My father, James E. Conway came to the Mallee about the beginning of the 1900's and bought a block of land 7 miles north of Ultima, a place called "Gowan" in later years called "Gowanford." 

The farm had to be cleared of Mallee trees before being able to sow the wheat and oats. The oats were cut for horse feed. The chaff cutter had a horse powered machine. Water for the stock had to be carted from Swan Hill in tanks with wagon and horses.

My childhood growing up in the pearling town of Broome is filled with amazing memories. Broome was, from my understanding, the only place in Australia where the White Australia Policy did not seem to apply because the demand for pearls and the pearl shell industry brought men in from all parts of Asia. In the mid 1930s, after a cyclone that destroyed many luggers and lives, my father came to Broome from West Timor as a Dutch National. Official records show he spent time in the Dutch Merchant Navy on board the ship Gorgon.