Page 1 of 3 | Single page Richard Magoffin, balladeer, 1937-2006 Advertisement Advertisement RICHARD MAGOFFIN, whose ancestor fought at the Eureka Stockade and who became an authority on Waltzing Matilda, spending years singing bush ballads and retelling the Matilda story to tourists and locals in north-western Queensland, has died from cancer. Magoffin, who was 69, is best known for his theory that the antihero of Banjo Patersons famous song - the sheep-stealing swagman who jumped into a billabong and died - was, rather, a trade unionist who shot himself by a waterhole during the Queensland shearers strikes of the 1890s. Although the theory has been disputed by Paterson authorities such as Professor Colin Roderick, Magoffin won support from others, such as Ross Fitzgerald. He built his theory from oral history gleaned from family members and others living in north-western Queensland. He supported this with documentary evidence, including police files and the coroners inquiry into the death of the unionist Samuel Hoffmeister. The first Richard Magoffin came to Australia from County Down in Ireland in 1853, digging for gold in Victoria and fighting at Eureka. He settled with a brother at Chiltern, Victoria, before moving to Bourke, where they sank dams and ran a carting business. Tough times sent them further north, to Queensland. Family lore has it that this Richard Magoffin is a character in Patersons poem A Bush Christening who perished in 1885 on the outer Barcoo. On the outer Barcoo where the churches are few, And men of religion are scanty, On a road never crossd cept by folk that are lost, One Michael Magee had a shanty. The settler Magoffins wife had died that same year. The couple left four sons and six daughters. One son, another Richard, settled at Ardbrin, near Julia Creek, and was known as Ardbrin Dick, to distinguish him from all the other Dicks in the extended family. Paterson was staying nearby at Dagworth Station when he wrote the words to Waltzing Matilda, to the tune of a Scottish march as remembered by Christina Macpherson, who also stayed at Dagworth. The Magoffin family believes that Macphersons brother, Bob, was the squatter mentioned in the Matilda lyrics. Ardbrin Dick was a friend of Bob, with whom he founded the Kynuna Race Club in 1899. Bob, a pianist, played his sisters song at dances in Kynuna, accompanied on saxophone by Ardbrin Dicks son, also Richard or Dick. This Dick was a swashbuckling character known as the Charleston King of the West. He fathered the Magoffin who was to make Waltzing Matilda his special interest.So now Im on a roll ... There is a long story to this song ... So Ill share it first and collect some vital info that needs expressing ... In memory of a man I didnt get to meet, just spoke to on the phone in around 2000. A very special Australian Bushie whos Great Grandfather was there when Banjo wrote Waltzing Matilda. Ill say no more for now .... Please listen closely to this song and discover something you may not know about OUR song and our Australian history.
Posted on: Fri, 21 Nov 2014 22:33:56 +0000
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