Jane Adams Print Page

The Memorial Gates were erected in memory of  Jane Adams (1851-1934), pioneer farmer and weather recorder. The gates were originally erected at the Agricultural hall grounds in Nungarin. 

Jane Adams lived at Mangowine homestead near Nungarin. In 1887 she began recording weather data for the government meteorological office, a task she continued until her death. The rush to the Yilgarn goldfield in 1888 ended her isolation. Her husband built an inn at the homestead to cater for prospectors trekking past. It was licensed in 1889. Jane provided food and lodgings until 1893 when a new railway line from Northam to Southern Cross bypassed Mangowine and the inn closed. Her husband died of a heart attack in 1895. With nine children still at home, Jane managed the property; running sheep, growing vegetables for the family and the railway workers, and cropping the wheat-fields. Having survived typhoid in 1896, next year she won a tender for the mail run, with her 15-year-old son Charles as the mailman. After 1900 land in the vicinity was opened up and inexperienced farmers struggling to survive looked to Granny Adams for help and advice. Nearby Nungarin grew into a township.

 

Adams Gate Unveiling 1939

Location

Details

Dedication