IRWIN

Located 15Km east of Dongara Irwin was established by the Irwin River. The river was named by George Grey after his friend Major Frederick Chidley Irwin who served in several battles during the Spanish Peninsular War.

The shire was gazetted on January 25th 1871 and originally covered 89,000 square miles. Today the shire is a mere shadow of its former self covering only 360 square miles. (Once source quotes the gazettal date as 1921 but we are unsure if this just refers to the townsite.)

An early name for the area was Yardarino but Irwin was used when the site was gazetted.

Exploration in the area dates from 1838 and by 1848 there was a proposal to settle the area by the Colonial Assurance Co. This never eventuated and it was not until the 1850s that grazing leases began to be taken up. Sometime after 1859, George Shenton took up a tillage lease near the current site of Walkaway. From 1869 onwards the area began to slowly decline.

It was not until the introduction of modern farming methods after World War 2 that a more resilient agricultural industry was established.

Walkaway

(C) Don Copley