His Musical Life

A Brief Musical Biography

A 6^th generation Tasmania, Peter was a graduate of the University of Tasmania, and has been a teacher and public historian, including site historian at Port Arthur 1983-1991. Peter was active in the community, helping form several local history societies and instigated the Professional Historians Association of Tasmania. He also published numerous reports, papers and books and delivered many talks on topics musical, historic, or both.

A practicing musician from a young age, Peter sang in church and school choirs. At the age of 13, he had the temerity to bring a guitar into his parents’ house which had to be hidden in a wardrobe. This did not stop either him or his brothers developing a love of music, with one brother operating a music shop, the other a hi-fi business.

Peter was always interested in live music, with an uncle playing both the church organ and keyboards at the Follies for inspiration.

A poem for Uncle Ron was written for his uncle in Burnie, where he spent many of his school holidays. Peter recounts stories of his introduction to ‘serious music’ by Uncle Ron in his book ‘See no Evil‘.

From aged 14, Peter saw numerous live acts: the LeGarde Twins (Hobart Regatta) and attended concerts in Hobart, including Gene Vincent, Johnny O’Keefe, Jerry Lee Lewis & Johnny Cash, Beach Boys & Roy Orbison, Louis Armstrong & Segovia, Daly Wilson Big Band, Alirio Dias, Osibisa and Nels Pederson.

He wrote of these memories in Yours, Jerry Lee Lewis: Rockin’ at the Hobart City Hall 1959-1960. His friend and participant Dave Wilson also remembered those times in Rock’n’Roll Hobart City Hall 1959.

Peter has taught singing as a teacher and performed locally on guitar and singing in hotels, at weddings and at community events with various musical friends, bands and partners. Musically, he was aware of John Meredith’s Australian folk song collection, and puzzled by the lack of a known Tasmanian folk song tradition. (The Cobbers bush band once played to an empty Town Hall.)

While studying history at the University of Tasmania, Peter become aware of black-markets & subcultures in early Van Diemen’s Land. While historian at Port Arthur Historic Site 1983-1992, he found these occurred among staff and prisoners. Pre-internet, he discovered fiddler Niel Gow Foggo and juggler Joseph Crapp entertained the children of Commandant and Mrs Champ.

Post-Port Arthur, Pete worked as a social historian. In 2004 he uncovered the 1863 Alexander Laing music manuscript in the State Archives. Its Tasmanian tunes were co-published with Steve & Marjorie Gadd, as On The Fiddle From Scotland To Tasmania – the Life & Melodies of Alexander Laing, launched at the 2010 National Folk Festival.

During 2015-17, he convened three Alexander Laing Fiddle Excursions, leading a trio and a bus-load of enthusiasts, playing the relevant Laing tunes at historic properties in the Sorell & New Norfolk districts.

His musical goal was to record a CD of original songs – but it didn’t happen.

Peter had also hoped to enrol in a PhD researching convict musicians, an interest begun when working at Port Arthur. He has given papers on the topic for the Musicological Society of Australia and at an Ethnomusicology Conference at Cambridge University in 2006.