Born at Bambury, near Mount Bryan East, Ern Gare was the ninth of twelve children of sheep farmer Edward Barnard Gare and Marie Ann (nee Hall). He had seven years' education at the Mount Bryan East School, which originated on the family property. Of the school's ten students, seven were Gares. Apart from nine years in Bendigo, he spent his married life in Adelaide, living at Goodwood and later Torrensville, working for twenty years as a linotype operator for The Register and The News. He was interested in politics and was a delegate for the SA Branch of the Australian Labor Party.
Ern loved music. He sang in the choir of the Goodwood Baptist Church, where he was actively involved, and played violin and viola in The News Orchestral Society. He wrote the words and music for several songs, one of which was published.
The verses of his An Inkslinger at Islington (1943) were written during World War II while he was working as a clerk for the South Australian Railways.
