Charlee Marshall

Charles William Marshall was born in the days of the great depression, in 1932. He was educated at Upper Ulam, south of Rockhampton, Queensland, and later by correspondence and then the State High School.

Charlee, the name he went by, trained as a teacher and taught at various schools around Central Queensland and the Callide Valley. His last school was Yaparaba, near Biloela in the Banana Shire where he taught until 1963 when scholarships were removed from the primary schools system. He resigned as he felt there was nothing left to work towards.

Charlee and his wife Beryl then bought a small farm with a shed which they used as a house, and with their toddler daughter and a new baby girl they started into farm life. Charlee worked several jobs in Biloela as they built up the farm while in the mean time the family increased with a son and another daughter. During this time one of the schools at which he taught closed down so he bought the building, moved it to the farm, and turned it into a decent home for his family. About the same time he purchased another farm a few miles distant. Once a farmer and always a dreamer Charlee settled in to raising Shetland ponies, Charolais cattle and his four children as well as flooding the nation with his hilariously funny short stories.

His cricketing exploits were well known in country areas; he was a fast bowler and his record for the most Bowling Aggregate wins in Brisbane’s Country Week still stand. For many years as the children got older he started writing and performing bush poetry.

Since his first novel I Couldn’t Bowl for Laughin, published in 1988, he became well-known as a performance poet at Folk Festivals around Australia, was a life member of Network magazine, and was a successful entrant in many literary contests. He was renowned for his wins in story and verse competitions, and his recitations on stage at festivals, including the National Folk Festival, Karunda and Adelaide.

His second book Bowlin’ Laughin' and Dreamin’ (1991) contained much of his poetry work to that stage and was quickly forced into reprint. Health problems persuaded him to publish his third volume One Last Shot (1993) as a tribute to the cares and tributes of his many artistic friends.

In 1990 Charlee began a five year battle with cancer. He was admired for his exceptional skill in writing and performing bush poetry, and his courage in refusing to let the big ‘C’ dominate his life.

Charlee was inducted into the Wall of Fame at the Fireside Festival in Tamworth in 1993 and a further appreciation of his work was afforded in a Testimonial at the Maleny Folk Festival in 1994.

Charlee made a number of appearances at the Longyard Hotel in Tamworth during Country Music Week and at the Fireside Festival in June. Besting him in competition was a rare and much treasured event. Sharing the same stage at various folk festivals, poetry recitals and competition finals was even more so. Charlee captained the Queensland side in the uproariously funny State of Origin poetry slanging matches held at Tamworth’s Longyard Hotel where his team defied the NSW ‘Blues’ in front of overflowing houses.

In his final year Charlee released a cassette of his poems Charlee After All and, with Beryl, did a good-bye trip to NSW so he could say farewell  to all his bush poet mates. He spent the last six months of his life in Rockhampton Hospital. Charlee passed away on 1st September 1995. His poetry touched and enriched many lives, all of whom still mourn his passing. He was a great poet and a great mate of many, many people. One lasting tribute to Charlee is the number of poets, many of whom had never met the man, who continue to recite many of his poems.

The Banana Shire Council in coordination with the Banana Shire Library sponsors an annual competition to the memory of Charlee Marshall, The Golden Cockatoo Awards for adults and the Silver Budgie Award for juniors.

Charlee Marshall's poem The Pontiff's Eyes

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