Agricultural
2 July, 2021
Felton book launch a success
Local author Ian Whan launched his book “Felton District Histories” at Nobby last Friday.
Some in attendance had come from as far as Toowoomba to get their hands on the book and to hear what Mr Whan had to say.
Mr Whan began the book launch by discussing how he came to write the book and how he approached what the book would cover.
“Unlike most local histories, the book is not a slavish
recount of Who’s Who - rather it tries to shine a light on how the nature of Felton land usage and agriculture has unfolded over the period since European settlement,” he said.
Mr Whan then went into detail covering the first and third parts of the book, leaving the second part of the book to be covered by its star, Bob Free, a resident of Felton for over 90 years.
Mr Free took the opportunity to speak about his family history before the time period covered in the book.
The first part of the book covers Felton’s early history from 1840 to 1911 and the third part covers the fight to stop large scale mining operations in the Felton Valley.
Mr Whan said he hoped the book would inspire others to keep hold of records and artefacts about their local area, do their own research or perhaps even write a book on local history.
“Perhaps this slender volume will incentivise others to document their local history before it’s lost forever,” Mr Whan said.
“The elite historians will no doubt deal with the big-
picture issues but the job of capturing the true significance of local events must necessarily fall to local people.”
Although the initial run of books has sold out, Mr. Whan said he will be having more books printed to meet demand.
