Many of the early settlers who made Gippsland what it is today might even be regarded as a little eccentric. There is, for example, Solomon Kinsley, who lived in a log. There is the prospector who, when his clothes wore out, made himself a suit of tin. And there is Mrs Harris, who struggled to transport a grand piano across rough country by bullock dray so that her daughters might have the chance to grow up as 'ladies'.
Some are remembered for their bravery and initiative-like Joseph Gellibrand, who pushed through unexplored dry bush in the middle of an 1830s heat wave. But equally deserving of remembrance are the unsung heroes and heroines: those who built schools, who fought fires, who built railways, or who sold milk and cream; those who were blushing debutants and sturdy wives.
From such individual histories John Wells has created a colourful tapestry of human endeavour and achievement which is not only an absorbing historical study but an enduring tribute to our pioneers.
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