I was invited to be part of a group of 13 artists that contributed to the fund-raising letterpress poster exhibition held by The Distillery in Sydney called Suburban Legends. Each artist was asked to tell a story about a suburb of their choice. I chose my home town Thornleigh and wrote a poem about the true story of how the place got its name, which you can read below. I then went on a typo-marathon of intricately hand-lettering all 175 words.
You might not like mine, but please support generously, there is lots of others to choose from like Vince Frost, Toby & Pete, Christopher Doyle, Gemma O’Brien, Jirat Patradoon, Matt Huynh, Glen Barry, Jess Foy, Liv King, Adam Flannery, Ben Toupein, and Daryl Prondoso.
You might not like mine, but please support generously, there is lots of others to choose from like Vince Frost, Toby & Pete, Christopher Doyle, Gemma O’Brien, Jirat Patradoon, Matt Huynh, Glen Barry, Jess Foy, Liv King, Adam Flannery, Ben Toupein, and Daryl Prondoso.
The posters are $120 each, with all sales going to The Starlight Children’s Foundation. There were only 25 of each printed (420 x 520mm). If you’re interested in buying a copy, you can get it online.
John McNamara was a crook with his mate Dalton too.
Sherwin was a doctor and they robbed him as a crew.
Once the crime had been reported, the hunt for them was born,
The boss was from Parramatta, Chief Constable James Thorn.
The boss was from Parramatta, Chief Constable James Thorn.
They’d spent three days escaping; the cops were getting close.
The bushrangers lay a trap, which they waited to expose.
The bushrangers lay a trap, which they waited to expose.
They saw their pursuers tracking them, up on Windsor Road,
But their aims were amiss and it took too long to reload.
But their aims were amiss and it took too long to reload.
Thorn slowly squeezed his trigger with the felons in his sight,
A crack rang from his barrel and the bullet took its flight.
A crack rang from his barrel and the bullet took its flight.
William Dalton heard a thump as his friend began to frown,
Old Thorn had struck him cleanly and brought that bugger down.
Old Thorn had struck him cleanly and brought that bugger down.
Dalton survived the shooting but was strung by the gallows,
They only cut him down when he’d stopped reaching with his toes.
They only cut him down when he’d stopped reaching with his toes.
The Chief Constable was rewarded by the government’s decree,
One square mile of land his own, that became known as Thornleigh.
One square mile of land his own, that became known as Thornleigh.
