Henry Lawson |
Henry Lawson (17 June 1867 - 2 September 1922) Henry Lawson is one of Australias best known writers.
Along with his contemporary Banjo Paterson, Lawson is among the best-known Australian poets and fiction writers of the colonial period.
Lawson was born in a town on the Grenfell goldfields of New South Wales. His mother was Louisa Lawson (nee Albury), a prominent suffragist and owner/editor of The Dawn journal, which was influential in Australia becoming one of the first countries to introduce adult female suffrage.
His father was Niels Herzberg Larsen, a Norwegian-born miner who went to sea at 21, arrived in Melbourne in 1855 and joined the gold rush. Larsen travelled to different goldfields, and at Pipeclay (now Eurunderee, New South Wales) met Louisa and married her on 7 July 1866; he was 32 and she, 18.
On Henrys birth, the family surname was anglicised and Niels became Peter Lawson. The newly-married couple were to have an unhappy marriage.
In 1883, after working on building jobs with his father and in the Blue Mountains, Lawson joined his mother in Sydney at her request. Louisa was then living with Henrys sister and brother. Lawson studied for his matriculation, but failed.
Lawsons first published poem was A Song of the Republic which appeared in The Bulletin, 1 October 1887, of which his mothers radical friends were an influence. This was followed by The Wreck of the Derry Castle and then Golden Gully.
Lawson received an offer to write for the Brisbane Boomerang in 1891, but he lasted only around 7-8 months as the Boomerang was soon in trouble. He returned to Sydney and continued to write for the Bulletin who in 1892 paid for an inland trip where he experienced the harsh realities of drought-affected New South Wales. This became a source for many of his stories in subsequent years.
Most of his work focuses on the Australian bush, such as the desolate Past Carin, and is considered by some to be among the first accurate descriptions of Australian life as it was at the time.
Lawson was a firm believer in the merits of the sketch story, commonly known simply as the sketch, claiming that "the sketch story is best of all."Lawsons Jack Mitchell story, On The Edge Of A Plain, is often cited as one of the most accomplished examples of the sketch.
Like the majority of Australians, Lawson lived in a city, but had had plenty of experience in outback life. In fact, many of his stories reflected his experiences in real life.
In Sydney in 1898 he was a prominent member of the Dawn and Dusk Club, a bohemian club of writer friends who met for drinks and conversation. He married Bertha Bredt Jr., daughter of Bertha Bredt, the prominentand socialist. With Bertha Bredt Jr, had two children, son Jim (Joseph) and daughter Bertha.
During his later life, the alcohol-addicted writer was probably Australias best-known celebrity. At the same time, he was also a frequent beggar on the streets of Sydney, notably at the Circular Quay ferry turnstiles.
He was gaoled at Darlinghurst Gaol for drunkenness and non-payment of alimony, and recorded his experience in the haunting poem "One Hundred and Three"- his prison number - which was published in 1908. He refers to the prison as "Starvinghurst Gaol"because of the meagre rations given to the inmates.
On his death in Abbotsford, Sydney in 1922, he was given a state funeral, attended by the Prime Minister W. M. Hughes and the Premier of New South Wales Jack Lang (who was the husband of Lawsons sister-in-law Hilda Bredt), as well as thousands of citizens. He is interred at Waverley Cemetery.
Henry Lawson was featured on the first (paper) Australian ten dollar note issued in 1966 when decimal currency was first introduced into Australia. This note was replaced by a polymer note in 1993. Lawson was pictured against scenes from the town of Gulgong in NSW.
His life is honoured in street and park names in many places, including Sydney. The town of Lawson in the Blue Mountains of New South Wales is named after him. His picture has also appeared on stamps.
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➼ Henry Lawson
➼ www.civicsandcitizenship.edu.au
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