About Tinline Park
Rabbiter's Hut is located on the 3,000-acre property named Tinline Park.
Tinline Park has a long-standing history of sheep production. In the 1850s, the property was owned by successful South Australian pastoralist, Alexander Borthwick Murray and his brother John Murray, from Mount Crawford; who founded the Murray Merino Flocks.
Originally, Tinline Park was used as a grazing outstation for the production of these sheep. Alexander Borthwick Murray, also known as AB, married twice. Following the death of his first wife, Charlotte Scott, he moved to Tungkillo and established Borthwick Brae Homestead, which included the farming land of Tinline Park as it is today.
In 1857, AB Murray put mourning aside to remarry; providentially, Margaret Tinline. Margaret was the sister of shrewd financier George Tinline, colonial manager of the Bank of South Australia. AB Murray flourished – no doubt partly on sound advice from his brother in law.
Hence, the name of the property, Tinline Park, in honour of AB Murray’s second wife. Eventually, AB Murray departed for a stately new home at Magill leaving his eldest son John to control the farming business at Tungkillo.
In 1959, Marcus Lodge, a businessman from Adelaide, purchased the property from the Murray family to entice his third daughter, Jill Cameron, and her New Zealand husband, Richard Cameron back to Australia. They dutifully returned and took up farming the property, firstly building a homestead on Murray Hill which boasts a wide terrace with superb vistas of the Murray Plains.
Richard Cameron began to purchase Corriedale sheep, a breed well suited to New Zealand farming, but certainly not a traditional breed for Australian conditions. In 1980, Richard Cameron saw that the merino was better suited, and with the help of his only son, William (Bill) Cameron, they made the change to medium merino breeding.
Today, Tinline Park is owned and run by Bill Cameron and his wife Annette Cameron (nee Grenvold). While they do not operate as a merino stud, Bill and Annette pride themselves on the exceptional quality of their wool. Their focus is on producing a fine to medium (16.5 to 19.5 micron) wool with exceptional spinning qualities so that the garment can be worn close to the skin. A strong pool of genetics from Wallaloo Park in Victoria, Glenlea Park, SWM, and Rosebank in South Australia has enabled the producer to have such quality.
In 2012, some of Tinline Park superior wool clip was chosen by a wool buyer on behalf of Qantas Airlines as part of a campaign to promote merino wool, specifically to be woven for the new Qantas uniform for 2013.
Over the last 25 years ‘Tinline’ has diversified its farming practices. Its operations include the running of Angus beef and prime lambs, but the primary focus is on wool production. Some cropping is undertaken mainly for farm use.
Bill and Annette's passion for sustainability has been evident in the appearance of the property, with improved vegetation over the years, in keeping with the community-based Tungkillo Landcare Group.
The partnership between Bill and Annette is based on the principle that they are only caretakers of the land and it is imperative that they create footprints and opportunities to leave the land better for the next generation.
