21/05/2026
๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ (๐๐๐๐-๐๐๐๐)
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Lawyer, songwriter, musician, passionate gardener and Christ Church parishioner Bernard Bolan died earlier this week.
Born and growing up in Lancashire in the United Kingdom, Bernard moved in 1969 from England to Australia, living and working in Sydney where he became head tax lawyer for CSR, a major sugar company. With CSR, Bernard later authored with his boss leading papers on tax reform, taking the argument up to prime ministers Paul Keating and successor John Howard to get on with it and introduce Australia's goods and services tax (GST). Which Howard did in 2000.
Bernard was also an active and highly-regarded folk musician, writing in the 1970s an Australian Top 40 chart-topping hit, The Rose Bay Ferry, and recording best-selling albums, including ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฒ๐ถ๐ช๐ณ๐ฌ๐บ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฌ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ ๐๐ฐ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ. He used his legal skills to set up the operating structure for Australia's acclaimed Woodford Folk Festival.
'Whether he sings of his dogs, his loves, his life as a city gent or getting his equipment caught in lift doors, a Bernard Bolan performance is an unforgettable experience,' digital radio station last.fm notes in their slate on Bernard. You can see and hear on YouTube more of Bernard's songwriting, singing and humour in a 2019 tribute concert https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrphkdonnFY.
Later in life Bernard relocated to Beechworth where his passion for plants came brilliantly to life in his large hillside garden, opening to the public in October 2014 with another five local gardens, and for an International Dendrology Society Australian tour in May 2015. He responded with his fine, modest courtesy to a visitor's compliment about his ๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต๐ฉ๐ถ๐ด ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ต๐ถ๐ด๐ถ๐ด (the rare Chinese fringe tree): 'My Chionanthus thanks you for your kind words, and also for this morning's rain.'
A close friend of Bernard's commented this week: "A gentle man. A private man. He had a full and busy life."
Our Christ Church Beechworth community will celebrate Bernard's life with a service of Requiem Mass (but it is NOT a funeral service) led by the Venerable Matthew Healy, Archdeacon, with the Reverend Sue Hall:
When: Wednesday, 27 May, 2026
Time: 10:00am
Where: Anglican Christ Church, 27 Ford Street, Beechworth
Friends and parishioners are warmly invited to attend.
Vale, Bernard.
