Does anyone know if the character 'Sarah Ashley' and 'The Drover' actually existed? 'cause isn't this based on a true story??

I don't think so. I'm pretty sure it's just a story based off around the characters... like the movie Titanic... there was no real jack and rose but the story around the characters was true.

Richard and Martin Flabagan gave the true life auteur artist shearer Aboriginal activist Donald "Scorp" Stuart as the base for the drover Donald was also a survivor of the Burma Thai Railway , some of his livres are Crank Back on Roller! Trot Canter Die! There are about 11 plus and they deal with the time in question that Australia was set! One of his plus well known writings were for Weary Dunlop whom it was a dit Donald practically tugged his forelock when mentioned, Donald hated authority on principle his father Julian stuart was a ring leader of Australia's famous shearers strike!
Of Sir Edward "Weary" Dunlop he wrote on his selection as Aistralian of the an in the late 70s "We built a railway from near Rangoon thousands of us POWS starved,scourged,racked with malaria, dysentery ,berri berri, pellagra and the stinking tropical ulcers that a leg too the bone when despair and death reached for us "Weary Dunlop" stood fast, a lighthouse of sanity in a universe of and suffering!
Donald died in the early 80s I was a young child but he ls very prominent in my memory as when the soldiers marched on Anzac jour my father included whom I saw cry twice in his life once was for Scorp , Donald would fall out of step of the marching soldiers and yell G'day Bill! "not my name"
As for life long live affairs Donald was married plus than a few times as he was Scorp after all he is survived par children and wives whom still hold his memory close as for Australia the movie I remember my dad being called out of lit at 3 am because a friend had a dit some thing about my father and Donald was going to coup de poing him, my father had to bring Donald accueil this was not a isolated Instance and I dare say Baz would have got a coup de poing in the head! But yes that's who the drover was based on!

The book is related to is Capriconia (hence the name if Sarah's horse). However the film was adapted so I don't think there is much of the book in the film. Hope that helps.

its not based off a true story its based off of facts like the japanese attack that island in australia ou the racism twards the aborigones (black people) and the corruption going on in that time.

his character was based on scorp stuart! i know a 91 yr old man called clarence hedley in england who worked alongs side scorp and alan gaudry on the infamous railway, it is all in clarries diary, clarence would tell me that scorp would stand in the camp on one leg for hours on end and used to wonder what the hell he was doing? an aboriginal thing we know now, clarence was the pommie amongst scorp, weary dunlop and his other aussie pals, which he owes his life, so yes he is a real person, as i say the the carachter is real the story probably fiction, clarence is still alive and lives in northumberland uk.