Sir William Allen remembered as a great sheep and cattleman

Sir William, who was known simply as 'Bill' by close friends and business associates, owned and operated large-scale country in the Longreach, Blackall, Alpha and Traprock districts.

Properties either currently, or formerly owned include Forest Park, Athol, Malvern Hills, Evora and Mascot, Alice Downs, and Westbury in the Blackall district; Bexley in the Longreach district; and Sedgeford, near Alpha, which he sold in the 1990s to the Teys family. He also ventured into the Traprock region in south east Queensland owning Terrica at Inglewood and part of Pikedale Station, west of Stanthorpe.

Today his family still owns the Alice Downs aggregation in the Blackall district.

Sir William invested in motels in country Queensland including the Jumbuck Motel at Longreach for a period of time, followed by the Emerald Star at Emerald, and the Mapleton Hotel on the Sunshine Coast.

He also owned radio stations 4LG at Longreach, 4EM in Emerald, and 4LP Ipswich, which at the time was the state capital's number one broadcaster.

Sir William took a keen interest in political affairs, and was regarded as a senior power-broker in National Party ranks, at both state and federal level. He was knighted for services to the pastoral industry, politics and the western Queensland community.

Sir William and his wife Lady Allen regularly opened their heritage listed home and gardens, Toorak House in the riverside suburb of Hamilton, for many popular National Party fundraising events.

Santa Gertrudis Breeders' (Australia) Association general manager Chris Todd remembers Sir William as a passionate Santa breed supporter, who carried himself with dignity, and had a great passion for helping young people in the industry.

He said Sir William established the Forest Park Santa stud herd in 1986, having bought Santa bulls for commercial use at Malvern Hills and Athol for decades before that.

Sir William was part of a group of fellow central western Queensland beef producers who embraced Santa Gertrudis cattle soon after the breed's arrival in Australia in 1952, buying a series of high-priced bulls at early King Ranch sales held at Macquarie Downs near Leyburn for his commercial operation.

Long-standing employee Michael Wacker, who worked for Sir William for 29 years managing Malvern Hills then Alice Downs, said he was a good very sheep and cattleman.

"Sir William was very proud of the quality of the sheep and cattle he bred," Mr Wacker said.

"He was equally as proud of the association he had with all his long-standing staff."

Sir Williams's wife Lady Elaine pre-deceased him in 2018, and he is survived by his children Will, Liz and Robert.