Liz Harfull

Statue pays tribute to a pioneer woman of the land

The Campbell Town community in Tasmania has paid tribue to pioneering wool producer, Eliza Forlong, with a statue unveiled in the main street. This remarkable woman introduced Saxon Merino sheep to Australia way back around 1830, and helped to change the thinking and future of Australia’s superfine wool industry.

Eliza and her family emigrated from Scotland and established a property just a few kilometres down the road from the farm where Nan Bray runs sheep today. When she decided to write about Nan in her book Women of the Land, author Liz Harfull seized the opportunity to tell something of her predecessor’s amazing story.

“When I am travelling around the country talking at author events I often ask members of the audience to put up their hands if they have heard of Eliza. Quite often no-one responds, but when I ask them if they have heard of Elizabeth Macarthur the response is very different. Just about everyone raises a hand,” Liz says. “It gives me the perfect excuse to try and shift the imbalance and tell people something of Eliza’s story. She was an astounding woman for her time, and its great to see Campbell Town contributing to efforts to see she receives the recognition she deserves.”

View Australian Wool Innovation’s brief video about Eliza and the unveiling of the statue.

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