Samuel Shumack (1850 - 1940) was an early

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

pioneer and Australian farmer. He wrote his autobiography in the 1920s and it was published in 1967 as an account of rural living in the Canberra district. Shumack Street in

Weetangera Weetangera () is a suburb in the Belconnen district of Canberra, located within the Australian Capital Territory, Australia. The suburb covers an area of approximately . Located approximately north-west of the city, Weetangera is bounded by Sp ...

is named after his father, Richard Shumack.

Early life

Samuel Shumack was born in Mallow, County Cork, Ireland. He and his family moved to Australia in 1856, escaping the Irish depression. The family sailed in the ''Bermondsey'', arriving in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

on 29 August 1856. Upon arrival in Sydney, six-year-old Shumack and his family together travelled the three-week journey by horse-drawn cart to the sheep station Duntroon. At Duntroon Shumack's father, Richard Shumack, was employed for two years by Robert Campbell.

Life in Australia

After two years at Duntroon, Richard Shumack took up a selection at Emu Bank (now the site of

Belconnen Library The Belconnen Library is the primary public library servicing the Belconnen district, one of ten libraries in the Libraries ACT network, and one of two in Belconnen, the other being Kippax Library. History Built on the site of the former Emu Bank ...

). Samuel Shumack attended school at St John's Church school for six weeks before turning his attention to farming on the family property. He began work as a shepherd on his father's selection at age eight.

Springvale, Weetangera

In 1866, at age 16, Samuel Shumack took up land at "Spring Vale" in

with his father. In 1876 Shumack and one of his relatives were convicted of illegally cutting timber on Crown lands. Samuel Shumack married Sarah Winter (born 1871) in June 1893. The couple had eight children together. The Shumacks lived in Weetangera until 1915 when their land was resumed by the Commonwealth to become part of the

Australian Capital Territory The Australian Capital Territory (commonly abbreviated as ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) until 1938, is a landlocked federal territory of Australia containing the national capital Canberra and some surrounding townships. ...

. During his time in Weetangera, Shumack was a farmer and grazier. He was involved in local cricket, including as a member of the ''Ginninderra XI''. He and his team frequently rode long distances to compete. Bushfires raged at Springvale in January 1902. Shumack narrowly escaped the fires and lost many acres of grass at his property. For a year beginning Easter 1895, and again in 1904, Shumack was elected a churchwarden at St John's, Canberra. With these years of service and others combined, all up he was a warden at the church for 30 years. By the end of his life, Shumack had worshipped at St John's for 49 years. The church honoured Shumack in 1951 by dedicated a window to his memory; the window depicted St. John the Evangelist.

Upper Hebden

In 1915, Shumack moved to Upper Hebden, near Ravensworth in the

Hunter Valley The Hunter Region, also commonly known as the Hunter Valley, is a region of New South Wales, Australia, extending from approximately to north of Sydney. It contains the Hunter River and its tributaries with highland areas to the north and so ...

. Shumack had a fondness for books and writing, having amassed a library of over 2,000 books during his life. In 1926, Shumack wrote a letter to a favourite novelist of his, Zane Grey. The letter he received back was published in the local newspaper, the ''Singleton Argus.'' During his time in Upper Hebden, Shumack wrote his autobiography. The book, an account of life in rural Canberra, was published in 1967.

Peakhurst

Shumack died on 6 April 1940 at

Peakhurst Peakhurst is a suburb in Southern Sydney, or the St George Area, in the state of New South Wales, Australia 21 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district. Peakhurst is in the local government area of the Georges River Counc ...

, where he had been living with his wife Sarah and his daughter Jemima. His body was interred at St. John's in Canberra, following a church service. Sarah died in 1954.

Children

Shumack had four daughters and four sons, who are named in his obituary (not necessarily in order of birth) as: Jemima, Ruth, Clementina, Eileen, Everest, David, Heber and Stephen.