Dumgree is located east of Kilburnie and was selected in around 1856 by the Bell family, its original size being 300 square miles! The homestead is located on the bank of Bell Creek, which was a reliable source of water (named after the Bells of Dumgree). At the time of John & Elizabeth Campbell's arrival (approx. early 1874), Robert Bell was still alive and running the property, and he was happy to employ fellow Scots; John Campbell began work as a sheep overseer, and Elizabeth presumably helped Mrs Bell with domestic chores. The first five Campbell children were born at Dumgree; sadly Margaret Campbell, the firstborn, did not survive and her grave is located in the paddock below the stockyards.

The Campbell & Bell families became good friends, and when John & Elizabeth selected Kilburnie and moved away from Dumgree in around 1885, the two families often visited each other and enjoyed the social contact in their otherwise fairly isolated lives.