Hidden histories: The Bradmans of Cootamundra and Bowral

Sir Donald Bradman was dubbed the boy from Bowral. This masked the fact that Bradman was born in Cootamundra. The Bradman family background has been either neglected or given selective analysis in previous biographical studies. The influence of Cootamundra on the Bradmans has remained the untold story of the cricketer's life. Bradman steered his many biographers away from delving into some details of the family's past, especially the Cootamundra years. This chapter reveals the hidden history of those and the Bowral years in the Bradman story. Unlike the highland retreat of Bowral, Cootamundra was a dusty transport and rural hub, often beset by drought, and difficult for small-holder farmers to eke out a living. Through various means, the Bradmans selected over 420 acres on the outskirts of the town. As this chapter reveals, Bradman was determined to hide what he considered the numerous skeletons in the family's Cootamundra closet. Though Bradman's father, George, maintained a connection with the town, young Donald considered himself a product of the more salubrious Bowral and for very good reasons. Details of the Cootamundra years could have undermined Bradman's claims to middle-class respectability. Hence, he steered his many biographers from the struggles and family scandals of those years.