Lost in the bush

To be lost in the bush is a terrifying experience, possibly more so for young children. It is a motif that has been used continuously in Australian children's literature, and was been inspired by a true incident. In August 1864 the three Duff children, Jane, aged seven years, Isaac, nine and Frank, three, wandered from their home in the Victorian Wimmera and became lost in the bush. It was nine long days before they were found: they had survived after their initial picnic of damper and treacle, on a few quandong berries and by sucking the morning dew from leaves. Jane had taken off her dress to keep all of the children warm at night.

After the first search by the children's father failed to find the children, other men joined the search. By the third day 30 men were searching and finally an Aboriginal man, Woorroral, an expert tracker was brought in to assist.

The story of the rescue and Jane's bravery in using her dress to warm and protect her brothers quickly spread throughout Victoria, Australia and the world. Almost immediately a poem was written by William Stitt Jenkins and then others followed suit. The theme of children lost in the bush appeared in many books and in the school papers and readers issued by the Victorian Education Department. As recently as the 1960s the theme continued to be used by Australian authors.

In 1929 an appeal was made for a memorial: a granite obelisk was raised near a railway siding renamed Duffholme, and a headstone placed on Jane's grave.

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