Sam Irvine (12 January 1890 – 12 December 1959) was a bushman and mail contractor who worked throughout the
Northern Territory
The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...
in the 1920s and 1930s who became a well known identity in the area.
Ernestine Hill
Ernestine Hill (21 January 1899 — 21 August 1972) was an Australian journalist, travel writer and novelist.
Life
Born Mary Ernestine Hemmings in Rockhampton, Queensland, she attended All Hallows' School in Brisbane, and then Stott & Hoa ...
called Irvine a "hero of the north".
Early life
Irvine was born 12 January 1890, the youngest of 12 children to Scottish immigrants John and Margaret Irvine in Boucaut,
South Australia
South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...
. Irvine started work at a young age, when he was only 14, and worked on various cattle stations and wool sheds in the area.
At 22 Irvine married Mary Farrell, at St Ignatius Church in Norwood, who he met when working at Coonamoon Station; their wedding was held in the vestry of the church as Irvine was not a Roman Catholic like Mary. The couple would go on to have 4 children; Margaret, Jean, Donald and Kathleen. In 1919, for the education of their children, the family moved to Adelaide and, unable to find work, Irvine took on the mail contract between Kingoonya and
Coober Pedy
Coober Pedy () is a town in northern South Australia, north of Adelaide on the Stuart Highway. The town is sometimes referred to as the "opal capital of the world" because of the quantity of precious opals that are mined there. Coober Pedy is ...
in 1920 (a distance of 218.63 km or 135.85 miles). Irvine was the first contractor on this mail run to motorise the mail service, which had previously being done using
camel train
A camel train or caravan is a series of camels carrying passengers and goods on a regular or semi-regular service between points. Despite rarely travelling faster than human walking speed, for centuries camels' ability to withstand harsh cond ...
or
pack horse
Pack or packs may refer to:
Places
* Pack, Austria, a municipality in Styria, Austria
* Pack, Missouri
* Chefornak Airport, Alaska, by ICAO airport code
Groups of animals or people
* Pack (canine), family structure of wild animals of the b ...
, and, in doing so, had to make his own road and even cut the last 96 km or 60 miles through the opal fields. He created many of these roads by dragging a log or steel bar behind his truck. Irvine also had to carry a significant collection of spare parts as there were no mechanics or service stations to help and few people had his mechanical knowledge.
This separation from his family, differences in religion, loneliness in the work he was doing and other personal problems contributed to his relationship with his wife breaking down.
Life in the Northern Territory
From 1925 to 1929 Irvine moved on to the Oodnadatta to
Alice Springs
Alice Springs ( aer, Mparntwe) is the third-largest town in the Northern Territory of Australia. Known as Stuart until 31 August 1933, the name Alice Springs was given by surveyor William Whitfield Mills after Alice, Lady Todd (''née'' Al ...
mail run (a distance of 665 km or 413 miles) and, on this run, he had to use both his truck and camels to complete the very sandy run. Irvine also held the contract for the shorter run between Alice Springs and
Arltunga
Arltunga is a deserted gold rush town located in the Northern Territory of Australia in the locality of Hart about east of Alice Springs. It is of major historical significance as the first major European settlement in Central Australia.
Earl ...
(which he kept until 1932). After the railway was completed in 1929 his mail run was completed by the train so Irvine took on the Alice Springs to
Tennant Creek
Tennant Creek ( wrm, Jurnkkurakurr) is town located in the Northern Territory of Australia. It is the seventh largest town in the Northern Territory, and is located on the Stuart Highway, just south of the intersection with the western termin ...
mail contract and began carrying passengers also; which was later extended to include
Newcastle Waters
Newcastle Waters is a town and locality off the Stuart Highway in the Northern Territory. The nearest petrol station and accommodation is found south at Elliott. The Newcastle Waters School draws most of its few students from the Marlinja hom ...
Larrimah
Larrimah is a town and a locality in the Northern Territory of Australia located about southeast of the territorial capital of Darwin and about southeast of the municipal seat of Katherine. The specific geographical location is -15 35' 00 ...
).
It was during this time that Irvine became a well known identity in Central Australia, described a broad-shouldered and ever-smiling, and "Territorians knew that if it was humanly possible to get the mail through on time, even on occasion with four bare rims, Sam Irvine did it".
Australian author Ernestine Hill travelled from Alice Springs to Birdum with Irvine in 1932, a journey which took 17 days, and published her article "Racing in the Rain in the Heart of Australia" in
The Advertiser (Adelaide)
''The Advertiser'' is a daily tabloid format newspaper based in the city of Adelaide, South Australia. First published as a broadsheet named ''The South Australian Advertiser'' on 12 July 1858, In this article she described Irvine as:
Another famous passenger that Irvine travelled with was
Olive Pink
Olive Muriel Pink (17 March 1884 – 6 July 1975) was an Australian botanical illustrator, anthropologist, gardener, and activist for Aboriginal rights.
Pink spent much of her life agitating and being a passionate advocate for improved rights ...
, a botanical illustrator and anthropologist with an eccentric reputation. According to Reg Harris Pink advised Irvine that she had a loaded revolver under her pillow and that he should keep his distance and that Irvine replied "with a face like that you don't need a revolver."
In December 1937 Irvine injured himself when lifting a heavy drum of petrol and was replaced by Kurt Johannsen. Irvine did not return to his mail run and worked as the acting manager at Granite Downs, where his wife briefly joined him, before returning to the Northern Territory in 1940 to take a job with the NT Works Department as a grader driver; later setting himself up as a contractor.
Later life
In the 1950s Irvine retired to Alice Springs where he lived in his caravan and, a year after being brutally beaten and robbed in his caravan, leaving him requiring care, he suffered from a stroke and died on 12 November 1959. He is buried at the Alice Springs Memorial Cemetery, where the epitaph reads "Outback pioneer, mail man, our first truckie".
Irvine was inducted into the Shell Rimula Wall of Fame at ReUnion 2005.