stockmen

"Known as ‘Dr Tim’, O’Leary was a highly competent doctor, especially skilled in obstetrics. He empathised with his patients, who appreciated his sense of humour as well as his diligence in caring for them. Red-headed and voluble, he had a fiery temper that upset some people. He was keen on horses and riding and at one time held an amateur jockey’s licence. Survived by his wife and their daughter and three sons, he died of chronic lymphatic leukaemia on 20 July 1987 at Runaway Bay and was buried in Allambie Garden of Memories cemetery, Nerang. Two memoirs, North and Aloft and Western Wings of Care, edited by John Pearn and Graham Anderson, were published in 1988." Source: adb.anu.edu.au/biography/oleary-timothy-joseph-tim-15407

The horses seem to be watching in sympathy.

In Australia, a stockman (plural stockmen) is a person who looks after the livestock on a large property known as a station, which is owned by a grazier or a grazing company, traditionally on horseback. In this sense, it has a similar meaning to "cowboy". A stockman may also be employed at an abattoir, feedlot, on a livestock export ship, or with a stock and station agency. Aboriginal Australians were good stockmen who played a large part in the successful running of many stations. With their intimate bonds to their tribal places, and local knowledge they also took considerable pride in their work. After the gold rushes white labor was expensive and difficult to retain. Aboriginal women also worked with cattle on the northern stations after this practice developed in northern Queensland during the 1880s. A Native Administration Act later stopped the employment of women in cattle camps. Aboriginal people often received only food and clothing to retain their labor,[3] until they began to be paid a small cash wage in the 1950s and 1960s, much less than their white counterparts. In 1966, Vincent Lingiari led Gurindji workers on the Wave Hill walk-off, a strike on the large Vesteys cattle station in the Northern Territory, which brought about wage parity two years later. In the 21st-century class actions for these "stolen wages", as they have been dubbed, have taken place in Queensland, Western Australia, and the NT.[4] Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stockman_(Australia)

Sophie, Mangelo, Alice, Unknown, Eliza. Based on named portraits in this album.