24/04/2026
Our warm appreciation to Kelly A Colourful History for the beautiful work on this photo, and her lovely post ❤️
HOLOWILIENA STATION, VIA CRADOCK, FLINDERS RANGES, SOUTH AUSTRALIA
There’s something quietly special about revisiting an old photograph.
The last time I worked on this little image was back in 2022, when COVID still shaped our days, and the world felt very different. Picking it up again today, I realised just how much has changed. Not only around us, but in what we learn, how we see, and the way we bring these fragments of the past back to life. Four years on, with new skills under my belt, I felt drawn to try again. The original will be in the comments, and I’d genuinely love to know, do you think I’ve improved? And it does make me wonder, what might my work look like by 2030?
This photograph takes us to Holowiliena Station, via Cradock in the Flinders Ranges, one of those places where history isn’t just remembered, it’s still lived. My thanks go to Luke and Frances, the current custodians, who have generously shared these images and their family story.
Holowiliena holds a rare distinction. It remains the only pastoral lease in South Australia still held by descendants of the original lessees. Generation after generation, now stretching into the fourth, fifth and sixth, has continued to care for this remarkable property.
That story begins with William and Jennett Warwick, who arrived in 1839 from Scotland with three young children. Like so many early arrivals, they began with farm work near Gawler, before William was offered management of Canowie Station. Encouraged to find land of their own, the family, now ten children strong, set out in 1852 for the Flinders Ranges.
Jennett, the girls, and the younger children remained at Arkaba, while William and his older sons pushed further north to establish a foothold. There, at a place now known as Yak, they built a simple hut. Isolation would have been absolute. And yet, this is where their story took root.
By 1855, with twelve children in total, William and Jennett began work on what would become the Holowiliena homestead, a requirement of their pastoral lease, but also a declaration of permanence. Over time, they added outbuildings crafted from the land itself, stone, timber, lime, structures that still speak of endurance and ingenuity.
The photograph truly stayed with me.
The image shows a humble little pine-and-pug cottage, softened by time, slightly blurred, and damaged, as so many early photographs are. And yet, it holds such presence.
Thanks to Frances Frahn, I can tell you that, standing in front of the cottage in 1920, are Edith, her great-grandmother, along with Thomas Warrick and little Loriot.
The cottage itself clearly meant something special. It’s one of Frances’ favourites, and beautifully, it has now been restored by Frances and Luke. Their work even featured on the television programme Restoration Australia.
https://www.facebook.com/Holowiliena
Source: Holowiliena Station, Ancestry and Find My Past websites.
Copyright © Kelly Bonato 2026. All image editing, enhancement and colourisation is subject to copyright. You are welcome to share this post, but the image alone cannot be copied or shared without permission.
Edited and colourised by Kelly Bonato of A Colourful History
