Shep's Place Family Tree

In 1907, Glen applied to take up virgin scrub country in the Hundred of Senior, naming his property Inglewood. He cleared the land himself, without the benefits of modern machinery. In 1910, the year of he was married, he erected a pre-fabricated weatherboard house on the property.

Glen was one of the few settlers who had taken up land to still on the land in 1918. His original holding was of 1,991 acres in Section 7 for 4 shillings an acre, "chiefly arable land, part sand ridges, with mallee, stringybark, honeysuckle and broom." He added to this by applying for 240 acres in 1910. By private transaction with neighbours who wished to sell, he bought 1,848 acres in January 1911 and 1,876 acres in March 1918. In May 1919, he bought 1,683 acres of "chiefly arable land" in Section 6 from his cousin Osmond George Goldsack.

The land proved unsuitable for wheat and Glen sold his cropping plant in 1918, to concentrate on sheep. This required much larger areas of land than for grain growing and Glen's application early in 1918 to the Land Board to take up more land on perpetual lease at a low rental brought the whole question of the settlement of the area to official notice. This resulted in the withdrawal in June 1918 and re-offer of land in March 1920 in blocks of several sections available on perpetual lease, at rentals between 1/8th and 5/8th of a penny per acre per year.

In 1920, Glen took up a total of 10,681 acres for an annual rental of only £8/15/8 including 1,684 acres in Section 19, described as 1/3 arable, 1,626 acres of chiefly arable land in Section 28, 2,046 acres of 1/3 arable land in Section 24, 1705 acres of ½ arable land in Section 25, 1,580 acres of ½ arable land in Section 32 and 958 acres of 1/4 arable land in Section 38.

In December 1920, he added 1,564 half arable acres of Section 27 to his holding and in April 1921, 1311 acres of chiefly arable land in Section 31. The rest of the land was mainly sand ridges, covered with mallee, broom, honeysuckle and yacca. The family again increased its holding on 8.4.1922, with the inclusion of 1,590 acres in Section 10, described as 1/4 arable and 1,326 acres of chiefly arable land in Section 17, allocated in the name of Clara Glen Ferguson.

By 1922, Glen had built up a huge grazing property of 39,000 acres. He also held land north of the Hundred, including 25 square miles of pastoral lease 615A. From the homestead on Section 7, he worked land that had been originally been allotted to 19 settlers, with the help of one employed man. Although taken up at different times by transfer of leases or by application for vacant Crown land, the property in the Hundred of Senior was continuous, stretching in a crescent shape from the original holding of Section 7. The pastoral lease land north of the hundred was separated from the rest of the property by the holdings of Satchell and Ervin and was 17 miles from the homestead.

Glen cleared about 1,000 acres on Section 7, used to grow hay for working horses, run the house cows and provide some quality feed for the sheep around shearing time or for fattening. The rest of the property was scrub and each year, Glen burnt an area. The new growth, consisting of grasses and the tender shoots of new bushes, provided feed for the sheep. The paddocks were huge and selected sheep wore bells around their necks so they could be found at mustering time. Wild dogs were a problem, as the vermin proof fence did not keep all of them out. As chairman of the Box Flat Vermin Board for 8 years, Glen was largely responsible for eradicating dingos from the area.

The first car he bought was a Studebaker, a good solid car with 24" wheels and good ground clearance, purchased in Adelaide. He astounded the car salesman by requesting a test drive in the sand dunes near Glenelg. "Most unreasonable!" said the salesman. "Well if it won't go there its no good to me," he replied "because that's what I have to go over to get from my place to Bordertown." The salesman relented and after a successful test drive over sand, Glen drove the car for many years.

Entries in his diaries show that Glen often drove into Bordertown with his family to attend functions, staying overnight with his sister Emma Virgo. From 1922-9, Glen's family lived at Albert Parade, Bordertown, so the children could attend school. His daughter Una remembers Glen as a great family man, who loved playing jokes. He built the children a hard court tennis court at the house in Bordertown, carting in 100 dray loads of special soil. The tennis court became a centre for social activities and parties. On Sundays, the children were allowed to play tennis on condition that they attend the evening service at the Congregational church. To prove that they had listened, Glen would get one of the children to tell him the text from the sermon that had been preached. Una recalls Glen being able to recite many chapters of the bible from memory. He also recited poetry, including long verses from "The Drover's Horse." He had a fine singing voice. One of his favourite pieces was "The Holy City."

While the children attended school in Bordertown, Glen camped in the homestead at Inglewood, returning to Bordertown each weekend to be with his family. In 1939, he returned to Inglewood, living there until he retired in 1947. The establishment of the property had involved much hard work. He was very down to earth, with a dry sense of humour. Glen attended an Agricultural Bureau meeting at which the costs of developing land were discussed. A farmer asked, "What has it cost you to develop your property to its present state?" Glen replied "all the best years of my life."

In 1947, he sold 14,981 acres, including the homestead. He sold the remainder of the property over the next 3 years, some to the AMP Society, which also later bought the homestead. Inglewood became known as one of the three main centres of the AMP Society's land development in the area, the addition of trace elements making the land suitable for intensive grazing.

Glen was a great lover of horses and taught all his children to ride from an early age. After they returned to Inglewood to live, Una remembers they often rode the 10 miles to Bordertown to attend social functions, her evening dress packed in a case under her arm. She would stay with her sister Doris and ride home the next day. When petrol was rationed, horses were essential. Glen was a member of the Tatiara Show Society for 27 years, often winning the Hunter class with his horse Scotty. He was president in 1936-7, his last public duty opening the Tatiara Show in 1954. He was also a foundation member of the Tatiara Bowling Club.

His daughter Una remembers Glen as enjoying a good argument. In later years, he and his brother Alex would argue as to who had the best shares, especially oil shares. Glen's shares were in Woochid and Alex's in Santos.

Glen died on 26.1.1965 at his residence in Anzac Parade, Glenelg and is buried with his wife, who died on 3.11.1953, at North Brighton Cemetery. The inscription on their grave acknowledges them as Pioneers of Inglewood.