Bray / Brae, near Robe (South Australia)

An area of Crown Land near Robe in South Australia's south-east, where the Whillas family homesteaded in the early 1950s.

Connection to the family

• D & C, together with Norman McLeod, leased Crown Land at Bray on 4 Sep 1952 (sold the lease 6 Jul 1954).
• The family lived in a tent on "a square mile of virgin country" while Dick built a house, working as a wool classer and grazier and growing strawberry clover for seed. The children attended school in Robe and by correspondence; Nan went to Millicent HS. Norman McLeod lived with them for much of this time.
• Teena recalled starting school in Robe and her mother working as a wool classer's cook while Dick built the house. See her interview.
• Janet Barbara Whillas was born (Murray Bridge, 1951) while the family's home address was Robe.
• Because of high Korean-War wool prices and schooling difficulties, the family left for the Sth Purrumbete dairy farm.

Sources

• Whillas–McLeod family history spreadsheet (Rev 4), 1950s sheet.
• Interview with Teena McLean, interviewed by Erika Whillas, 16 Aug 2026.