Samuel Shumack

Samuel Shumack (1850 - 1940) was an early Canberra pioneer and Australian farmer. He wrote his autobiography in the 1920s and it was published in 1967 as an account of rural living in the Canberra district.

Shumack Street in Weetangera is named after his father, Richard Shumack.

Early life Samuel Shoemack, son of Richard and Anne, was baptised on 27 July 1850 at Doneraile, county Cork, Ireland. He and his family moved to Australia in 1856, escaping the Irish depression. The family sailed in the Bermondsey, arriving in Sydney on 29 August 1856.

In 1876 Shumack and one of his relatives were convicted of illegally cutting timber on Crown lands.

Samuel Shumack married Sarah Winter (born 1871) in June 1893. The couple had eight children together.

For a year beginning Easter 1895, and again in 1904, Shumack was elected a churchwarden at St John's, Canberra. With these years of service and others combined, all up he was a warden at the church for 30 years. By the end of his life, Shumack had worshipped at St John's for 49 years. The church honoured Shumack in 1951 by dedicated a window to his memory; the window depicted St. John the Evangelist.

Shumack had a fondness for books and writing, having amassed a library of over 2,000 books during his life. During his time in Upper Hebden, Shumack wrote his autobiography Tales and Legends of Canberra Pioneers [Australian National University Press]. The book, an account of life in rural Canberra, was published in 1967.

Peakhurst

Shumack died on 6 April 1940 at Peakhurst, where he had been living with his wife Sarah and his daughter Jemima. His body was interred at St. John's in Canberra, following a church service.

Children Shumack had four daughters and four sons, who are named in his obituary (not necessarily in order of birth) as: Jemima, Ruth, Clementina, Eileen, Everest, David, Heber and Stephen.