studs in Western Australia, east Gippsland, Flinders Island and throughout New South Wales during his career. Riverina stud, Mungadal, also engaged John’s services. Classing required being able to work in all conditions; rain, wind, sun and dust storms. It was in a major dust storm while classing at Mungadal that John was to damage his eye, eventually losing sight in it. Expressing to one of his clients, “it looks like I’m going to be a one-eyed sheep classer”, the reply was, “so you mean like all the rest”. Remarkably, this didn’t slow John down and anyone who drove with him knew he had only one speed – flat out. John’s reputation and contribution to the stud industry led to the Department of Primary Industries (DPI) approaching him to be the classer for the QPLU$ project to be run at the Trangie Field Station. The trial involved three distinct bloodlines bred into three groups – a measurement line, a control line and an industry line – with John managing the mating classing decisions of the industry line. This was the first time an industry classer had been used in DPI trials. It was at the insistence of DPI member John Cahill this came into being. The industry line under John’s stewardship performed highly for measured traits. Those that went to QPLU$ project field days remarked on how John’s selections all gained his trademark evenness of type. DPI’s Allan Casey remarked that he did a brilliant job. This was the first trial where electronic tags were used, ensuring individual animals could be accurately tracked. When pressed on John’s contribution, those that worked closely with him almost universally mentioned his ability to pick the right skin. John was very methodical in his approach when assessing and, like all top sheepmen, had his nonnegotiables. “They had to be physically correct with big bone and loose, velvety skins,” Guy Evans remarked. Williams opened his sheep carefully noting the lift of skin from the body; he abhorred tight, short stapled sheep. He would note the sharpness and depth of crimp, always selecting for richness, and talked regularly of the right lock. Lock structure was so important with the correct wax to suint ratio required to protect the fibre from rainfall and dust. The fact he was able to breed this in so many different environments was a testament to his skill. John’s thorough attention to lock produced fibre of high alignment and the near elimination of cross fibre creating a wool package that opened, in Graham Coddington’s words, like “pages in a book.” His memory of all the breeding on every property he worked with, without the aid of any paper trail, rivalled the best computers. John’s vocabulary in describing the sheep and sheep men was also unique. On classing young sheep, he would say, “it’s just like opening your Christmas presents”. Nothing gave him more delight than classing the young weaners, seeing what had been created and could take each stud forward. On managers who he thought could improve themselves, he would remark “just a saloon bar manager”, meaning all talk and no action. On picking sires, he would say, “he’s just ugly enough to breed”. On less desirable types, “he’s got a head on him like a busted sandshoe”. Days with him were fascinating. He was a library of who was doing what and how they were achieving it. World affairs and politics filled in the day and he delighted in his mate’s success. John did not seek public admiration, choosing to work closely with his clients with minimum fuss. Working with countless studs in the pursuit of superior genetics, John Williams’ contribution to the Merino industry is one of the widest impacts of the last 50 years. Williams’ type, through his Purple family and other breeding groups, were instantly recognisable. Few would be as widely respected for their fostering of deep and loyal friendships with clients and strong moral standings. His legacy is continued through his passing on of knowledge to younger generations of stud masters such as Matthew Coddington, Guy Evans and Paul Walton. John was recognised in 2021 with the Medal of the Order of Australia for his outstanding services to the stud Merino industry in the Queen’s Birthday Honours. In John’s way, he accepted with pride but made very little fanfare of the award. In Australian stud breeding history, few gifted sheep men have been able to develop a new strain into a type that is recognised by the wider industry. Sir Walter Merriman combined the best of the Saxons with top Peppin types to form the Merryvilles; T.G. Culley blended the best of the Collinsvilles over Peppins to create the Wongas; and Art Collins combined the SA-type with the Peppins to form Collinsville. John Williams created the Purple Manderleys by crossing the high wool cutting Wongas with the waterproof Uniforms to produce a distinct strain that had the ability to thrive in all environments. The Purple Manderley has become one of the most dominant bloodlines in Australia. John Williams’ impact on the stud Merino industry is of such depth and standing that he ranks with the very best sheep men this country has produced. He thoroughly deserves to be inducted into the NSW SMBA Hall of Fame. The Hall of Fame wishes to thank the following people for helping to compile this story of John’s contribution to the Merino industry: Graham Coddington, Guy Evans, John and Kathy Roberts, Alan Casey, Ian Evans, Robert Harding, Paul Walton, Matthew Coddington, John Crawford, Stephen Burns, Mark Byrne and Keith McGrath. – 51 –
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