OH YAY, oh yay, good people of Canberra, make way for your town crier – Alan Moyse.

Alan, 61, officially sworn in by Chief Minister Katy Gallagher in August and now an official member of the Ancient and Honourable Guild of Town Criers.

According to Alan, this is the first time Canberra has had a town crier since 1925.

“It’s a very ceremonial and honorary position,” Alan said.

“Town criers were the old news readers, they’d go into the town square, village square, city square and they’d proclaim the news and then they’d post the news up on the cross in the town centre, or the wall or sometimes the pub or the local church.

“Which is why a lot of newspapers are called ‘The Post’.”

Alan says most capital cities and regional towns, including Sydney, Perth, Adelaide, Hobart and Woolongong has a town crier; however, before him, Canberra and Queanbeyan didn’t have one.

“I was down at Hobart recently and their town crier appears almost regularly down at the Salamanca Markets in full regalia and announces bits and pieces,” he said.

“Some of my colleagues take part in other activities, announcing the bride and groom at weddings.”

But being a town crier isn’t a far jump for Alan, who has been a member of the worldwide pre-17th century medieval and renaissance society, the Society for Creative Anachronism for “many, many years”.

As part of the Lochac Kingdom (Australia, NZ and some parts of Antarctica), Alan in his persona of Lord Alan of Jedbrough, has acted as a herald for the Barony of Politarchopolis (Canberra).

“I’ve done quite a bit of research on town criers but it helps that I am part of a medieval society and I have been a herald at previous gatherings,” he says.

His town crier’s regalia, is mostly his own costumes, with the jacket sewn by his sister and a friend, in Canberra’s official blue and gold.

He is currently seeking approval to have Canberra’s crest sewn to the jacket.

So far, Alan has appeared in full regalia as the town crier at Woden Community Festival, St Thomas the Apostle School fete and the Duffy Primary School fete.

“At the time, I think it was going to be a bit of a one-off but what’s the point of having a town crier if you don’t do it regularly?” he says.
Outside of his town crier responsibilities and his persona as “Lord Allen of Jedbrough”, Alan works four days a week in HR for the

Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs as he “eases gently into retirement”.

“I see myself as a representative for the ACT, one of the reasons I thought it would be better to be a bit serious although in a fun way about being a town crier is this is an admirable way to advertise Canberra in a slightly different fashion,” he says.

“Canberra as a new city doesn’t have a lot of ‘tradition’.

“I see myself as establishing a little bit of tradition here in the ACT with links to a past that some people think had some good things going for it, some not so good things but some good things.”

And although the Government hasn’t used his services yet, he’s already been called in by other towns including Bermagui for their Four Winds Festival.

“Hopefully, next year at the end of March, I’ll be the ACT representative in Moree at the gathering of the town criers and taking part in their parade and a couple of their contests,” he says.

Town Crier Alan Moyse will make an appearance at the Tuggeranong Community Festival on November 26.

Alan is available to appear for free at any school or community event, contact him at alanmoyse@grapevine.net.au or 0407 669874