Mt Bute Station was a pastoral lease originally established c.1840 by Duncan Hoyle. The lease was later transferred to Charles and William Oakley (c.1853), and then to Matthew Hamilton Baird (c.1858). Sir Samuel Wilson acquired the lease in 1872 and purchased the property in 1873. Mt Bute was subdivided for soldier settlement blocks after World War I. The home block - house and 700 acres - is currently owned (2018) by the Collins family.Faded photograph mounted on cream-coloured card, which shows a family outside the residence at Mt Bute pastoral station. The photograph is undated but is believed to have been taken in the early twentieth century. Photograph shows two men, and a woman seated in chairs outside a house. A row of shrubs is across the front of the house. Two young boys are standing either side of the woman. Two young girls are standing on the steps leading to the entrance of the house. The people in the photograph have not been unidentified. A copy of the photograph was made in 2019 and is with the original.mt bute station [pastoral station]

Photocopy of original document. Reference handwritten on preprinted "Mount Bute Station" memo form. Recommends Jack Sandow for employment as a rabbiter and handyman. The reference is signed by W. McCook, Manager, and is dated April 14th, 1917.john (jack) sandow, employment references, william mccook, mt bute [pastoral] station

The photograph was dated to the late 1890s based on the ages of the two boys in it - Henry Francis Junior was born in 1884 and Robert Mitchell in 1885.Black and white copy of original photograph which shows shearers outside the shearing shed at Mt Bute Station. People identified are: Henry Francis Senior, looking out the window; Henry Francis Junior, kneeling centre front with arms folded; Jack Francis, standing under window; Jim Francis, standing third from right; Robert Mitchell, boy in front row, second from left; -?- Shields, man with white beard directly under the window. The Terry family from Illabarook, and Tom Jones, are also said to be in the photograph, but where they are is uncertain.woolsheds, shearing sheds, rural activity, shearing, shearers, mount bute [pastoral station], henry francis senior, henry francis junior, jack francis, jim francis, robert mitchell, terry family, tom jones, shields [shearer]