| History/Origin |
Cecil (Ces) William Teece (1919-2006) was born in Selwyn, Queensland. He spent his youth as a prospector, miner, roustabout, stockman, drover and horse-breaker. His droving work took him throughout the top end of Australia. When WWII broke out, Cecil joined the Australian Imperial Forces. He served from December 1941 until February 1946 and spent 797 days of this overseas. After the war, Cecil and his new wife, Lorna, spent some time in Perth however, they soon moved back to the Northern Territory. He obtained work as a horse-breaker at Alexandria (a Northern Territory cattle station that spanned 11,994 square miles). After this he worked on other stations in the Territory, including Rockingham Downs, Banka Banka, The Elsey and Anthony's Lagoon, in various positions from head stockman to overseer. Cecil was determined to run his own station. He obtained a lease from the Government for Rosie Creek run (located between McArthur and Limmen Rivers, 150km east of Borroloola). He set out from Anthony's Lagoon with 45 horses, an old truck, his three young children and wife, and two workmen. The journey was tough going and took them seven months to reach Rosie Creek run. He spent several years at Rosie Creek run, building the cattle station from scratch. Cecil also discovered large mineral deposits on his land, but was never able to get enough interest to make it profitable. The isolation and poor access (no road) to Borroloola, made it difficult to transport stock. He conceded, packed up the family and left the station for a job offer in Queensland. Cecil and his family returned to the Northern Territory in 1962, when they purchased Mt Ringwood (309 square miles, near Adelaide River) and developed the land into a profitable cattle and buffalo station. After five years, Cecil sold the Mt Ringwood property for a considerable amount of money. |