A childhood spent roaming farmland and bush is a memory for many of the region's older residents, but one that is fast fading as that old lifestyle dies away.
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Our new history series, which begins tomorrow, will be an evocative look back at one such life.
"A Boy from the Bush" was written by the late Reg Mahoney, who grew up on the crest of the Main Range, north-west of Goulburn. (The property happens to currently be for sale - you can see it here.)
The autobiography is a beautifully written memoir of his life, and we will serialise extracts from it each week here in the Goulburn Post.
Reg was a journalist on this paper in his youth, then on the South Coast and in Sydney, before surviving as a prisoner of war, working on the Burma Railway and its horrific Hellfire Pass.
"After the war he went on to become chief of staff of the Sun Herald before moving to public relations with Ampol Petroleum," said his son Brian Mahoney.
"He died in 2000, leaving the manuscript of the book to me, which I eventually published at the end of 2018."
Reg's nine brothers and sisters are all listed on the WWII memorial in Belmore Park.
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The inter-war years in Goulburn come vividly to life in A Boy from the Bush.
The narrative is filled with fascinating descriptions of everyday life at the time, including innovations and activities we've left behind: how to make fruit-preserving jars from bottles using a hot wire; how to set a rabbit trap; how to change film in a camera in broad daylight with the help of an overcoat.
"Much of Australia's population lived on small farms with tank water and no electricity: farming was moving from bullock team and horse-drawn plough to steam-driven chaffcutters and tractors. In many ways it was a major period of historic transition," said Brian.
"Reg grew up with uncles whose bodies were shattered in the trenches of World War I in Europe, but who never lost their sense of humour. He tells how his family stoically dealt with drought, bushfire, flying-fox destroying their crops, and the rabbit plagues of the 1920s."
- For more information or to order a copy contact Brian Mahoney at brianmahoney.pr@gmail.com or phone 0413 437 627.
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