Published by George Lamond, the book tells the story of his parents, Aus and Lillian Lamond, and their forebears.

With the help of his late wife Kathleen, the book has been a labour of love, not only documenting one of the first families to move to Currarong in the 1930s but also the family’s story dating back to Scotland in the 1600s.

“It has been a lot of work and a lot of research over many years to get to this stage,” Mr Lamond said.

“I’m glad we have finally got it published. It’s just disappointing that Kath wasn’t here to see it.”

The book is an insight into early life in and around the Shoalhaven district and in particular Terara, Worrigee, Numbaa, Pyree, Huskisson and eventually Currarong.

Mr Lamond charts the journey of his parents and their descendants from Glenshee, Perthsire in Scotland.

From Robert Lamond (born circa 1690) and Grizel MacIntosh (born circa 1700) he has traced six generations of the family that eventually led to his parents, with Mr Lamond being the seventh generation.

The Lamond family name in the Shoalhaven dates back to 1837 when his great-great-great-grandfather James and his wife Isobel migrated to Australia in 1837 under the Bounty Scheme.

The family played a prominent part in the development of the area, working on Alexander Berry’s Coolangatta Estate and locations like South Huskisson around the time of the Wool Wharf construction (1842) before settling at Worrigee at Oak Bank as Prosper De Mestre was establishing the township of Terara in 1850.

The story includes his great-grandparents, John MacIntosh Lamond and his wife Sarah (nee Thompson), leasing land at Pyree from Alexander Berry, later establishing the Worrigee Bacon Factory.

Their son David became a prominent cattle breeder, with Friesian cattle for which the Lamond family name became famous throughout Australia.

Their eldest son Austin is Mr Lamond’s father.

The book tells the story of Austin’s life, from being born in Burrier, working on the family farm at Terara before heading off to Sydney as a 16-year-old. He worked in a number of occupations including a stint in the Queensland tin mines and even drove a milk cart around Sydney.

After his father’s death and during World War I he returned to Terara to work the family farm, with three of his brothers.

He met Lillian, who was visiting from Sydney, and they married in 1920.

The couple moved to the Central Coast, running a poultry farm and orchard before returning to Terara to run a vegetable and milk run by horse and cart in and around Nowra.

At the height of the Great Depression in 1931, he decided to relocate the family to Currarong where he had a fishing shack on the waterfront.

Mr Lamond said he can still recall the day the family moved to the fledgling village, which only had three or four residents.

His father drove the horse and cart, his mother a horse and sulky while the older kids walked behind to save the horses. Jove Collins led Daisy the Jersey cow and calf.

The move was only to be for six months but Aus Lamond would rarely leave the seaside village.

“We were one of the first families to reside there with our mum and later our older sister Joan undertaking our schooling,” he said.

“It was and amazing time.”

There are many other historical stories in With Hearts of Steel.

George Lamond, a former town clerk for Shoalhaven Shire and later City Council, is a fascinating story in his own right.

As well as serving on council for 31 years he also flew Halifax bombers out of England during World War II.

Although he only touches on this slightly in the book it also certainly makes for fascinating reading.

Copies of the book are available from the Shoalhaven Historical Society.