RICKMAN PENNY FURMAGE

1892–1975

Mr Rickman Furmage was born in 1892 and lived in Deloraine in northern Tasmania where he was a prominent businessman and a well respected community leader, Warden of the Municipality and a very active contributor to the development and advancement of the trout fishery in the region. Furmage was a member of the Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries Commission from its inception in 1925 until it was replaced with the Inland Fisheries Commission in 1959. With the commencement of this new body, Furmage retired. He was responsible for the establishment of the Breona Hatchery at the northern end of Great Lake. As President of the Deloraine Branch of the North Western Fisheries Association, he was very active in the development of walking tracks up to the Chudleigh Lakes and the construction of huts for sheltering anglers from inclement weather. He was also involved in the stocking of these lakes with trout. Hev was a significant contributor to angling in the Deloraine and Western Lakes area, particularly the Chudleigh Lakes. He belonged to the Northern 50 000 League and spent considerable amounts of time surveying a track from the south of Little Pine Lagoon to connect with the Lyell Highway near Bronte to further the goals of the league. The track become known as the Marlborough Highway and was completed when the Hydro Electric Commission, requiring cement for the Clark Dam, constructed the road from the initial survey to transport cement from the Goliath Cement Company at Railton to the dam site.