Throughout history, Ipswich in Queensland has always had a special relationship with possums. I told a version of this story live on West Bremer Radio.

For example, in 1902 a Possum was responsible for shooting a student teacher of the West Ipswich State School. The teacher’s name was Reginald Gordon of Ellenborough Street. He went possum shooting, grabbed a possum that wasn’t actually shot, and the gun was turned on himself. The bullet was extracted by Dr John Cameron who went on to be the oldest medical practitioner in Ipswich, and whose father up to that time was the longest serving headmaster in the history of Ipswich Grammar School.

In 1922, a dozen Possums sacrificed their lives for Ipswich, and their skins went on sale in Big White’s second-hand shop. But it was John Humphries who was convicted in the Ipswich police court of stealing the possum skins. Ipswich’s Senior Sergeant Thomas Doherty prosecuted, and he went on to serve with the Queensland Police for a then-record almost 43 years, which was a mark that stood for almost a century.

In 1935, the Possums at Possum Creek in Goodna set a record when the estate where they lived got about £1,200 behind in council rates. That’s over half-a-million dollars today. The council bailiff who then sold the property was Joseph Treagle. He was also Ipswich’s returning officer, deputy coroner, and clerk of petty sessions. His father was founder of Treagle & Sons which for 30 years was Ipswich’s famous confectioners on Bell Street.

In 1936, the deputy premier of Queensland Percy Pease went to war against the Possums at Possum Creek. That’s when Pease declared open season for hunting Possum for the whole month of July. But they were protected in national parks and state forests because apparently they reduced the spread of mistletoe. The possums got their own back, because not long after declaring open season, Pease died in office.

But the greatest Possum story of all was Norman John Claude Sherwin. He was better known in Ipswich simply as “Possum” Sherwin.

Possum Sherwin was born in Pittsworth and was a star rugby union player in Ipswich Grammar’s First XV in the 1930s. That included the famous 1934 team that went through the Greater Public School competition undefeated and were the narrowest of runners-up the following year.

He then played at halfback with Ipswich’s Tivoli and Starlight rugby league clubs. In 1937 as a nineteen-year-old, Possum Sherwin was star of a win over Maryborough. In the match he stamped himself as a future representative gun. His resolute running, well-timed passes, and ability to pierce a strong defence, were said to be a treat to watch.  And he was only five feet six inches tall.

The following year in 1938 as a twenty-year-old, Possum Sherwin was set to be named in the Ipswich representative team to play Brisbane in the Bulimba Cup. But he wasn’t available because he had already committed to play in a match with the Grammar School “Old Boys”.

The Ipswich league team that day was a star-studded line-up which boasted eleven Queensland representatives, three of whom also played for Australia, including the famous dual-international Doug McLean.

Possum Sherwin turned his back on a football career to take up school teaching. But in 1939 the world changed with the outbreak of the Second World War, and of course, Possum Sherwin was among the first to enlist. With the 12th Australian Infantry Battalion, he rose to the rank of captain and served in the Middle East, New Guinea, and Borneo, and was mentioned in dispatches.

He returned to Australia and although the ravages of war had stolen his best years, Possum Sherwin again starred on the rugby league field while following his teaching career. He was said to be the best rugby league player in western Queensland. He was still captain of the Roma representative team in the 1950s when he would have influenced that great Roma product, Arthur Beetson.

There were many great footballers who were lost to us because of the war, and Ipswich’s Possum Sherwin is one of them. He was a war hero, an inspiration to the great Arthur Beetson, and there’s no doubt he holds the title of Ipswich’s greatest Possum of all.

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO A VERSION OF THIS STORY TOLD ON WEST BREMER RADIO.

Photo credits:
Possum – Harold Peacock 2024 20240614225926_IM_00027.
Dr John Alexander Cameron in the garden of his East Street Ipswich home, 1942 – Picture Ipswich.
Staff of Treagle and Sons Confectioner, Bell Street, Ipswich – Picture Ipswich.
Possum Sherwin in the Ipswich Grammar School 1st XV Rugby Union Team, 1935 – Picture Ipswich.
Norman John Claude Sherwin, WW2 enlistment photographs – National Archives of Australia.