Alex Vennard was born on Vindex Station, near Winton, Queensland, in 1884. He was a wanderer in his early years, spending two years fishing in the Torres Strait Islands, then working on copra plantations on the Friendly Islands, then cutting timber in Port Moresby. Vennard returned to Brisbane in poor health, and began working as a journalist, drawing on his varied travels and experiences for his subject matter. He worked for the first North Queensland newspaper, the Port Denison Times, and then for the Sydney Morning Herald, before writing freelance for the Sun, the Bulletin, and the London Daily Mail. When the First World War broke out Vennard enlisted under the name 'Frank Reid,' and he served at Gallipoli and in Libya, Sinai and Palestine. (While based in the Middle East he sent his impressions to the Daily Mail, the Star, and later the Bulletin). Vennard was severely wounded during desert fighting with the Camel Corps. He edited Kia-Ora-Coo-Ee, the AIF official magazine, after his convalescence. Vennard was discharged in 1918, and he spent the next two years writing stories and other short pieces for Smith's Weekly.
Vennard returned to North Queensland and in 1922 he started a regular column for the North Queensland Register, writing under the name 'Bill Bowyang.' The column, entitled 'On the Track,' was to continue for nearly 25 years. 'On the Track' was, in Vennard's own words, 'a racy page of bush humour and bush facts' (North Queensland Register, 25 February 1933, p. 69). Vennard drew on yarns, ballads and anecdotes about bush life, and he invited an eclectic range of contributions from his readers. The column soon became famous throughout North Queensland. It played an important role in bringing together and publicising songs, recitations and yarns of the Australian bush.
Vennard had begun life in the North Queensland outback, and his close connection to the landscape and people of North Queensland continued throughout his life. He lived for a long time in Bowen, continuing his 'On the Track' column until his death in 1947.
