Henry 'Babe' Curran

[3] Curran commenced his working life as a farmhand, but he remained focused on getting his own flock from an early age.

[4] His clip, which sold under the ‘HH Yass’ brand (pictured), was primarily developed from a mob of ‘expired’ Merryville merino ewes, bought cheaply in 1919.

Curran achieved the top price for a clip from the Australian Capital Territory for at least 29 seasons over the period 1933 to 1964.

His clips briefly held the top price under the wartime appraisement scheme (i.e. when open markets were closed over the 1939-1944 seasons).

[7] Surprisingly, these records were all achieved with flocks primarily pastured on land now covered by Canberra's outer northern suburbs.