A delighted Little Darwin correspondent has turned up this exciting 1906 postcard sent to Andrew Barton " Banjo" Paterson , composer of Australia's other national anthem , Waltzing Matilda , and the well known ballads , The Man from Snowy River and Clancy of the Overflow . Sent with the compliments of a stock and station agent in Tamworth , NSW , the handwritten message to Paterson is described as being " A Story Without Words."
That story is revealed by the front of the postcard with photographs graphically depicting the annual variations in Australian seasons -one of plenty, another severe drought. Handwritten additional captions at the bottom state the good times always apply to Tamworth ; the " Other parts generally " illustrated by the gaunt carcass of a beast up against a fence.
Paterson (1864-1941) , born on a NSW pastoral property , was educated in Sydney, became a solicitor , during which time he submitted verses under the pseudonym of "B" and "The Banjo". In Sydney he was popular , rode with the Sydney Hunt Club , mixed with the literary figures of the day , helped Henry Lawson with legal matters . The background to the famous Waltzing Matilda song is thus :-
In 1891 , the Queensland sheep shearers strike took place , creating a situation close to civil war ; Premier Samuel Griffith called out the military . There was trouble again in 1894 ; shearers at Dagworth Station, near Winton , central west Queensland , rose up , fired shots from firearms into the air . They burned down a woolshed and a large number of sheep died in the blaze .
During the tense situation , the Dagworth owner and three police had chased Samuel Hoffmeister , also known as "French " and "Frenchy ", who , it was claimed , rather than be captured , had shot and killed himself in the Combo Waterhole. ( In 2010 , ABC News ran a report quoting an investigating barrister , Trevor Monti , as saying Hoffmeister's death was more akin to a gangland assassination than suicide . )
In any case, it is said that when Paterson was a guest at Dagworth in 1895 , he had ridden out to the Combo Waterhole and had subsequently penned the saga of the jolly swagman who ran from the squatter and police and drowned in the billabong.
It is claimed the song was first sung on April 6, 1895 by Sir Herbert Ramsay at a banquet for the Queensland premier at the North Gregory Hotel, Winton .
In 1891 , the Queensland sheep shearers strike took place , creating a situation close to civil war ; Premier Samuel Griffith called out the military . There was trouble again in 1894 ; shearers at Dagworth Station, near Winton , central west Queensland , rose up , fired shots from firearms into the air . They burned down a woolshed and a large number of sheep died in the blaze .
During the tense situation , the Dagworth owner and three police had chased Samuel Hoffmeister , also known as "French " and "Frenchy ", who , it was claimed , rather than be captured , had shot and killed himself in the Combo Waterhole. ( In 2010 , ABC News ran a report quoting an investigating barrister , Trevor Monti , as saying Hoffmeister's death was more akin to a gangland assassination than suicide . )
In any case, it is said that when Paterson was a guest at Dagworth in 1895 , he had ridden out to the Combo Waterhole and had subsequently penned the saga of the jolly swagman who ran from the squatter and police and drowned in the billabong.
It is claimed the song was first sung on April 6, 1895 by Sir Herbert Ramsay at a banquet for the Queensland premier at the North Gregory Hotel, Winton .
In 1899 , Paterson covered the Boer War in South Africa for the Sydney Morning Herald and became a well known journalist ; he set out to cover the 1901 Boxer Rebellion in China but it was over by the time he arrived , meeting up with the Australian adventurer, George "Chinese " Morrison , Peking correspondent for The Times .
UPCOMING : Banjo Paterson link with a prominent female artist and Townsville's James Cook University .
UPCOMING : Banjo Paterson link with a prominent female artist and Townsville's James Cook University .
