Rachael Treasure
Encyclopedia
Rachael Treasure is an Australian journalist
, sheep dog
breeder and trainer, author
and bestselling novelist She resides with her husband and children on a sheep farm at Runnymede near the small Tasmania
n farming community of Levendale
, where they breed and train kelpie
s, border collies and waler stock horse
s.
A former jillaroo and reporter for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation
on rural affairs, she is a passionate working dog
trainer
and in 2007 received Tasmania's rural woman of the year award.
office in Victoria. She met her husband, John Treasure, in 1996 while a reporter and started helping John and his brother with their High Plains Droving horse riding business on weekends. This entailed taking tourists on their cattle droving and salting trips on the Dargo High Plains
. The Treasure family has been droving cattle in this area since the 1870s.
In this period Rachael developed an interest in dog psychology and training with trainer Paul Macphail and became herself an instructor for training working dogs.
Rachael and John Treasure then moved to Queensland to work on a cattle station
, which provided Rachael with the opportunity to write her first novel, Jillaroo. They then moved to Tasmania to develop their interests in sheep farming, dog training and breeding, and breeding waler stock horses on Rachael's family property at Runnymede.
signed her to a 4 book contract for British release during 2008. Two of her novels, The Stockmen and The Rouseabout, have been translated and published in German as Tal der Sehnsucht : Australien-saga(München : Blanvalet, 2006) and Wo der Wind singt : Australien-Saga (München : Blanvalet, 2008). Her novels all deal with contemporary issues related to agriculture and life on the land including succession planning and rural youth issues and relationships set within the Australian rural culture and traditions.
"Like it's the only thing Levendale has, we don't have a shop, a pub, or anything to fall back on, this is all we have, is our school, and it keeps the women supported and networking on behalf of the men as well, so it kind of flows through the whole community." Rachael Treasure told an ABC reporter.
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
, sheep dog
Sheep dog
- Animals :*Livestock guardian dog, a dog used to guard sheep and other livestock*Herding dog, a dog used to herd sheep and other livestock- Computer science :*Sheepdog a distributed storage system for QEMU/KVM - Songs :...
breeder and trainer, author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
and bestselling novelist She resides with her husband and children on a sheep farm at Runnymede near the small Tasmania
Tasmania
Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...
n farming community of Levendale
Levendale, Tasmania
Levendale is a small settlement in the Southern Midlands Council area 53 km north of Hobart, Tasmania, Australia servicing the local farming community. Australian author and novelist Rachael Treasure resides in the area....
, where they breed and train kelpie
Australian Kelpie
The Kelpie is an Australian sheep dog successful at mustering and droving with little or no command guidance. They are medium-sized dogs and come in a variety of colours...
s, border collies and waler stock horse
Stock horse
A Stock horse is a horse of a type that is well suited for working with livestock, particularly cattle. Such horses are riding horsescharacterized by agility, quickness, and powerful hindquarters...
s.
A former jillaroo and reporter for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...
on rural affairs, she is a passionate working dog
Working dog
A working dog refers to a canine working animal, i.e., a type of dog that is not merely a pet but learns and performs tasks to assist and/or entertain its human companions, or a breed of such origin...
trainer
Animal training
Animal training refers to teaching animals specific responses to specific conditions or stimuli. Training may be for the purpose of companionship, detection, protection, entertainment or all of the above....
and in 2007 received Tasmania's rural woman of the year award.
Early life
In the early 1990s Rachael worked out of the ABC SaleSale, Victoria
Sale is a city in the Gippsland region of the Australian state of Victoria. It is the seat of the Shire of Wellington as well as the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sale and the Anglican Diocese of Gippsland. It has a population of around 13,336, and is expected to reach a population of 14,000 soon...
office in Victoria. She met her husband, John Treasure, in 1996 while a reporter and started helping John and his brother with their High Plains Droving horse riding business on weekends. This entailed taking tourists on their cattle droving and salting trips on the Dargo High Plains
Dargo, Victoria
Dargo is a town in Victoria, Australia, located east of Melbourne, in the Shire of Wellington. At the 2006 census, Dargo and the surrounding area had a population of 144....
. The Treasure family has been droving cattle in this area since the 1870s.
In this period Rachael developed an interest in dog psychology and training with trainer Paul Macphail and became herself an instructor for training working dogs.
Rachael and John Treasure then moved to Queensland to work on a cattle station
Cattle station
Cattle station is an Australian term for a large farm , whose main activity is the rearing of cattle. In Australia, the owner of a cattle station is called a grazier...
, which provided Rachael with the opportunity to write her first novel, Jillaroo. They then moved to Tasmania to develop their interests in sheep farming, dog training and breeding, and breeding waler stock horses on Rachael's family property at Runnymede.
Bestselling novelist
Her three novels, Jillaroo, The Stockmen, and The Rouseabout, have all been bestsellers in Australia selling more than 100,000 combined copies by the end of 2007. Random HouseRandom House
Random House, Inc. is the largest general-interest trade book publisher in the world. It has been owned since 1998 by the German private media corporation Bertelsmann and has become the umbrella brand for Bertelsmann book publishing. Random House also has a movie production arm, Random House Films,...
signed her to a 4 book contract for British release during 2008. Two of her novels, The Stockmen and The Rouseabout, have been translated and published in German as Tal der Sehnsucht : Australien-saga(München : Blanvalet, 2006) and Wo der Wind singt : Australien-Saga (München : Blanvalet, 2008). Her novels all deal with contemporary issues related to agriculture and life on the land including succession planning and rural youth issues and relationships set within the Australian rural culture and traditions.
Community activism
In 2008 Levendale Primary School was under threat of closure due to low student numbers. Rachael Treasure proposed to the community that vacant farmhouses be put up for rent of $1 per week to attract more families to the area. The offer attracted interest from around Australia, New Zealand and as far afield as Japan and Singapore."Like it's the only thing Levendale has, we don't have a shop, a pub, or anything to fall back on, this is all we have, is our school, and it keeps the women supported and networking on behalf of the men as well, so it kind of flows through the whole community." Rachael Treasure told an ABC reporter.
Novels
- Jillaroo (UK title: River Run Deep), Camberwell, Vic. : Penguin Books, 2002. ISBN 0143000241
- The Stockmen (UK title: Timeless Land), Camberwell, Vic. : Penguin Group (Australia), 2004. ISBN 0670042935
- The Rouseabout (UK title: The Dare), Camberwell, Vic. : Viking, 2007. ISBN 9780670070657 ISBN 0670070653
- The Cattleman's Daughter (UK title: Through the Fire), Camberwell, Vic : Penguin Group (Australia), 2009
Other writing
- Treasure’s Tales - collection of short stories eBook - Summerhill Publishing, Hobart, 2008.
- Wise Women and Hot Dogs - dog training eBook - Summerhill Publishing, Hobart, 2008.
External links
- Treasure's Tales - Rachael Treasure's website and blog