RESCUED as an infant from the scattered remains of his murdered family, William Punch would grow up in Woodhouselee as the only indigenous member of a white family.
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Whether he realised it or not, his life began and ended in a flurry of violence.
From his childhood in Goulburn to the gore of World War 1 battlefields, the life of well-loved larrikin Punch will be commemorated in a Lieder Theatre production, penned by local playwright Jennifer Lamb, come September.
“People are becoming more aware of William Punch and he has a really interesting story,” Ms Lamb told the Post.
“Many people from Goulburn served in the war and did wonderful things and he is no exception but he is a little bit exceptional because he was aboriginal and because we don’t have a huge aboriginal history in Goulburn, this is very much an untold story.”
Punch was born in the Bland River area of the Riverina. As an infant, a retaliatory raid saw his family murdered.
Woodhouselee man John Siggs, upon hearing of the raid (which he was no part of) went to investigate the scene.
“(Siggs) was just appalled to find all these people had been shot. When he looked more closely he realised there was a baby boy alive and that was William. He actually decided to take the boy back to his home at Woodhouselee where he had a large family,” Ms Lamb explained.
Punch was raised as part of the Siggs family and educated by a Governess along with the rest of the children.
He became an accomplished violinist and newspaper reports of the time indicate he was a successful cricketer and a bit of a larrakin.
When the war started, Punch enlisted on New Years Eve 1915. Amazingly, due to the Army’s strict codes of “european-only”, he was accepted straight away.
“He became a really active part of the Middle Arm community (but) he would have been quite different around here at the time.The community very much accepted him but there would have been people there who didn’t and obviously thats got to be a severe part of the play,” Ms Lamb said.
The story goes on, following Punch through the battlefields of World War 1, in France and Belgium.
He was hospitalised twice for two separate conditions, before dying of pneumonia in August 1917.
Ms Lamb attributed much of the research work to the late Robert Speer (whose father and grandfather were friends of Punch) and RSL Subbranch member Rod McLean.
The play will be staged in September. More detail will be made available closer to the date.
