Walter Henry FRATER

1889 - 1959  (70 years)

• Name	Walter Henry FRATER
  Born	7 Apr 1889	Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia
  Gender	Male
  Occupation	1910	Baan Baa, New South Wales, Australia   [1]
  	Shearer
  Occupation	1930	Binnaway, New South Wales, Australia   [2]
  	Butcher
  Occupation	1959	Binnaway, New South Wales, Australia
  	Grazier
  _UID	6A67A7DAE89A4198AF3DB1FBFA1D97FCEFD6
  Died	8 May 1959	"Maikop" Leader Road, Binnaway, New South Wales, Australia   [3]
  	Usual Residence "Overleigh" Binaway, NSW Informant: Mr Robson, coroner, Coonabarabran.
  Buried	11 May 1959	Rookwood Crematorium, New South Wales, Australia
  Person ID	I672	The Path to Our Future
  Last Modified	28 Jan 2019

  
  

  Father	Alexander (Doc) FRATER,   b. 9 Mar 1859, Trinkey Property, Liverpool Plains, New South Wales, Australia ,   d. 31 Jul 1931, 174 Roger Road, Lakemba, New South Wales, Australia  (Age 72 years)
  Mother	Sarah GLOVER,   b. 3 Aug 1864, Leyburn, Queensland, Australia ,   d. 20 Jul 1915, Hospital For Insane, Callan Park, New South Wales, Australia  (Age 50 years)
  Married	8 Apr 1890	Eskbank, Wharf Street, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia   [4]
  	In the Presence of: Mary Sinnott and John Livingston Minister: C D . Buchanan
  Family ID	F185	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family 1	Sarah Laura NEWMAN,   b. 1883, Warialda, New South Wales, Australia ,   d. 8 May 1951, 29 Granville Street, Inverell, New South Wales, Australia  (Age 68 years)
  Married	15 Dec 1910	St Andrew's Manse, Tamworth, New South Wales, Australia   [7]
  	Wittnesses: Annie O'Mullane and Susie Cosh Minister: James Cosh. Other Details: This marriage No. 13610/10 was dissolved by decree of the Supreme Court of New South Wales on the 29th of July 1929, Registered No. 1063/28, RG Dept No. 6359/29, wife petitioner, ACL Baylis Deputy Registrar General Sydney, 13th August 1929. Christine has a copy of the divorce papers, large file of 306 pages. [5, 6]
  Divorced	10 Dec 1932
  Children	1. Walter Douglas FRATER,   b. 15 Aug 1910, Mungindi, New South Wales, Australia ,   d. 10 Jun 1983, Baradine, New South Wales, Australia  (Age 72 years)   2. Archibald (Spro) Alexander FRATER,   b. 2 Jul 1911, Moree, New South Wales, Austtalia ,   d. 24 Jan 1998, Nala Nursing Home, Belmont, New South Wales, Australia  (Age 86 years)   3. Fergus Charles FRATER,   b. 27 Jun 1913, Narrabri, New South Wales, Australia ,   d. 7 Aug 2008, Coonabarabran, New South Wales, Australia  (Age 95 years)   4. Male Infant FRATER,   b. 1915, Inverell, New South Wales, Australia ,   d. 1915, Inverell, New South Wales, Australia  (Age 0 years)   5. Donald Henry FRATER,   b. 7 Sep 1916, Narrabri, New South Wales, Australia ,   d. 19 Mar 2006, Tweed Heads, New South Wales, Australia  (Age 89 years)   6. Irene (Tiddy) Lynda FRATER,   b. 14 Dec 1918, Narrabri, New South Wales, Australia ,   d. 18 May 1968, Royal Brisbane Hospital, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia  (Age 49 years)   7. James Hugh FRATER,   b. 13 Apr 1923,   d. 5 Mar 1924, Balonne Street, Narrabri, New South Wales, Australia  (Age 0 years)   8. Gwendoline Winifred FRATER,   b. 18 Jan 1925,   d. Feb 2009  (Age 84 years)
  Last Modified	12 Jun 2016
  Family ID	F216	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family 2	Martha Mary GRADOWSKA,   b. 7 Oct 1888, Malachin, Czeske, Poland ,   d. 13 Apr 1979, Our Lady of Consolation Home, Rooty Hill, New South Wales, Australia  (Age 90 years)
  Married	1950	Rydalmere, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
  	NSW.BDM. Reg. 8767/1950
  _MARRIED	N
  Last Modified	28 Jan 2019
  Family ID	F3941	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Notes

  ?b?(Note from Sally Frater nee Jones, letter dated 1975) ?/b?Walter lived at Narrabri, he was a left handed shearer - only a small man but a "gun" shearer. He later moved to Binaway where he had the butcher shop. Walters son Fergus also worked in the butchers, then later his grandsons Dennis and John also worked there, today being owned by Walter's grandson Dennis. ?b?Binnaway Bush Telegraph: Page 21, July 2009. Binnaway' Gun -?/b? Walter Henry Frater was one of Binnaway's finest citizens. He was a man of many talents. At different stages of his life he was a drover, a dairy-farmer, a butcher, a farmer, grazier and a shire councillor. But one aspect of his life that a lot of people did not know about, was that he was an expert shearer, or as they say in the industry - he was a "gun". He is credited with shearing 307 sheep in an 8 hour day. Not far short of the legendary Jackie Howe's record of 321. Walter was born in Toowoomba Queensland in 1889. His father was a drover, and the young Walter spent a number of years travelling the "long paddock", before deciding to be a shearer. He was never one to rest on his laurels, and was always striving to hone his skills in whatever he was doing, As a shearer he experimented with the positioning of the sheep during the shearing operation, and perfected a more efficient use of the hand-piece. It was from this period that the shearers started to use the "long blow" to replace the short rapid strokes inherited from the blade shearers, or as one shearer put it "going from the breezer to the sneezer. This technique was later incorporated into the Tally Hi method developed by the Australian Wool Board. Walter plied his trade in the big sheds on the Darling Downs and along the NSW - Queensland border. He used a push-bike to travel from shed to shed, and this, together with the fact he was a non-smoker and the occasional glass of wine drinker, was possibly the secret of his amazing toughness and stamina. There is a saying in the shearing industry."show me a gun and I will show you a broken man", but that apparently didn't apply to this man. There was an occasion when he left "Overleigh" at daybreak. Watched his horse go a round in the first race at Wyong and drove home to mark a pen of calves before the sun set. Walter Frater came to Binnaway in 1926 and bought Clarrie Botfield's butcher shop. He sold out to Jack Renshaw, but bought back in again when Jack Renshaw sold out to Jim Meyers. That was the beginning of a dynasty of butchers that served the town for almost 60 years. In 1951 he joined the Binnaway Chamber of Commerce and was elected president in 1954. In 1955 he stood for council and was elected by a comfortable majority. At that time Binnaway was suffering from an acute shortage of housing, The Binnaway Councillor was instrumental in getting the council to guild houses in Binnaway and gain for Coonabarabran the distinction of being the only councio besides Renmark to build homes for it's citizens. In November 1953 Walter Frater moved the resolution for the Chamber of Commerce to convene a public meeting to form the Binnaway Bowling Club, and he and his friend Hubert (Digger) Laws were elected to head a committee to raise funds for the purchase of land and the building of the club-house and the greens. Although Walter Frater was a very successful businessman in his own right, his life-style was modest and simple. His only extravagance - if you can call it that - was to race thorough-bred horses. His first venture into "the sport of kings" was when he bought a horse named Guddengang from Newcastle trainer Jim Mulrey. Although he was a metropolitan winner, Guddengang was no Kingston Town. However, Walter derived a lot of enjoyment racing him, because, according to Walter " he was a tough old bugger and as honest as the day was long". He tasted success as a breeder, when he produced "Spartacus" to win many races on the contry circuits. Walter Frater died in 1959 as the result of a tragic accident, when the tractor he was driving on his property "Maikop" rolled over and crushed him to death, he was aged 70. [8, 9]

  
  

• Sources

  [S1347] As stated on Marriage Cert when Walter Frater married in 1910. [S2152] As stated on sons marriage cert in 1930, son Walter. [S835] Death Cert. Reg No. 1959/1120, Walter Henry Frater 1959. [S2386] Marriage Certificate Reg No. B 09555, Alexander Frater and Sarah Glover, 1890. [S2581] 1910, Marriage Cert, Reg No. 13610, Walter Henry Frater and Sarah Laura Newman. [S2502] Registration File No. 1063/1928 Container 13/13523, 306 pages. Christine has a copy. [S2434] Marriage Cert, Reg No. 13610, Walter Henry Frater and Sarah Laura Newman, 1910. [S741] Letter dated 1975 from Sally Frater nee Jones. [S1812] Binnaway Bush Telegraph: Page 21, July 2009.