Notable Characters

JAMES BUSBY

James Busby, born in Edinburgh in 1801, colonial administrator, amateur botanist and viticulturalist, spent a total of less than 10 years in Australia, before becoming Lieutenant Governor of New Zealand (then a mere appendage of the Colony of New South Wales). Busby probably never made a drinkable wine in his life, yet remains a key figure among the pioneers of the Hunter Valley and, indeed, the Australian wine industry.

When he arrived in Sydney in 1824 aboard the good ship Triton, Busby already had some years’ study of French viticultural practices behind him - sufficient at least to qualify him for a teaching post in agriculture at a Parramatta school where he was charged with inculcating oenological principles into the sons of the local gentry.

Busby published two books on viticulture during his Parramatta tenure. Neither volume much impressed the influential New South Wales Agricultural Society - a matter which, given Busby’s prickly personality, inevitably resulted in a celebrated and very public feud which ended only when Busby departed for a sabbatical in England.

Returning some 18 months later, Busby was to cement his place in Australian colonial history.

His legacy stems from the ‘Busby Collection’ - a selection of some 433 grape vine cuttings collected by Busby in France, Spain, England and probably from points en route to Australia during his second voyage out. These cuttings were initially planted in Sydney’s Botanic Garden and later at least partially replicated at Kirkton in the Hunter Valley. Kirkton was owned by William Kelman, a fellow passenger with Busby and his sister Catherine on the Triton. Kelman had married Catherine and taken up a land grant in the Hunter by the time that Busby returned with his vines after a sojourn in Europe.

Busby’s posting to New Zealand was relatively short-lived. He was repatriated to England due to ill health and died shortly afterwards.

DAN TYRRELL

Dan Tyrrell’s father Edward, nephew of the first Bishop of Newcastle (an immigrant Englishman and himself an amateur winemaker of local reknown), took up one of the last available 330 acre selections at Pokolbin in 1858.

He named his property Ashmans after the family’s English estate, built a slab hut, planted out a vineyard, married Susan Hungerford and produced 10 children: the second of whom - christened Edward George Young Tyrrell and known throughout his long life as ‘Dan’ - was to become a seminal figure in the development of the 20th Century Hunter Valley wine industry.

Dan and his younger brother Avery early assumed responsibility for the family’s vineyard. Dan made the wine, while Avery ran the vineyard, developing viticultural practices much in advance of their time.

As a contemporary of neighbours Maurice O’Shea, Philobert Terrier and Leo Buring, Dan Tyrrell proved a quick learner and rapidly established his reputation as a master winemaker in a career that spanned some 75 consecutive vintages.

At 6’5” (196cm) in height, Dan Tyrrell was in all senses a towering figure in the Hunter, possessed of an unerring palate and remarkable instincts for the demands of a changing marketplace. On his death in 1959 - still a bachelor - Dan was succeeded at Ashmans by his nephew, Avery’s son Murray - brought up a cattleman but destined to be the third generation Tyrrell to run the winery. Murray was succeded by his son Bruce Tyrrell who with wife Pauline, daughter Jane and two sons John and Christopher still own and operate Tyrrells Family Wines.

For more information:
Tyrrells Vineyard. Tel (02) 4993 7000
Web http://www.tyrrells.com.au/

MAURICE O'SHEA

When Maurice O’Shea died of lung cancer in 1956 he was already a legendary figure, acclaimed as an amateur chef, as a professional winemaker and - above all - as a master blender.

Born of a French mother and an Irish father who had purchased the old King family vineyard at Mount Pleasant, young Maurice, already bilingual, was despatched to Montpelier University in France where his oenological studies were necessarily prolonged due to the onset of World War I.

He returned to Australia and Mt Pleasant to establish his reputation as the Hunter Valley’s and arguably Australia's greatest winemaker.

The McWilliam family bought a 50% interest in Mt Pleasant in 1932 when O’Shea ran into financial trouble with the onset of the Great Depression. O’Shea was retained as winemaker and manager and given free reign of the estate. O'Shea's wines achieved cult status well before his untimely death.

Now rare examples of O’Shea’s fabled wines of the 1940s and ‘50s continue to amaze more than 40 years after the master’s departure.

For more information:
McWilliam's Mount Pleasant. Tel (02) 4998 7505
Web http://www.mountpleasantwines.com.au/