E. Gregory “Greg” Sherman
A young Greg Sherman. (Photograph courtesy of Peter Sherman, Sherman Archives.)
Ernest Gregory “Greg” Sherman was a second generation opal dealer and exporter, the son of E. Gregory “Ernie” Sherman, founder of the Sherman Opals firm in 1896. Born in Sydney on 19 May 1922, Greg and his twin sister Elsie Bertha were the only children of Ernie and Elsie Sherman. Greg would go on to lead the family’s opal business into its third generation.
Greg’s first visit to Lightning Ridge was in around 1930, when the family stayed in Phil Brady’s old house on the corner of Opal and Pandora Streets. Just eight years old at the time, he later recalled visits to Albert and Jack Dominick’s garden, and spending afternoons with John Landers, a born storyteller.
Sherman Opals was run from the family verandah in Bellevue Hill until Ernie opened the first office in the CML Building, Martin Place, in 1941. Greg formally joined the business that same year.
During World War II, Greg served in New Guinea and Borneo. After the war, he returned to the family business and travelled to the United States in 1946 carrying rough opal.
One-of-a-kind black opal and boulder opal bust of Greg Sherman. (Photograph courtesy of Peter Sherman, Sherman Archives.)
Greg accompanied his father to Andamooka in 1951. Around this time, Greg began to step up as leader of the company.
From the 1960s onward, Greg shifted the business’s focus away from light opal toward Lightning Ridge black opal and Queensland boulder opal, particularly as the opal cutting operation became less competitive against overseas buyers.
He married Norma, and they had four children: Peter, Warwick, Sally, and Wendy. The family tradition continued through Peter and Warwick, who joined the company and became the third generation of Sherman opal dealers.
Greg passed away on 7 October 2002 in Wahroonga, aged 80. His ashes are partly scattered at the Lightning Ridge Historical Society.
The history of Sherman Opals in Australia (shermanopals.com.au)
Article: Research by Leisa Carney, edited by Russell Gawthorpe. LRHS research compiled by Len Cram and Barbara Moritz. Sources: LRHS oral history, Lightning Flash Newspaper, 29 June 1995, ‘The Sherman Family’, opal.academy; ‘History: Sherman Opals’, shermanopals.com.au.