How It All Began...

It is not often that you come across, let alone try to understand, one who was ultimately determined to be, an eccentric, and beautifully sensitive and talented individual like Philip Durham Lorimer. 

His life and story is one that can only be seen as unique. Filled with love and tragedy, in nature and in romance. Philip truly lived and struggled throughout a relatively short, but eventful, life. One can only be saddened and intrigued throughout his somewhat lonely journey, even though known by many thousands, through his verse and song.

My interest all began when I literally stumbled upon Philip Durham Lorimer. 

It was simply one of those weekend garage sales that was arranged for a charity fundraising, where you are searching for the elusive, and by chance, the interesting and the wonderful. 

Donations were made from households far and wide. In a plastic shopping bag obscured under a table I foraged through a donated pile of everyday old children's books. To my surprise, what was revealed amongst them, was a very old manuscript book. Upon opening at a glance it had handwritten poetry with dates in the 1860s and early 1870s. 

Also, together with the manuscript was a velvet and ornately decorated small photo album, of perceivably around that same age. They were seemingly umbilically attached in the bag. One on top of the other, just waiting to be found. Lost and hidden away, in someone's cupboard, to be now discovered, after over 150 years?

Even though ignorant of the relevance of the signatures appearing there or the faces of the characters in the album, I scurried to buy. 

Upon purchase, I squirreled them into my car fearful of someone's change of mind, and their not wanting, after all, to sell them. I was ready, and as usual excited, at the prospect of research. Had I realised that potential of that ultimate discovery we opportunists are always on the look out for. 

Could this manuscript and album have been created by, and belonged to, a famous early Australian?

There were many hand written letters and poems in this book all dating from 1862 to 1873 either from Philip Lorimer or his extended family, or signed ‘Philip D. Lorimer.’?

The Carte de Visite Photo Album accompanying the book seemed also to be from the early 1860s. 

Was it purchased and owned also by this Philip D Lorimer? 

Were the photos therein of he, and his family, and loved ones? 

I wondered, who really was this 'Philip D Lorimer', the name that followed each poem?  

It seemed that he had also done extensive travelling, denoted by the towns written after each poem.

Little did I anticipate the interest and extensive research that was to come, and the discoveries that would follow, and be made. Not to mention the resurrection of the life of a found, to be once, a famous Australian character, long long forgotten.