[1][2][3] He was the son of former equestrienne Audrey Lilian (née Petherick, later Manchee)[4] and local shire councillor James Barclay Shearston.

[5][6] Shearston and his mother moved to his maternal grandparents' property, "Ayrdrie", near Tenterfield, New South Wales for the rest of the war.

[8] At the age of 11 his family moved to Sydney,[7] where he attended his father's alma mater, Newington College (1950–1955), commencing as a preparatory school student at Wyvern House.

[7][10] The company, with Shearston, performed Little Fella Bindi in theatres in Brisbane,[11] Melbourne,[12] Adelaide and Sydney from August to December 1958.

[13][14] Back in Sydney, he joined the Hayes Gordon Ensemble Theatre working as an actor in Orpheus Descending (January–July 1960)[15] and The Drunkard (July 1960–February 1961)[16] and as a stage manager.

[10] Having taken up acoustic guitar, Shearston learned a repertoire of English, American and Australian folk songs and at 19 become a professional singer.

[7] In 1962 Shearston signed with Leedon Records, which issued his debut single "The Ballad of Thunderbolt" (May 1963) and a three-track extended play, The Man from Snowy River (1963).

In 1990 he received the Tamworth Songwriters' Association's Bush Ballad of the Year award for his autobiographical song "Shopping on a Saturday".

[30] Shearston died on 1 July 2013, aged 74 years, at Armidale Hospital, New South Wales after having a stroke at his home, "Ayrdrie", near Tenterfield earlier that day.