Tenterfield Saddler

[icyfroth]

Idling along in traffic this morning, I was absently listening to the lyrics of Tenterfield Saddler, by Peter Allen.

I'd never really thought much about the lyrics, but it's a nice song and I was a bit more attentive this morning:

The late George Woolnough

worked on High Street and lived on manners

52 years he sat on his verandah made his saddles...

Who was George Woolnough? I googled it.

Peter Allens Grandfather of course, that's well known.

The son of George Woolnough went off and got married and had a war, baby 
But something was wrong and it's easier to drink than go crazy
And if there were questions about why the end was so sad
Well George had no answers about why her son ever has need of a gun

The way I interpreted that, there was something wrong with the baby, but  google revealed the son  was never right after he got back from WW2 and became a violent alcoholic.  Not because there was something wrong with the baby. :smileyembarrassed:

Was that Peters father?

The grandson of George has been all around the world and lives no special place
Changed his last name and he married a girl with an interesting face...

Peter Woolnough changed his name to Peter Allen as part of the Allen Brothers and married Liza Minelli.

He'd almost forgotten them both because of the life that he leads

There's nowhere for George and his library or the son with his gun to belong
Except in this song

kind of at odds with " I Still Call Australia Home"

Just my musing for the day.

Does anyone know more?

[ptommo1959]

At work at the moment. I will post an interesting story and pics tonight from a 1965 Everybodys magazine I have it is one of the earliest magazine interviews known with Peter Allen, his "brother" and his mentor (pretend)" father".

They originally performed as the Allen Bros even though they were not related at all.

[colic2bullsgirlore]

Same wolf....different clothing.

Spoiler

Pthommo1959

I looked for the everybody's for about an hour...then I relaized that it was actually in a Pix from March 10 1962.

Even in the 60's the stars were already manipulating the media... It looks to me like Peter "pretended" to be a Bell to play on the "family' story.

An active tongue did young Peter have...

[colic2bullsgirlore]

[colic2bullsgirlore]

[colic2bullsgirlore]

[icyfroth]

thanks Colics...gosh all those years ago...

So was it Peter's father, shot himself, do you know?

There's not much on google, looks like the family is keeping itself very private.

[colic2bullsgirlore]

AFAIK his real father Woolnough took his own life. I have put these pics up on another site a couple of years ago and none

of his die hard fans had heard of it nor seen the pictures before. They opined in a thread that Peter  may have been in a

relationship with his "brother", I can't find that exact website now. None knew of the "defacto father" that ruled them with

an iron glove.

[icyfroth]

That's quite a valuable piece of history you have there, then.

makes the song "Tenterfield Saddler" all the more poignant.

[freakiness]

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@icyfroth wrote:

thanks Colics...gosh all those years ago...

So was it Peter's father, shot himself, do you know?

There's not much on google, looks like the family is keeping itself very private.

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I think Peter's father came back from the war and like some others became a violent alcoholic who shot himself when Peter was a child.

His grandfather struggled to come to terms with his post war son and the loss.