Matt Murphy

As a school student, Matt Murphy failed English and couldn’t see the point of history. He became a firie and has been serving in Sydney’s inner city for 33 years. He is now also a part-time historian and teacher, tolerating the attitudes of kids towards history that he used to share.

He has written three books: Weight of Evidence, about what was the longest civil court case in New South Wales; Rum, about the formative influence of grog on the country; and Gold, recounting the story of Edward Hammond Hargraves and the discovery of gold in Australia.