1930's

After Mary married Henry Bower, a dairy was also established at Stanley Vale, with fresh milk, butter and cream carted into Armidale for sale. Henry and Mary’s only son Fredrick also had the Bower’s passion for the land and took over the running of Stanley Vale. Fredrick and Elizabeth married in 1918. Leading the adoption of new technologies, Fredrick installed 6 miles of power poles to ensure Stanley Vale was one of the first farms in the region to get electricity. 

The Stanley Vale Merino stud was established in the 1950’s by brothers, Jack, Frank and Kevin Bower under the guidance of their father Fredrick, “Fred”. 

Growing up on Stanley Vale; taking a ‘sulkie’ into Uralla for school each day with free time spent bird nesting and helping on the farm there was never any doubt brothers Jack, Frank and Kevin would take after their father, Fredrick and work on Stanley Vale. Jack, Frank and Kevin worked alongside their father for many years producing superfine wool. Although Frank served time in the air force during World War 2, Frank and Jack remaining on farm growing navy beans for the army. Kevin, has many fond memories of this period and gleefully recounts the time his father went to the Armidale Housed Ram Sale for “a look” only to return with a new stud ram buckled into the front passenger seat.