Gundagai, Not Just a Tucker Box Story

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I had grown up knowing that Gundagai in New South Wales was linked to Slim Dusty’s song “Where the Dog Sits on the Tucker Box,” so I decided to make Gundagai a stop-over on my recent trip through the state. What I did come to realise, was that Gundagai has much more to offer a traveller than a song and a dog.

Dad and Dave, Mum and Mabel Statue

While walking through the town I came across the bronze statue of Dad and Dave, Mum and Mabel of The Rudd Family. The statue depicted characters from a radio drama series, which was popular during World War II. This statue was first erected at the Snake Gully Tourist Complex just out of town; however, when the complex closed in 2005, it was donated to the Gundagai community and re-erected in town.

Statues, wall signs, and plaques are scattered throughout the town and as I strolled through the main street, I was given an educational experience of Gundagai and its occupants.

Statue, remembering The Great Flood of 1852 and the Aboriginal men who rescued many residents.

The next bronze statue I came across was that of two Aboriginal men and a canoe depicting Yarri and Jacky, who as the story is told, along with other Aboriginals in canoes were credited for the rescue of residents who were stranded in The Great Flood of 1852. Yarri, alone saved forty-nine lives.

While visiting the information centre, I was told that apart from the Dog on the Tucker Box located five miles from Gundagai, there were a couple of ‘pup’ bronze statues to be found in the town. I found two – Chips and Snags concreted into the ground, one in front of a hotel and the other outside a shop.

One of the Pups found around the town.

Rural towns in the nineteenth century were going through hardships with high unemployment and scarcity of food, which turned many to the life of a bushranger. Captain Moonlite, Irish-born Andrew George Scott, and five friends held up the Wantabadgery Homestead after being refused work, food, and shelter twice. This confrontation took thirty-five hostages over three days, in which a local constable, Edward Webb Bowen, and two bushrangers were killed. Those years were desperate times for everyone!

Bushranger Captain Moonlite and Gang

All four remaining bushrangers were initially tried at the Gundagai Courthouse, then later re-tried in Sydney for shooting the constable. Moonlite and fellow bushranger Rogan were hanged and buried in Rockwood cemetery in unmarked graves. The other two bushrangers, Bennett and Williams were given hard labour for life. Just before the hanging, Captain Moonlite wrote that he wanted to rest in the grave of his friend and asked if this could be granted. It took one hundred and fifteen years for his wish to be given, and he was finally laid to rest in the Anglican section of North Gundagai Cemetery.

Some of the Gundagai townsfolk are honoured in framed plaques around the town. One man, Bruce Dennis, was the mounted postie for the town; his first mount was “Lily” and his last “Frosty.” It was Bruce’s responsibility to feed, water, and shod the horses, although around Christmas time when Bruce was given a little something extra from the residents, the horse knowing the route, delivered him safely home. On the first of July 1985 after thirty-five years in the saddle, Bruce hung up the reins and retired, thus creating history in Gundagai as Australia’s last mounted postie.

Australia's last mounted postie

Another resident who is honoured in a frame is a farmer and small business owner, Nancy Lawton. Locally born and bred, Nancy was a Councillor with the Gundagai Shire Council. She was very enthusiastic and is credited for the introduction of palliative care services and organising the first Australia Day programme celebrating the local Wiradjury Indigenous history and recognising Yarri from the flood of 1852.

Plaque for Nancy Lawton

She owned a small shop called “The Lunacy,” which sold gifts and homewares from Australia and overseas. Her shop was like a meeting place where the locals would go for a chat or complain about getting better services in the town. Her last public service was to purchase the Tumblong Pub to prevent its closure and to restore it for the community.

Arnold St Claire (Don), although not born and bred in Gundagai, was an exceptional artist who was a finalist in the Sir John Sulman Art Prize in 1965 for his painting “Little People” and the following year won the Archibald Prize for a portrait of Dr Maurice Pozniak MBBS. His other works include a seven-metre-high statue of a rearing horse which was commissioned by the owner of the Tourmaline Hotel in Sydney. He came to Gundagai in the late 1960s and completed one-of-a-kind murals inside the Criterion Hotel depicting The Great Flood and the bushrangers that were active in the region.

Plaque telling the story of Arnold St Claire

Along my stroll through the town, I stopped at the local Café for a coffee and was surprised to see old-style café cubicle seating that I remember from my youth and a newspaper story framed on the wall. As orated by the journalist, it was late one Saturday evening in 1942, owner Jack Castrisson was locking up, and he heard a large knock on the front door. Walking to the shop front to say he was closed; he recognised the customer as Prime Minister John Curtin. The Prime Minister said he was hungry and freezing and that could Jack help him with a meal. He also mentioned he had mates in the car, which turned out to be former Prime Minister Artie Fadden and future Prime Minister Ben Chifley.

When the Prime Minister dined at the Cafe

Next, I came across The Australian Pen Museum , which piqued my interest as I have never seen a museum dedicated only to pens, and again, it amazes me what can be discovered in rural towns.

Ink wells, and quills and much more

Rows and rows of different items from fountain pens, ink wells, and quills, some feathered, rubber stamps for sealing the back of letters, and brands of pens such as Parker, Copperplate, and Paul E Wirt were displayed in glass cabinets. There was so much to peruse in this museum and yet I felt a little nostalgic for the youth of today who have missed experiencing the beauty of handwriting with fountain pens and the like, or the accomplishment of sending a hand-written letter to a friend, where expression is part of the story.



The above and framed signs around Gundagai give visitors to the town, informative knowledge of its heritage and those who strived to make Gundagai a better place.

As the song says, ‘five miles from Gundagai’ and on my way towards Sydney, I came across the famous Dog on the Tucker Box positioned on a concrete post and in the centre of a wishing pond. I had been warned that the dog was not a big statue but still the size of a medium-sized cattle dog. For good measure, I threw a coin into the pond for safe travels.

The famous Dog on the Tucker Box

I am always amazed by the stories and sights I learn when travelling around Australia. Although we are not as old as the United Kingdom or other countries, Australia has its unique history covering a vast land from the gold rush days, bushrangers, artists, and general folk making a difference in the lives of others.

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