William Rowland Woods

b. 1893 – d. 1948

Mortlock Station Manager and Stud Master (1885–1948)

Author: denise noack

William Rowland Woods was born at Little Swamp near Port Lincoln in 1873. ‘Rowley’, as he was known, began work for W. T. Mortlock as a buggy boy at Yalluna station on the Eyre Peninsula in 1885. He then moved to ‘Avenel’, in Medindie, in 1892 to look after Mortlock’s polo ponies and other horses. W. T. Mortlock was an accomplished polo player and rider, and, as the Northern Argus newspaper observed, ‘in [Mortlock’s] young protégé he found an apt pupil’.1

Rowley Woods became an outstanding horseman. He not only rode Mortlock’s horses at country-race meetings but in later years also owned, trained and rode his own horses.

man on fence
Rowley Woods in later life. Reproduced courtesy of State Library of South Australia, Adelaide.
group of male polo players
Believed to be W. T. Mortlock with polo team. Object 352, NE Front Bedroom, Martindale Hall, Mintaro.

In 1894 Rowley was transferred to Martindale station, and, after the death of Samuel Scott in 1903, he was made manager at Martindale. This appointment gave Rowley the opportunity he had always wanted to establish a Merino stud, and he quickly became one of the best-known exhibitors and prize winners at many of the country shows. In 1909 Woods was successful in winning the Murray Cup for Champion Combing Merino Ewe at the Royal Show in Adelaide for W. T. Mortlock.2

a house
The manager’s residence on Martindale, occupied by Rowley Woods from 1903. Reproduced courtesy of State Library of South Australia, Adelaide.
man and ram
Rowley Woods and one of the Martindale Stud Rams, 1930s. Reproduced courtesy of State Library of South Australia, Adelaide.

Working for the Mortlocks enabled Rowley in 1921 to purchase the Wirrilla homestead property, which runs alongside Martindale. Here he founded his own Merino stud and was a frequent winner at the Clare and Saddleworth shows. In 1935, after fifty-three years of service with the Mortlock family, he retired from the management of Martindale but retained the position of stud-stock adviser until his death in 1948.

On 5 November 1935 a golden jubilee dinner was held by the Mortlocks to honour Woods’s service. As the Adelaide Advertiser reported:

In appreciation of 50 years’ service to the Mortlock family, Mr W. R. Woods (manager at Martindale station for 32 years) received a gold watch and chain and a handsome cheque from Mr John T. Mortlock at a dinner given by him in Mr Woods‘ honour at the South Australian Hotel on Thursday night.3

newspaper clipping
Advertiser, 7 December 1935.
pages of a book
Golden Jubilee dinner for Rowley Woods, Event Brochure, E. E. Scarfe. Reproduced courtesy of State Library of South Australia, Adelaide.

Even after retirement Rowley continued to travel with Jack Mortlock to sheep sales in the eastern states. Rowley’s granddaughter, Shirley Rohlach, recalls Jack visiting her grandfather at Wirrilla when she was a small girl. Shirley’s father, Arnold, was born at the resident manager’s station on Martindale, not far from the woolshed. Shirley remembers a wedding celebration for Jack and Dorothy being held on the lawns outside Martindale Hall when she was ten years old and the impressive chandelier that was once a feature of the main entrance hall.4

image of a chandalier
The fancy chandelier Rowley Woods’s granddaughter Shirley Rohlach remembers from the entrance hall. It was installed in Martindale Hall on 3 December 1927. Before Martindale Hall, the chandelier was in Ayers House to which it was later returned. South Australian Homes & Gardens, 1 March 1932, 28.

Footnotes

  1. Northern Argus, 2 December 1948, 1. ↩︎
  2. Register, 16 September 1909, 4. ↩︎
  3. Advertiser, 7 December 1935, 21. ↩︎
  4. Shirley Rohlach, 9 November 2023, Oral History, Flinders University Archaeology Field School, Martindale Hall. ↩︎