First White Settlement
In 1840, the Marchant Family arrived in South Australia. With the help of relatives, Mrs Marchant and her five sons squatted on the land which eventually became the Mannanarie Run. It was stocked at first with cattle rather than sheep, because Mannanarie became the Northern Frontier, and cattle were more difficult for native people to steal, easier to manage and easier to take to markets at the time.
In 1847, Thomas Marchant took out an occupation licence on the country the family had originally squatted on, and later in 1851, he took out a fourteen year licence for 98 square miles, at an annual rental of £73-10-0.
Mannanarie Run began as a cattle station, but changed to running sheep when it became evident that the land was suitable for sheep, and wool would bring a higher return. Although there would be higher labour and transport costs, the returns would adequately cover this. By 1864, there were more than twenty thousand sheep, on 130 square miles. Employees included a manager, fourteen shepherds, a carpenter, two well sinkers, five labourers and a bullock driver.
The station continued to grow in this fashion until 1871 when the government enforced the subdivision of land for smaller farming blocks.
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