Incredible stories, adventure and verse by an Australian Champion Shearer.
A third generation shearer, John Hutchinson grew up at Inman Valley on the Fleurieu Peninsula. He won six Open Shearing Championships of Australia, was three times Australia Shearer of the Year and placed third in the World Shearing Championship at Bath and West Show, England in 1977.
From 1992 to 2002 he was the Senior Shearer Trainer in South Australia and ran the Shearer Shedhand Training Program.
He trained hundreds of young Australians - some of whom are among the nation’s top shearers. In 1970 he demonstrated shearing at Expo 70, Osaka, Japan. In 1998 he went to the Jordan Badia to train Jordanians in mechanical shearing.
In 1999 he received the Order of Australia Medal in recognition of his services to the Wool Industry and in 2002 was inducted into the Shearers Hall of Fame, Hay, NSW.
For seventeen years he represented his vocation in the Victor Harbor Rotary club. He is an accredited lay preacher and elder of the Victor Harbor Baptist Church.
He and his wife, Athalie, live at Victor Harbor. They graze sheep and beef cattle on their farm.