Tanja farming history to be auctioned Sunday

Over 150 years of Tanja history is set for auction this Sunday as one of the town’s oldest families says goodbye.

Seventy-three-year-old Denis Kelly was one of 15 brothers and sisters born locally, most inside the Tanja homestead he has been forced to part with due to health reasons.

Mr Kelly will be auctioning everything from the 90 hectare property, including a selection of tractors, saddles, fire fighting pumps, ploughs and hand operated drills.

“I feel rotten, but there’s nothing else I can do,” he said as he sat on the homesteads front porch overlooking the Tanja landscape.

Now living in Kalaru, Mr Kelly recently spent a reflective final night in the family’s Milford Acres homestead before making the reluctant move.

“I didn’t drink, it was just quiet,” he said.

Mr Kelly attended Tanja Public School, balancing work and study until the age of 14 when he began full-time work on the property.

“Dad died when I was seven so mum and I were left with not much,” he said.

“It was awful hard work but a lot of fun.”

The property conjures up many memories, some standing out above the rest.

“I remember one time poor old Bocky who was an old bloke who used to work here was on a steep bank doing some fencing when a kink in the wire sent him head over heels into a dry hole,” Mr Kelly said with a chuckle.

“I laughed and he looked at me and said ‘it’s not that bloody funny boy’.”

Mr Kelly said the town has changed during his lifetime, struggling at times to put his emotions into words.

“We had a football team, a cricket team and a tennis team who used to win a lot because they were extremely fit bush workers and farmers,” he said.

A couple from Bunga who made a regretful move to Singapore have purchased the property, forcing Mr Kelly to let go of some of his most prized possessions, including his old potato plough.

“I used to love farming everything from corn and oats to sorghum,” he said.

“We had our own beef, lamb, pigs, veggies and eggs.

“Dad used to win local show awards all the time.”

Mr Kelly is also a treasure trove of historical anecdotes, passed down over generations.

The property sat in the locality of Nelson at one point, named by an imposing figure called George Nelson, until Mr Kelly’s and other prominent families including Brain and Gowing made sure the area was renamed Tanja.

“Old Mr Nelson had a stockyard up there and one day the black boy who ran his stall was killed and he just starting shooting every black person he could see before they got him,” Mr Kelly said.

“Anyone who kills shouldn’t be honoured in that way.

“I thought I might find him one day but I never did.”