Alpha Station’. Colin’s wife and co principle of the company, Linda overseas all of the administrative areas of the business. Ben and his family live on Mt Cooper and run the cow and calf operations in the north. Micheal helps to organise the cattle movements and sales of finished cattle. Jack, who set up a helicopter business, continues to build a successful aviation business aimed at many industries. Lisa is currently in the USA training cutting horses.
