Village Settlement: Gillen

Gillen was named after Peter Paul Gillen, Member of Parliament and Commissioner of Crown Lands (1892 and 1893), who was active in the development of the village settlement scheme. Gillen was established on 13 April 1894 and just a year later, the settlement was already floundering. The major factor in the failing of Gillen was that the settlement and its pumping plant were situated on a high cliff - a position from which the pump could not draw water efficiently. Gillen was also blighted with poor soil that would not support the settlers' crops. Gillen was the first settlement to fold and it did so in February 1896. Its lands were later leased.