The history of agriculture in Tasmania, through to the present day, is marked by ordinary people doing extraordinary things.
The next time you drive through Campbell Town, take time to have a look at the bronze statue in the park opposite the coffee shops.
There you will read of the exploits of one of them, a remarkable woman, Eliza Forlonge. Her drive and spirit of determination rank alongside those of Lady Jane Franklin, yet relatively few of us know about her.
Eliza Forlonge was born in Scotland in 1784. When she was 20, she married Glasgow wine merchant, John Forlonge. By the mid-1820s, only two of their six children had survived consumption and the Forlonges had decided to move to a warmer climate. They chose the new colony of NSW – but first they had to choose a new business enterprise to support themselves.
Though they knew little about sheep or wool production, they decided to research suitable sheep breeds for Australia and ship them to NSW. First, they went to Leipzig to study sheep rearing and wool preparation. Then they scoured Saxony to source merino sheep, whose fine wool was bringing the highest prices.
Through the late 1820s, Eliza and her sons walked more than 1500 miles through Saxony where the best merinos were to be found. Eliza selected those to buy, attached an “F” tag to their ears, paid for them with gold sovereigns that she had sewn into the hem of her skirt, and returned later to herd them to the port of Hamburg.
Her son William accompanied them on their journey to the new colony on the Clansman, which called into Hobart Town before Sydney. In Hobart, Governor Arthur realised the potential of the sheep and offered William 2600 acres of land at Kenilworth near Campbell Town if he would agree to offload them and settle in Van Diemen’s Land. William accepted.
Eliza and the rest of the family arrived with more sheep in 1831 and bred them at Kenilworth.
In 1834, she and John returned to England to put their case for more land. However, while they were, there John died. Eliza returned to Australia. In 1835, she sold part of her merino flock to David Taylor at Winton and moved to Victoria and settled at Euroa.
Today, there are still Taylors at Winton and Kenilworth. Vera Taylor was responsible for much of the research into the story of Eliza Forlonge. The Taylor Winton merinos are direct descendants of the Forlonge sheep and form the basis of many superfine merino studs in Australia.
Last year a statue in Eliza’s honour was unveiled at Campbell Town, in the heart of Tasmania’s sheep country. A committee of locals and wool producers thought it important to celebrate her work in establishing the merino wool industry in Australia almost 200 years ago and raised the considerable funding necessary to commission the statue.
Wool, the industry that Eliza helped create, may not ride as high today as the days when Australia rode on the sheep’s back. Nonetheless, Tasmanian wool growers are still quietly leading the world as producers of superfine Merino wool fibres, down to 14 microns.
The bloodlines from Trefusis, a 7000 ha property south of Ross, are also derived from the original Saxon merinos that the intrepid Eliza shipped to Van Diemen’s Land. The cloth made from Trefusis wool has been used to produce some of the world’s finest and most expensive suits for labels such as Zegna, and also Gucci and Yves St Laurent.
The late Jim McEwan was awarded the Ermenegildo Zegna Trophy an amazing fifteen times for the fleeces produced on Trefusis. His daughter Georgina and her husband Hamish continue that long tradition, once again claiming the grand championship prize for a Trefusis superfine Merino fleece at Campbell Town Show earlier this month.
Tasmania’s agricultural history is marked by innovative, adventurous people – ordinary people doing extraordinary things. Almost two hundred years ago, it was the resourceful and resilient Eliza Forlonge. Today, there are many following in her footsteps, cementing the reputation of our farmers as world leaders; and securing the future of agriculture in Tasmania for generations to come.
TFGA chief executive Jan Davis
