Gwydir COMMUNITY

New book: Bush Tragedies - A compilation of 23 short stories about historical crimes, murders and tragedies across western NSW and south-western Qld

These are the crimes, murders and tragedies from across western NSW and south-western Qld that made headlines around Australia many, many years ago.

They have since been long forgotten – until now.

Bush Tragedies is a compilation of short stories from dark pockets of Australia’s history, recorded in stark, descriptive detail by awardwinning journalist Bill Poulos.

Readers will travel a gruesome journey across outback NSW, stopping at obscure little towns and villages where these shocking crimes and tragedies unfolded.

Bush Tragedies chronicles historical events from towns, villages and settlements including Goondiwindi, St George, Narrabri, Bingara, Inverell, Warialda, Quambone, Dubbo, Coonabarabran, Biniguy, Gilgandra, Garah, Mungindi, Boggabilla, Terry Hie Hie, Barraba, Collarenebri, Uralla and Moree.

The creation of Bush Tragedies was entirely accidental, the author said. “The book is a classic case of serendipity, given I was working on a completely different project when the idea for this book came along,” Mr Poulos said.

“I was researching information on the history of horse-racing in the bush, and I kept getting sidetracked by sensational headlines and news reports about murders, crimes and tragedies in towns and villages across western NSW and the bottom end of Queensland.”

Bush Tragedies, comprising 23 stories, 130,000 words and 526 pages, covers the years from the mid-to late-1800s to around 1950.

The stories are deeply-researched and detailed, and written in a style known as creative non-fiction.

“Rather than compile boring, historical essays, I wanted to make these stories as interesting as possible,” Mr Poulos said.

Research over three years included trawling through the National Library of Australia’s incredible resource Trove and sourcing court and law-related documents from NSW and Queensland State Archives, military and service records from the Australian War Memorial and relevant information from the National Archives of Australia.

Several ancestry and family heritage websites were referred to as well as private documents and information supplied by family members.

“There are many people who helped along the way, none more so than the researchers at Western Sydney Records Centre. My requests for information were never a problem, and responses were prompt, efficient and always on the money – they are an incredible team,” Mr Poulos said.

Reviewer Judith Flitcroft, the author of Walk Back in Time, said Bush Tragedies was a “meticulous and well researched work of brutal and sordid crimes, and accidents of awful, immeasurable and diverse events that tore many outback towns in western NSW to pieces”.

“In a quiet way, it is an incredible tribute to country law enforcement officers and judiciary ‘back in the day’,” she said.

“Bill Poulos uses a genre of creative non-fiction to recreate all the happenings in his book. The reader becomes the witness to these scenes.

“I found the re-enactments noteworthy: ‘A cavalcade of vehicles carrying the police magistrate, police officers and the accused and his solicitor made its way into town’.

“The recounting of ‘The headless body’, left an unusual query hanging as to who exactly was the dead man”.

“The Murulla train disaster of 1926 is quoted from the Newcastle Sun newspaper: ‘The town awoke to pulsing life and the streets were filled with the screech of cars and the shouts of men. Breathlessly they dashed into the bush to succour the victims of disaster’.

“Bill Poulos has mastered, (and to quote one of the characters in the book, Inspector Goodwin), one hell of an investigation,” Ms Flitcroft said. Reviewer Kenneth N. Price, a retired Vietnam veteran and author of Broken Lives and Kokoda Mist, said: “Bush Tragedies is a collection of short stories that brings to life the early settlement of western NSW and south-western QLD. Bill Poulos does a magnificent job researching primary source material and bringing it together in a clear and succinct way.”

“Bush Tragedies will amaze you, shock you and on occasions bring a tear to your eye,” Mr Price said.

Bush Tragedies, published by Sid Harta Book Publishers, is available from bookshops and retail outlets as well as online at Booktopia.

Mr Poulos urges readers to support their local bookstore, where possible.

“Please check with your local bookshop or retailer about the availability of Bush Tragedies – there’s nothing better than over-the-counter sales to support small businesses, especially in country areas,” he said.