Sketches of Wolfgang Strike camp, shearers on strike, 1891. Collection of Central Queensland University

Collection of Central Queensland University

George Fairbairn Jnr, outspoken leader of the graziers, 1891. Collection of Central Queensland University

Collection of Central Queensland University

Baling the wool clip at Logan Downs Shearing Shed, 1890s. Collection of Central Queensland University

Collection of Central Queensland University

Shearer’s camp, Langton Station, 1891. Collection of Central Queensland University

Collection of Central Queensland University

The ballad of 1891

The price of wool was falling in 1891

The men who owned the acres said something must be done

‘We’ll break the shearers’ union and show we’re masters still

And they’ll take the terms we’ll give them or

We’ll find the men who will!’

Helen Palmer, ‘The Ballad of 1891’, 1950

1 January 1950
29 September 2010
29 September 2010

Freedom on the Wallaby, 1891

So we must fly a rebel flag

As others did before us

And we must sing a rebel song

And join in rebel chorus.

We’ll make the tyrants feel the sting

O’ those that they would throttle

They needn’t say the fault is ours

If blood should stain the wattle.

Henry Lawson ‘Freedom on the Wallaby’ The Worker, Brisbane 16 May 1891

16 May 1891
29 September 2010
29 September 2010
The Worker

The Great Shearers’ Strike of 1891 was a major confrontation between Queensland graziers and their shearing hands.

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