Loading wool at Gum Park in the 1940s . Dee Nolan is the third generation to breed sheep at Gum Park, the farm started in 1909 by her grandfather, J. B. Nolan ( right).
About South Glynde Babydoll Stud
Dee Nolan has become one of Australia’s leading breeders of registered Babydoll sheep, the official name now given to the small Southdown sheep her father had on their farm when Dee was a child. In a life come full circle, Dee later returned to live on that farm with her husband John and it’s where they have established their Babydoll flock.
“I really loved our Southdowns. They were kid-sized, short to the ground and so easy to handle.” - Dee Nolan
Buying back the family farm, Dee went in search of those sheep from her childhood, only to find that decades of breeding had transformed the Southdown into a much larger breed of sheep. With just a few of the earlier, heritage smaller Southdowns still in existence, Dee determined to track some down and do her bit to save them.
Babydoll heritage Southdowns return to Gum Park.
(With John Southgate).
In 2021, the heritage Southdowns formally became known as Babydolls, with their breed registered with the Australian Stud Sheep Breeders Association (ASSBA).
Dee’s South Glynde Babydoll stud is now one of the largest Babydoll flocks in Australia. Getting there has taken patience and years of careful selection of genetics. The South Glynde name honours the pioneering vision of English master breeder, John Ellman, who founded the Southdown breed over 200 years ago at Glynde in Sussex.
The South Glynde Babydoll stud is at Hynam, near Naracoorte in South Australia’s Limestone Coast. It was registered in 2014 by Dee Nolan and her husband, John Southgate. Their farm is called Gum Park and was established by Dee’s grandparents in 1909.
Dee trained as a newspaper reporter on the Melbourne Herald and went on to have a distinguished career as a senior newspaper executive and magazine editor on many of the world’s leading publications in London and New York. She was three times awarded Editor Of The Year by the British Society of Magazine Editors (BSME).
She has also written two books about the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela. Her first, A Food Lover’s Pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela was recognised in the 2010 Gourmand World Cooks Awards as one of the Best Culinary Travel Books in the World. A second book followed – A Food Lover’s Pilgrimage to France – both books being published by the Lantern imprint of Penguin and reflecting Dee’s abiding interest in food, farming and history.
South Glynde Registered Stud
South Glynde, has been registered with ASSBA since 2011
Prefix: South Glynde
Babydoll Flock Number: 2420
We are members of the Babydoll Sheep Association of Australia Inc (BSAA).
Dee is a past committee member of the BSAA.
Letts stud provided rams for Dee’s father’s generation of prime lamb breeders.