Portrait of N.E. Phillipson from Umberatana from the S.A. Northern Pioneers' composite, 1850-1859.

Nat Phillipson was born 16 September 1844. By 1862 he was employed by Thomas Elder and was the first to meet Elder's new imports of camels and their handlers when they arrived at Port Augusta. By 1867 Phillipson was maintaining the station diary at Beltana and became manager in 1870 and a full partner in 1877. He was very much a 'hands-on' man, extremely shrewd and far-sighted, with an eye for detail. In the words of one former employee he was the best employer a man ever worked for.

The Umberatana lease was establised by the brothers John, James, and William Thomas in 1858. Umberatana is east of Lake Eyre. In 1862 this lease, and several others, were transferred to Samuel Stuckey and Thomas Elder. From 1869 Elder, Peter Waite and Phillipson accumulated sheep and cattle runs from Beltana to the Queensland border. Following Elder's death in 1897 his interests and those of Waite and Phillipson were merged in the Beltana Pastoral Co. Ltd.

Nat Phillipson died 18 August 1898 at Walkerville. His executor was Peter Waite.

A History of the Beltana Pastoral Company Limited Adelaide]: Privately printed for the Beltana Pastoral Company Limited by Gillingham Printers, 1965: pp 50-51

Morgan, James Waite The Premier and the pastoralist: William Morgan and Peter Waite Kent Town, S. Aust.: Wakefield Press, 2011

The late Mr. N. E. Phillipson Adelaide observer, 20 August 1898, p. 28, col. b; p. 24, col. b (death notice)

The late Nat Phillipson Quiz and the lantern, 25 August 1898, p. 6

Cockburn, R Pastoral pioneers of South Australia  Adelaide: Publishers Limited, 1925-1927 ("Reprinted from the Adelaide Stock and Station Journal.") vol. 1 p. 27; vol. 2 p. 119 

Obituaries Australia: Nathaniel Edmund Phillipson (1844-98)

Umberatana Station South Australian History

The Manning Index of South Australia History: Umberatana

Hopewell, A.M., Mrs., photographer Umberatana Station B 38344