The book, written by Dr Kathrine Reynolds is one of many highlights in a two-day Royal Australian Historical Society mini-conference and workshops in Dubbo.

Dr Reynolds said Adolf Wurfel was born in Silesia in 1854 and by the time he was 22 both his parents had died so he decided to migrate to Australia in 1876, sailing in the ship The Durham.

She said Mr Wurfel was, in her eyes, a true romantic and proved later in life to be a good citizen as he made his home in Dubbo, raising four children and marrying twice.

"His journal started with a quote from the author Frederic Schiller's book on Joan of Arc," Dr Reynolds said.

"He was very educated and travelled with several of Anthony Trollope's books."

Dr Reynolds said he spoke German, English and Italian well, providing translation services on the ship voyage to Australia.

She said Mr Wurfel even quoted verbatim Trollope's famous remark from his 1871 visit to Rockhampton where the author described it as a "city of sin, sweat and sorrow".

On Mr Wurfel's arrival in Australia he travelled north to try his luck on the Cairns goldfields and his experience was a pretty negative one.

"In fact he hated it," Dr Reynolds said.

The next geographical point of reference is when Mr Wurfel was droving sheep on a Riverina station called Bundure. He then moved to Bourke where his large number of skills came to the fore and he worked as an accountant and book-keeper.

He then moved to Dubbo and married a Mary Dalgliesh from Forbes. They had four children: Eric, Helga, Brunhilda and Lorna, before Mary died. He then married the housekeeper.

Dr Reynolds found articles on Mr Wurfel, many of them in the Daily Liberal at the turn of the century, detailing his involvement in the community.

She said research resources like Trove and the State Library were invaluable in her quest.

"He even was reported to have given a lecture on the joys of mining," Dr Reynolds said.

She said Mr Wurfel was an orchardist with his trees in a locality called Wawona [which she believes was part of Newtown in Dubbo].

"He grew mandarins, plums, oranges, and lemons and he used cold storage to develop an export industry," Dr Reynolds said.

Dr Reynolds said she was going to use title searches to find out exactly where Wawona was in the early days of Dubbo.

Marion Dormer's book, Dubbo: City on the Plains, cites Mr Wurfel's orchard being in Fitzroy Street, Newtown [South Dubbo] with a photo of the orchard taken by the Sydney Mail in 1905.

Dr Reynolds said Mr Wurfel was a real contributor to the founding and day-to-day society in Dubbo.

"He was a shire clerk [on the Talbragar council in 1908], he met with Premier Reid in 1898, he opened a tearoom called the Cafe Delmonico, sang bass in St Brigid's choir, was a flautist, was on the hospital board and a member of the Pastoral, Agricultural and Horticultural Association.

She said Mr Wurfel was also a hero in the fight against fruit fly invasion.

"He used kero traps and called for legislation to control fruit fly," Dr Reynolds said.

Mr Wurfel died in 1914 and in 1916 his children, apparently mindful of the poor treatment by Australians towards people with Germanic names changed their's back to the mother's maiden name: Dalgliesh.

The book launch begins at 5.30pm as it is the last of an all-day free program at the library covering sessions on land titles, digitisation and getting started with social media.

On Saturday at the Western Plains Cultural Centre there will be session on Aboriginal trackers, telling the story of a digger, history at Dundullimal, orphan schools and a history Q&A. The cost will be $25 for the Saturday event.