Ridley Williams: His Life and Epic Cattle Drive

Over the course of some 20 months between June 1883 and February 1885, a young grazier from Bierbank Station in the lower Warrego District of south-western Queensland led an unprecedented cattle drive to Barrow Creek in the Northern Territory before retracing his steps back to Bierbank.

The young grazier, Ridley Williams, was just 33 years old at the outset of the cattle drive. He and his party of drovers took the cattle over some of the most difficult terrain in Australia. And they did so in trying, drought-stricken conditions.

Ridley and his party skirted the northern fringes of the Simpson Desert. They were confronted with dry rivers, creeks and waterholes. They endured tense encounters with some of the aborigines across whose countries they traversed. Because of the unexpected duration of their journey, they were forced to supplement the food they had carried with them from home with native birds and game they were able to shoot.

Ridley, in particular, demonstrated great skill in navigating his party's journey over many months. He also exercised great ingenuity in sourcing food and water for the cattle and his horses.

Although the cattle drive from Bierbank to Barrow Creek and the return journey home were arduous, they provided Ridley with a host of adventures and experiences - some good and some bad.

It appears that Ridley was determined to provide a measure of permanency to the story of his cattle drive. At some time or times now unknown, he hand-wrote a lengthy and detailed account of the drive, of his time in Central Australia and of his return from Central Australia to Bierbank.