One of the things I was unaware of until Cloncurrys C150 celebrations was the connection to the town of Dame Mary Gilmore.
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I was aware of Gilmore as a writer and a poet and also because she appears on the latest version of the Australian $10 note, but knew nothing of her fascinating back story.
Mary Gilmore (nee Cameron) was born on August 16, 1865 near Goulburn, New South Wales, the eldest child of parents of Scottish-Irish stock.
She went to school in mid NSW before becoming a teacher at Wagga Wagga eventually moving to Sydney.
In 1890 she met Henry Lawson and they became involved in a relationship.
However any hope they might eventually wed was soured by Lawsons frequent absences from Sydney.
In 1893 she became involved with the Australian Workers' Union and supported the shearers and maritime strikes.
She helped William Lanes New Australia movement which was intent in setting up a socialist utopian colony in Paraguay (which ended in miserable failure).
She moved to Paraguay in 1896 where she married Victorian shearer, William Alexander Gilmore and their only child, also William, was born there two years later.
As the colony fractured in disagreement the Gilmore moved to Patagonia where she taught English before they came back to Australia in 1902. Her literary work was published by the Bulletin and her long connection with the Australian Worker began in 1908 after asking for a womans page.
She was invited to edit it herself which she did until 1931.
She and William split up and he moved to Cloncurry to work on the land.
She devoted her later years to writing volumes of verse while encouraging young writers and she was awarded Dame of the British Empire.
William Gilmore passed away in 1945 from blood poisoning and was buried at Cloncurry.
Mary remained a Sydney celebrity to the end of her long life. She died in 1962, aged 97 and after a state funeral in Sydney her ashes were buried in her husband's grave.
The headstone is in Section 4, Plot Number 1448 Derek Barry