Gustave Kulenkamp Smith

In 1876 at the age of 19 Gustave Schmidt moved from Victoria to NSW and purchased land 8 miles SW of Moulamein. He married Elizabeth in 1884 and his first three children, Ellie, Ernest Gustave & Sydney were born in Moulamein. He sold this land in 1891 and purchased land near Myrtleford at Buffalo Creek Victoria. In 1895 the land was sold as Gustave was insolvent due to gambling debts.

His name first appears in newspapers of the time in Menzies, Western Australia around 1898. He acquired some pastoral property 2 miles north east of Menzies. He named this property St Albans. Also he acquired Mt Ida Station. It is not clear how he obtained this land. Perhaps he claimed squatter’s rights. He also had interests in gold mines in the area. His name is mentioned on gold leases around Menzies & Mt Ida. He was a member of the North Coolgardie Road Board and the Handicapper for the Menzies race Club.

His wife, Emma Rebecca died September 1901 and is buried in the Menzies Cemetery. In July 1902 he decided to sell all his interests in Menzies and move back to the eastern States.

Listed for sale in the Kalgoorlie Miner in July 1902 are; • Two houses in Menzies. • St Albans Homestead, 20,000 acres, 2 miles NE of Menzies. • Ida Downs Station in the Mt Ida District, 100,000 acres, 40 miles NE of Menzies. He sold Ida Downs to Charles Mc Master and a partner. It is unknown if he sold the houses, however he continued to live at St Albans in Menzies.

On Friday 28 August 1903 the Perth Daily News published an article headed “AGRICULTURE ON THE G0LDFIELDS. MR. GUS SCHMIDT'S EXPERIMENTS. A FINE CROP 0F WHEAT“ See the Timeline and Media for documents and details.

Later he purchased pastoral land at Pingrup in the SW of WA. He married Alice Whitaker on April 15, 1914. He sold the land in Pingrup around July 1916 and became an inspector on the Rabbit Proof Fence ranging from Yalgoo to the Yilgarn district. He remained in this job residing at The Department of Agriculture Premises in Yalgoo from 1916 until he retired in 1929. He is mentioned many times in The Department of Agriculture’s book Publication Chronicles of The Rabbit Proof Fence Western Australia, where he is referred as G K Smith, sub inspector in charge, Yalgoo Base. The Book is available for perusal through The Battye Library Perth Western Australia.