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State Library of New South Wales
Sheet music, ‘Six Ribbons’, words & music by Jon English

Sheet music, ‘Six Ribbons’, words & music by Jon English

Sheet music, ‘Six Ribbons’, words & music by Jon English Midnight Music/Chappell, 1978 

Printed sheet music

MUSIC FILE/ENG


English-born Australian singer, songwriter and actor Jon English (1949–2016) rose to fame in the 1970s, appearing as Judas Iscariot in the Australian production of Jesus Christ Superstar. After a successful recording career, in 1977–8 English starred as convict Jonathan Edward Garrett in Against the Wind, an Australian historical miniseries. Based on real-life events, much of the storyline was researched through the Mitchell Library collections. English won the 1979 TV Week Logie for 'Best New Talent in Australia’, and also scored the soundtrack for the series, including ‘Six Ribbons’, which reached No. 5 on the Australian charts.

The storyline in Against the Wind covers 14 years in the life of an Irish convict woman, and her English convict husband, Jonathan Edward Garret.


Jonathan Garret (played by Jon English) is thought to have been born near the small market town of Romford, Essex, in England in 1792. The son of a farmer, he was convicted of robbery on the King's Highway, at Tottenham Assizes in 1795 and sentenced to seven years transportation. Garret arrived in the colony on the Indispensable in April 1796 and spent six months on the government farm at Toongabbie.


From 1983 to 1985, Jon English won four Mo Awards: three consecutive 'Entertainer of the Year' awards and a further 'Male Vocal Performer' in 1985.


Against the Wind was the first major Australian TV production to be broadcast in the United States and was also screened in the UK, Norway & Sweden.