He was a legend in this district and beyond, as evidenced by a story related by John Fairfax in his book "Run o' Waters".

As part of a wager, a letter was posted in Adelaide addressed simply "Barney Coachdriver, Australia", and within 48 hours it was lodged in Barney McTernan's Nowra letterbox.

Born in 1861, Barney became a driver at 16 with Cobb & Co. in the Young district.

Moving on, he worked for Pooley & Malone on the route between Goulburn and Cooma, which took 23 hours and seven changes of horses.

During 1887 he came to Nowra and life must have been a little easier as he drove between Nowra and Kiama for Robert Thorburn.

He was barely 30 when he went into business on his own account, and at different times Thorburn and McTernan each published advertisements disassociating themselves from the other.

In 1894 Barney advertised that his line of coaches ran between the railway and Nowra, and south to Milton - with moderate charges.

A strongly built six-footer, he was an imposing presence at the station as he tried to get a substantial share of the patronage.

On several occasions he was charged with assault, and the local press records two altercations with Ern Bindon who drove for Thorburn.

With his knowledge of the district and opinions on all issues of the day, Barney revelled when given the opportunity to drive a visiting politician or churchman.

He did stand for Parliament in the Bega electorate in 1904 but missed out by a narrow margin; and in local government he had two terms on Nowra council.

Barney told the 1911 Jervis Bay Railway Inquiry that in the recent holiday period his company had carried more than 700 people from the Bomaderry railway to Nowra, at sixpence per head, with a rival firm doing likewise.

A tourist guide published in September 1915 indicated he arranged tours to Cambewarra, Sussex Inlet, Jervis Bay and the Yalwal goldfields; boasting that in 38 years of driving he had never had a mishap.

However just two months later he had an accident as his coach entered Nowra bridge, and in falling some 20 feet he sustained serious injuries including a fractured skull.

Further misfortune hit Barney in 1919 when one of his drivers took a bus into the flooded Nowra Creek and two horses were drowned.

A public meeting was held to provide assistance, and despite the fact Nowra was then fighting the deadly influenza epidemic, more than £100 was quickly raised.

Barney long resisted the temptation to switch completely to motor transport, but the return of his son Dick from World War I provided an opportunity as McTernan & Son was formed.

The inflexible ways of Barney may have prevented this partnership from working, and they soon went their separate ways.

As early as 1898 Barney had put his coaching and livery plant up for auction, but it was withdrawn when he gained the mail contracts.

It would be 1926 before he sold up, the notice indicating there were 12 horses and ponies, a 14-passenger coach and various other horse-drawn vehicles.

He still had the mail contract worth £150 per annum, with three years to run.

Always making a statement, a sign outside his Junction Street premises read, "If you can't afford a Ford, remember ye good old horse is still here, also Barney".