This travel writer traded the globe for Ballarat, and she’s spelling it out for kids one letter at a time

In nailing down the ideal A-Z of Ballarat history for a kids book, it was the letter J that gave author Tamara Sheward the greatest pause for thought.

“I couldn't have jousting twice, because obviously K is for Kryal Castle,” she told the Brolga. “I started listing adjectives upon adjectives, and then I thought that there has to be some ye olde type from Ballarat with a name starting with J.”

And so it was that she stumbled upon James Oddie, “who is apparently the father of Ballarat”.

Oddie left quite the footprint in the town - founding the Art Gallery of Ballarat, procuring the original Eureka flag for public ownership and commissioning a statue of key rebel Peter Lalor that remains on Sturt Street today. 

Sheward was once a globetrotter writing and researching for Lonely Planet, but her latest read is the A-Z through Ballarat history Ballaralphabet. 

❓What happened: Sheward had a pre-launch of the book at Clunes Booktown before an official launch at Collins Booksellers in May. 

After moving to the Ballarat region from Cairns, she searched “for a child friendly book on Ballarat, to learn about our new home. I thought there’s got to be one, it’s such a historic town. We went to the library, and it didn’t exist”. 

The best solution was to write her own.

The research taught her that Lake Wendouree actually caught on fire in 2009 during a period of drought, and that the first recorded Chinese restaurant in Australia opened in Ballarat in 1854, now known as Johnny Alloo. 

She also discovered Ballarat is considered one of Australia’s most spookiest towns - so H is for haunted. 

🏆 The greatest hits: A few letters were obvious picks, Sheward said. 

🗣️“G was always going to be gold, E was always going to be Eureka, W was always going to be Wathaurong.” 

She said locals had been impressed by the book’s colourful artwork, with illustrations provided by Melbourne-based artist Annie Walter. 

• "There's an expectation that a book about a historical town should be sepia or dull or old-timey. But it’s a vibrant town, so it had to be vibrant.” 

The book is available at Hattie and the Wolf, Collins Booksellers, Sovereign Hill and via Sheward’s website for $25. 

Header Image: Ballaralphabet cover art, illustrated by Annie Walter.