SHEPHERDS OF THE SOUTH BURNETT John McNamara, Mary Anne Barry and twenty three year old James arrived at Jondaryan Woolshed April 8, 1864. John was employed as a shepherd on a salary of £45/-/- per year, while Mary Anne earned £10/10/- per year as Hutkeeper. They worked in an remote area of the sheep run and were supplied a weekly ration of meat, flour, sugar, salt and tea. John and his sheep dogs were guardians for over 5,000 head of sheep. Holding yards located beside the hut  were surrounded by a protective fence built with sharply angled palings that prevented predators attacking the penned sheep overnight. During lambing season John earned an additional £1/5/-  per week tending the ewes giving birth. WOOL WASHER'S WAGES James McNamara found employment first as a yard builder earning £1/5/- a week, then sheep washer. He worked alongside his future father-in-law Fred Fuller constructing sheep yards at strategic locations on Jondaryan. Fred earned £2/-/- a week and was teamed with James after Fred's sons William and Thomas had shown a distinct disliking for the job. In 1864 James worked as one of the station's fourteen sheep washers when Jondaryan ran 100,000 head of sheep. He was paid one shilling per score of sheep to wash grease and dirt off the live sheep's back. Fred worked as a Wool Presser earning one shilling for every one hundred pounds pressed. The shearing season ran from September to December. GREENER PASTURES The McNamara family left Jondaryan at the end of the shearing season on 19 December 1864. The Fullers followed two weeks later departing on January 1, 1865. There is no record where any of family went in search of work. It is believed James found work as a stockman at Barambah while John and Mary Anne went to Tarong to fill a saw milling position. Fred Fuller purchased land in Brisbane Street Nanango and the family found various positions in the town as servants and labourers. Fred, William and Thomas joined the growing band of bullockies hauling produce and goods throughout the South Burnett region. The Fullers moved to Mount Perry shortly after James McNamara married Mary Ann Fuller in 1867. A FAMILY AFFAIR The marriage of twenty six year old James to the not yet seventeen year old Mary Ann Fuller  was the foundation of the McNamara family's life long association with the South Burnett region. When the Fullers left Liverpool aboard the sailing ship Irene in 1856 they had little idea of the toll the harsh land, hard work and living rough would exact on their lives. The South Burnett offered no easy road to riches for these struggling families. The Fuller's survived by pooling their manpower and money. Bridget Fuller supplemented her hutkeeper's wage as laundress for the Jondaryan homestead, while Fred's sons William and Thomas earned their keep working as shepherds, burr cutters and reluctant fence builders. BUSHMAN, BULLOCKY AND BREADWINNER There is no doubt that Fred Fuller and hard work were inseparable companions. It was the only thing between him and his family going hungry. After arriving in Moreton Bay Colony they headed to the Darling Downs in search of work. Finding their feet at Cecil Plains, the family moved to Jondaryan in 1863. Fred is believed to have met fellow shepherd and lamber John McNamara, wife Mary Anne and son James a sheep washer and fencer in 1864. Fred Fuller was a genuine "Jack of all trades". Shepherd, shearer, carter, ploughman prospector and bushman were all in a days work for him. He was a likeable larrikin but his  love for a quick quid and a glass of grog would be his ultimate undoing.   FRED FULLER'S FATAL FALL Fred gained notoriety in January 1886 surviving  for eight days eating lizard meat after he became hopelessly lost in the wilderness while prospecting near Degilbo (Qld). Fuller's bushcraft and years of experience in the South Burnett saved his life. He again made headlines in Maryborough (Qld), on June 4 the same year after falling from a wagon in Adelaide Street outside Murray's Store (left). Fred died from head injuries the next day. He is believed to have gone to the nearby Australian Hotel about five o'clock for a beer before he, son Bill and a Murray's employee finished loading a consignment of potatoes bound for Gayndah. Magistrate H. R. Buttanshaw conducted a coronial inquest into his death.
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Family photographs and information on this web site have been generously provided from "The Kitty Creevey Collection" by Kevin Creevey, Jandowae - Queensland and the McNamara Family's "Strathgyle Archives", Bell - Queensland. Copyright © 2009 John A McNamara. All rights reserved.