|
"Across the Board is an invaluable
contribution to Western Australian history, particularly
Economic History. It provides an insight into the
wool industry at a time of unprecedented change
and recaptures a vanished past."
Dr Pamela Statham Drew Department
of Economics, UWA.
July 2002.
|
Valerie
Hobson, nee Robins, is a fifth generation Western
Australian rural woman who retains her enthusiasm
for all things rural. She grew up on a wheat and
sheep farm at Babakin in the eastern wheat belt.
Her primary schooling at Babakin was followed by
five years at boarding school in Perth. She married
Peter Hobson who was involved in the shearing/wool
industry as a wool classer. In the mid 1960s they
began a shearing contracting business with teams
operating throughout the agricultural areas. This
was the start of a life-long interest in the shearing
industry. In the late 1990s Valerie had the opportunity
to further her education at Edith Cowan University
and complete a Master of Arts (local history) in
1999.
|