A Country To Be Reckoned With: The true story of Australia's pioneer stock agent: 2 (Pitt Family in Australia)

In the 19th century Australia went from a penal colony struggling to survive to a thriving prosperous community with a glowing future.George Matcham Pitts life spanned the best part of that century. A larger than life character with a booming voice and a fondness for quoting from classic poets GM as he was known began as a working farmer on the Hawkesbury and went on to become an auctioneer landowner and founder of one of Australias first and best-known stock and station agents Pitt Son & Badgery. Friend to everyone bar politicians GM had close family contacts with Aboriginal people and even closer connections with convicts.Now his great great granddaughter a Pom based in London sets out to tell the story of this remarkable man and the extraordinary country he lived in: a land of indigenous Australians squatters and swagmen convicts and free settlers battlers chancers explorers and entrepreneurs. These were the men and women who transformed Australia from what had been considered by westerners the worst country in the world to a country to be reckoned with.