A passion for justice and a desire to give voice to the unheard of Australia's colonial era have inspired a newly-released book of verse.
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Ben Hall Inside A Man is the story of the man whose name and legend remains so well known in this region.
It's the work of local Rita Ashby, whose love of balladry dates back to her childhood when she memorised the ballads of Henry Lawson and Banjo Paterson.
As she's lived, worked and travelled rural Australia she's sought out the untold stories of Australia's colonial era, and spent time on the country they knew so well.
Now she uses her gift for language and verse to capture the stories of those years, giving those who weren't heard at the time a voice.
"What I wanted to do was bring back to life if you like the tribulations of those who preceded us and founded Australia for us - although unwillingly," Ms Ashby says. "This is what was going on at the time."
Ben Hall Inside a Man is Volume 1 of the published result, it's now in print and available directly from the author.
It's an invitation to stand with Hall as Pottinger burned his cottage, as the Escort Rock robbery was planned, and many of the lesser known events of the times.
Of course to understand Hall, you need to understand the times he lived in - his parents' separate journeys to Australia and what their lives were like here.
Ms Ashby has drawn on the words of Hall himself as well as Ned Kelly, from Jacky Westwood who led the uprising at Norfolk Island to tell that story.
The verses vary from the formal language of the colony's governors in those early years to Irish brogue, the style is from lament to satire and tribute.
Ben Hall Inside a Man can be ordered directly from Rita: please email pinniclereef@gmail.com
Price is $50 plus $15 postage within Australia. Payment is via direct deposit.
