The Possum Statue
David James 'Jimmy' Jones
Wentworth, NSW
The park where the Darling and Murray Rivers join together.

You Peeked!

The Possum is a talking statue that tells his story.  He lived from 1901 to 1982 spending many of those years in the bushland downstream area of Wentworth as a nomadic recluse. The  flashing yellow dot represents the location of Wentworth in NSW.

It all started when he was a sheep shearer for the Stock Owners Association. He was robbed one night in 1929 while he was at a boarding house, he declared himself un-financial when he couldn't pay his Australian Workers Union Ticker and therefore was retrenched as a shearer.  Dissolutioned and disappointed, he turned his back on society and relegated himself to the bush.  For over half a century he roamed the surrounding bush along the waterways camping along the Murray and Darling Rivers.  He lived in isolation, preferring the bush and animals to any human contact.  He was often seen sleeping in the trees hides and climbing trees in search of honey which led to his nickname of Possum.  He was a shy, gentle person that never did any harm.  His pride would not allow him to accept hand outs but he was always clean and fit.  Farmers would find fences mended, wood chopped, sheep crutched, and weeds cleared but the only payment ever accepted for this was salt and matches.  He was well trusted but if nobody was about he was known to release chained sheep dogs!  He died at the age of 82 years.  He was found by a gum tree by two woodcutters on the Victorian side of the Murray River.  His head stone simply reads: David James Jones "Possum" 1901 - 1982- at rest where he roamed.

I would like to thank Bree Bowen for sharing this story with me.. *s*