The Boy from Boree Creek

Rees tells us that in 1944 Fischer's father, Ralph, bought a farm 'Wyuna', just out of Boree Creek on the Santiago Road. They re-named the farm 'Peppers' after the line of pepper trees leading to the homestead.  He gives the location of Boree Creek as about one-hour's drive west of Wagga Wagga and 30 minutes from Narrandera.  Rees's book The Boy from Boree Creek: The Tim Fischer Story was published in 2001 by Allen & Unwin and I'm not sure if it is still available. I hope in that case Peter doesn't mind me quoting two paragraphs from chapter 2 which nicely capture some of the history of Boree Creek.

"The name Boree Creek came from Boree Creek Station, so named because of the boree trees (Weeping Myall) growing in the area. Squatters moved into the district around the 1860s, and the subdivision of the big stations followed.  In the 19th century the country was extremely heavily timbered, and Chinese workers were employed to ringbark trees for open farming.  The beginning of the 20th century saw more land available for closer settlement.  In 1912, two years after the village of Boree Creek was proclaimed, the first school was opened."

"A decade later the area was to accidentally enter Australian literature with the publication of John O'Brien's collection of homely verse, Around the Boree Log. In the opening poem, which gives its name to the book, O'Brien ( the pen name of Narrandera Catholic parish priest Father Patrick John Hartigan, 1878 - 1952) wrote:

The years have turned the rusted key, and time is on the jog,

Yet spend another night with me around the boree log."

From Chapter 2, The Baby Boomer pp. 16-17