Glen Innes’s Margaret Smith has sold out of the first print run of her book. Smith has worked for two years on The History of Glen Elgin and was thrilled to sell out of her available stock on Australia Day and has already organised for more to be printed and ready for purchase this week. The book covers the history of the farming community of Glen Elgin with a particular focus on the role of women according to Mrs Smith.
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“It’s starts in 1846 when the first settler came there, and we are very lucky we have a record of his name, his name was George Gill he was Scotland and the district of Elgin,” she said.
“It’s the story of the breakup of the big station into selections where working people could take up land to start a farm.”
“I put an emphasis on that so many women helped on the farms, though they didn’t initially take up the farms they helped run them and in some cases the husbands had a job working away so the women ran the farm, the women did a lot of the work and raised families at the same time.”
Mrs Smith moved to Glen Elgin with her late husband in 1953 and resided there for 42 years and told The Examiner she always wanted to tell the story of Glen Elgin.
“I moved there in 1953 and lived there for 42 years. I saw an enormous amount of change, it was a complete revolution in the farming methods there.”
“I lived there a long time and I’m a history teacher by profession and I wanted to something with all the stories and I wasn’t sure what to do until I visited history house.”
According to Mrs Smith the book is heavily illustrated with photos from people’s collections and the records of Glen Innes History House.
The history of Glen Elgin can be purchased from History house or the author.
