Black Jack Turner
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As a child I'd listen with rapt interest as my father told us stories of his adventures.

"Down on Misery..."

9/28/2013

8 Comments

 
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My Dad grew up in the 1930's and '40's. Most of his childhood was spent on a farm called Misery. Don't let the name fool you, Dad had a happy upbringing. Harsh, but happy. He has fond memories of the place, and some very amusing anecdotes. My favourite stories as a child always began with, "Down on Misery..." They were stories about the jobs he had to do, and the antics and pranks he got up to. Like the time he tied his little sister onto the back of a poddy calf and set the dog after it. And how he'd jump out of a tree onto the back of an unsuspecting steer. "I got some lively bloody rides, I'll tell ya," says Dad. He piqued my imagination with stories of playing cowboys and Indians like in the Cowboy Charlie comics his mother used to read them. And how he and his brothers and sisters had a cave on Crown Mountain that they called their hideout. He told me of the hard work of ploughing and the bite of cold in winter. A few years ago, I was lucky enough to go with Dad back to Rylstone. It had been decades since he'd last been to Misery. Even though boundaries had changed, and roads and tracks washed away by progress and time, he found his way back out to Misery, like the map is permanently etched in his mind. He got out to open the gates for me and I could see him as a child opening the gates to let the horse and sulky through for his dad. He traced his way back through the years, back to the house he grew up in. It was still standing...just. A testament to the skill of the hardworking hands that built it a century or more ago. I watched, entranced, as Dad walked through the old house showing me where things used to be, and out into the yard behind where they got their water from the creek. I saw the Crown Mountain looming stark against the blue sky and pictured Dad as a black haired young boy racing his pony across the paddock and up towards the mountain. And I was there with him, down on Misery.

8 Comments
Lesley Turner
9/28/2013 07:56:31 am

Love it. Good work

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faye cooper
9/28/2013 03:59:13 pm

Good onya Jacqui. I am so looking forward to reading the book when it comes out. Let me know if I can be of any help

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Lesley Turner
9/29/2013 05:29:55 am

We have all listen in awe at the tales that the family have told us, sometimes in disbelief and gradually came to believe them. It is wonderful that you are publishing the 'tales' for our children and their children so they too can have such wonderful memories of the family

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Sharon McCullagh
9/29/2013 06:37:02 am

Well done! These memories of the "real" Australia needs to be told, please keep them coming.

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Jocelyn Hawes
9/29/2013 08:06:54 am

Black Jack sounds a great character. I've known lots of old bushies like Jack and have had to rely on them to ford flooded creeks out bush during my early days in North Qld. Looking forward to reading his adventures sounds like it would make a great book.

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Tony Turner
9/29/2013 08:36:24 am

Thank You Jacqui for doing a really great job with your book.and helping your father . I
m one of Jack's younger brothers, I spent my younger life on Misery, It was my home and I had a very happy childhood there.. The yarns Jack tells in your book would be true.

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Hazel Turner
9/29/2013 08:44:38 am

Well done Jacqui, You have been able to put your Dad's life into your book.Its going be great to be able to read , what we all have heard about for years. Well Done on a great job.

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Susan Gothmann and Allen Gothmann
10/13/2013 11:58:16 am

We have met Jack on many occasions but my lasting memory is of his exercise routine. His daily ritual of lifting heavy shifters above his head inspired me to invest in 2 hand weights. I haven't Jack's dedication to using them. I might need my own "shifters".
It sounds like this innovative approach has been utilised throughout his rich life.

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