Sally Oakley*
The Shearers: The story of Australia, told from the woolsheds
Evan McHugh
2015: Penguin Group (Australia)
At first glance, The Shearers might appear to be a rather peripheral account of Australian history. But if we give some credit to the notion that Australia was built “on the sheep’s back”, we recognise that almost every turn of Australia’s post-1788 history is wrapped up in wool.
Author Evan McHugh writes well, and there are several rollicking chapters of The Shearers that would spark interest and debate around any table. Those intrigued by the history of sheep farming in Australia will enjoy McHugh’s stories. Like the account of Eliza Forlong, who walked almost 2500 kilometres through Saxony in the 1820s purchasing merino sheep, before shepherding them on foot to the port of Hamburg, and loading them aboard a ship bound for Australia. Many of these sheep, McHugh tells us, remained in Tasmania, where their descendants still graze.
In The Shearers, McHugh traces the development of shearing as a distinct profession, from its infancy right through to modern times. Work on sheep farms was bolstered by convict transportation, but by no means slowed by its cessation. There was, after all, money in it. Boom inevitably led to bust, and we can see in The Shearers a direct link between the global wool price and the Australian economy. Overstocking, land degradation, drought, fire and flood; all these issues are touched on, as well as the effect of two world wars, which bolstered the wool-reaped wealth of the country.
Yet McHugh’s focus is tightly on the shearers themselves. He paints an evocative picture of shearing life, and the hard work of it. Many famous shearing characters loom large within the chapters of the book. There is a particular focus on the Union movement, as well as cooperation (or lack thereof) between state and territory governments. We also see a glimpse of how Federation in 1901 affected the business of shearing.
In my mind, the chapters covering the numerous strikes and the union movement are overly long and dizzyingly peppered with details that did little to help me see the big picture of what was occurring. They did leave me with a sense of the failure of opposing sides to reach agreement, year after year, time after time. Along with a strong impression that, as McHugh states,
Australia is often characterised as a classless society but, in subtle ways, social distinctions abound.
These social distinctions are very well embodied in the figures of landowner and shearer.
Racial distinctions too are covered by The Shearers, with mention of immigrant workers as well as Indigenous shearers (the latter of whom were effectively slaves until included in the pastoral award for the first time in 1968). McHugh’s book touches only lightly on Indigenous history, but it does so with poignancy, pulling no punches in its condemnation of European Australians.
Although it is not the most cohesive history, The Shearers certainly gives us a unique viewpoint. McHugh says that Australian culture, economics and politics are all enriched by the contribution of the Shearer. He has clearly done meticulous research, and many chapters – especially the opening, ‘Click Go the Shears’ – are an enjoyable read. For those who enjoy biography, there is a small ‘Shearing Hall of Fame’ section. There are some excellent pictorial inclusions. And if, as I did, you struggle somewhat with the detail of union machinations, there is plenty else to delight. The glorious glossary at the back of the book is a wonderfully entertaining place to begin.
The Shearers is a useful addition to modern Australian bookshelves for anyone interested in how wool has shaped our national character.
*Sally Oakley is a Tasmanian woolcrafter and mother of three, with a BA in history and literature. By day she reads, handspins, knits and designs. By night she slumbers. Some of her adventures are chronicled at Threaded Edge Handmade. { www.facebook.com/threadededgehandmade }
