Albert Barnett Facey (31 August 1894 – 11 February 1982), publishing as A.B. Facey was an Australian writer and

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

veteran, whose main work was his autobiography, ''

A Fortunate Life ''A Fortunate Life'' is an autobiography by Albert Facey published in 1981, nine months before his death. It chronicles his early life in Western Australia, his experiences as a private during the Gallipoli campaign of World War I and his return ...

'', now considered a classic of

Australian literature Australian literature is the written or literary work produced in the area or by the people of the Commonwealth of Australia and its preceding colonies. During its early Western history, Australia was a collection of British colonies; as such, ...

. it has sold over one million copies and was the subject of a television mini-series.

Early life

Facey was born in Maidstone, Victoria, the son of Joseph Facey and Mary Ann Facey, née Carr. His father died on the goldfields of Western Australia in 1896 of

typhoid fever Typhoid fever, also known as typhoid, is a disease caused by '' Salmonella'' serotype Typhi bacteria. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often there is a gradual onset of a high fever over several ...

, when Albert was two years old. In 1898, Albert's mother departed for Western Australia to care for her older children, who had accompanied their father to the goldfields. She left her younger children, including Albert, to the care of their grandmother. When his grandfather died in 1898, the grandmother, Mrs Jane Carr, (née Barnett), moved with Albert and his siblings Roy (born 1890), Eric (born 1889) and Myra (born 1892) in 1899 from Barkers Creek near Castlemaine, Victoria, to

Kalgoorlie Kalgoorlie is a city in the Goldfields–Esperance region of Western Australia, located east-northeast of Perth at the end of the Great Eastern Highway. It is sometimes referred to as Kalgoorlie–Boulder, as the surrounding urban area includ ...

, Western Australia. He began his working life around 1902, aged eight, and hardly ever lived with his family again. He was never able to attend school, but he managed to teach himself to read and write when he was in his teens. On his first job as a farm boy, his employer subjected him to virtual slavery and violent beatings with a horse whip. After sustaining months of such abuse, Albert escaped by walking over through the bush and luckily finding some new settlers that had camped. Although the police were informed of the abuse, his employer was never prosecuted. The scars on his back and neck from the injuries he had sustained remained evident for the rest of his life. In 1908 Facey's mother remarried, and he travelled at her request to

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

to live with her and her second husband, a plumber named Arthur "Bill" Downie at Subiaco. However, he only stayed a short time before accepting work back in rural Western Australia. Thereafter Facey and his mother saw each other sporadically until she died suddenly in September 1914, aged 51. His childhood in Western Australia was spent in areas such as

, Narrogin,

Bruce Rock Bruce Rock is a town in the eastern Wheatbelt region of Western Australia, approximately east of Perth and southwest of Merredin. It is the main town in the Shire of Bruce Rock. History Originally known as Nunagin or Noonegin, the name of ...

, Merredin, Yealering, Wickepin, Pingelly, and at ''Cave Rock'', near Popanyinning, which he writes about in Chapter 2 of ''

''. By the age of 14 he was an experienced farm labourer and bushman, and at 20 he became a professional boxer with a troupe that toured South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales. His boxing career continued until he enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) in January 1915.

War service

Facey joined the AIF on 4 January 1915, not long after the outbreak of the First World War. He travelled to

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

as an infantryman with the 11th Battalion, 3rd Reinforcement, aboard the troopship and fought during the Gallipoli Campaign, including the battle of Leane's Trench. Much of his autobiography relates to the horror he endured during his wartime service and his vivid recollections of the plight of the ANZAC Diggers at Gallipoli. Two of his older brothers, Roy Barker Facey (1890–1915) and Joseph Thomas Facey (1883–1915) were killed during the campaign. Facey tells in his book of being wounded on more than one occasion at Gallipoli. This culminated on 19 August 1915although Facey "was uncertain about dates"when a shell exploded near him and he received severe internal injuries and wounds to his leg. However, his war records show no evidence of being wounded, only of heart trouble. While records make no mention of any ordnance exploding near any 11th Battalion troops on (or about) 19 Augustit was quiet, after a week in reserve the 11th Battalion was redistributed between the 9th and 10th Battalions at Anzac on 18 August. Facey was invalided back to Australia on the ship on 31 October 1915.

Family life and career

Marriage

After being returned to Australia, Facey met Evelyn Mary Gibson (1897–1976), whom he married at Bunbury on 24 August 1916. They were happily married for nearly 60 years before Evelyn died on 3 August 1976. He mourned her for the rest of his life. The couple had seven children, born between 1919 and 1939. Facey became an active public campaigner for improved conditions for Australian returned servicemen. The family lived at

Victoria Park Victoria Park may refer to: Places Australia * Victoria Park Nature Reserve, a protected area in Northern Rivers region, New South Wales * Victoria Park, Adelaide, a park and racecourse * Victoria Park, Brisbane, a public park and former golf ...

, before returning with their children to farm at Wickepin, from 1922 to 1934. After he returned from the war, Facey worked as a tram driver (1916–1922), and on his return from Wickepin, as a trolleybus driver (1934–1946) in Perth. He then spent the rest of his working life as a successful self-employed poultry and pig farmer and businessman (1947–1958) in areas such as

Tuart Hill ''Eucalyptus gomphocephala'', known as tuart, is a species of tree, one of the six forest giants of Southwest Australia. Tuart forest was common on the Swan coastal plain, until the valuable trees were felled for export and displaced by the urba ...

Wanneroo Wanneroo is a suburb of Perth, Western Australia, located within the City of Wanneroo. Geography As it is on the Swan Coastal Plain, the Wanneroo wetlands stretch parallel to the coastline and to the north and south of the suburb. Education W ...

, Gosnells and Mount Helena near Mundaring. Facey was active in public life and known in his community from the 1920s until he retired in the late 1950s. He was president of the Perth Tramways Union for five years and later an elected member of local government and the Perth Roads Board for over 20 years, and a

justice of the peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

Loss of son

Facey's eldest son, also named Albert Barnett Facey and known as Barney, 1919–1942, joined the

Second AIF The Second Australian Imperial Force (2nd AIF, or Second AIF) was the name given to the volunteer expeditionary force of the Australian Army in the Second World War. It was formed following the declaration of war on Nazi Germany, with an initial ...

during the Second World War and served with the 2/4th Machine Gun Battalion. He died in a bombing raid on 15 March 1942, during the

Battle of Singapore The Fall of Singapore, also known as the Battle of Singapore,; ta, சிங்கப்பூரின் வீழ்ச்சி; ja, シンガポールの戦い took place in the South–East Asian theatre of the Pacific War. The Empire of ...

against the Japanese Army. While his family were aware that he was missing in action, his death was not confirmed until May 1945. Facey stated in his memoirs that although he and his wife had assumed their son had been killed, they had not given up hope. After that wait of over three years, his wife's health deteriorated to such an extent that she suffered a major stroke. Two other sons, Joseph and George, also served in the Australian Army in World War II, both seeing action in New Guinea. They returned home safely at the end of 1945.

Later health

Facey attributed his later health issues to war-related injuries received at Gallipoli, including old bullet wounds and a ruptured spleen, although his war records show no evidence of being injured in his WWI service at all. He arrived at Gallipoli on 7 May 1915, after which the only issue to his health was

tachycardia Tachycardia, also called tachyarrhythmia, is a heart rate that exceeds the normal resting rate. In general, a resting heart rate over 100 beats per minute is accepted as tachycardia in adults. Heart rates above the resting rate may be normal (su ...

, diagnosed as heart trouble at Gallipoli on 19 August and the reason for his evacuation back to Australia in October 1915. He did not re-enlist. Facey suffered a major heart attack in 1958 (aged 64), and retired.

Memoirs and fame

Facey began making notes on his life, and at the urging of his wife and children, eventually had the notes printed into a book. He completed his memoirs on his 83rd birthday, in 1977. Two years later, at 85, he learnt that his autobiography, ''A Fortunate Life'', had been approved for publication. It was published in 1981, just nine months before his death. Although Facey was delighted that his life story was appreciated on such a grand scale, his health was rapidly declining and he was losing his eyesight. He also needed a wheelchair due to a broken hip. His book became a bestseller and won New South Wales Premier's Literary Award for non-fiction and the National Book Council Prize. During the final six months of his life, Facey became a national celebrity and was nominated for the

Australian of the Year The Australian of the Year is a national award conferred on an Australian citizen by the National Australia Day Council, a not-for-profit Australian Governmentowned social enterprise. Similar awards are also conferred at the State and Territo ...

award in 1981.

Death

While in an Aged Care Facility with his broken hip, Facey died of natural causes at

Midland Midland may refer to: Places Australia * Midland, Western Australia Canada * Midland, Albert County, New Brunswick * Midland, Kings County, New Brunswick * Midland, Newfoundland and Labrador * Midland, Ontario India * Midland Ward, Kohima, Nagal ...

on 11 February 1982, aged 87. His body was buried at the local

Midland Cemetery Midland Cemetery is a metropolitan cemetery in the suburb of Swan view in Perth, Western Australia. In earlier times it was known as the Midland Junction Cemetery due to its control by the local council of that name. It is currently administ ...

. He was survived by six of his seven children and his 28 grandchildren.

Television adaptation

His novel of ''A Fortunate Life'' was made into a four-part television film in 1985, based on Facey's life between 1897 and 1916. The cast included Bill Hunter,

Val Lehman Valerie Kathleen Lehman (née Willis; born 15 March 1943) is an Australian actress and director, best known locally and internationally for her role as the antagonist "Top Dog" and self-styled Queen Bea Smith in the Australian TV series ''Pri ...

and

Ray Meagher Raymond Francis Meagher (born 4 July 1944) is an Australian actor, who has appeared in Australian film and television since the mid-1970s. He is notable as the longest continuing performer in an Australian television role, portraying Alf Stewa ...

Albert Facey memorial library, Mundaring

Legacy

Facey's homestead in Wickepin was turned into a tourist attraction. A government building named Albert Facey House on Forrest Place in Perth was named in his honour – it houses the Public Utilities Office of the Department of Finance and other agencies. His name is also borne by the Albert Facey Memorial Library in Mundaring, Facey Road in Gnangara, Albert Facey Street in Maidstone, Barney Street in Glendalough (named after his late son), and a motel in Narrogin. The manuscripts of ''A Fortunate Life'' are housed in the Special Collections in the

University of Western Australia Library The University of Western Australia (UWA) Library consists of five library sites both on and within walking distance of the campus. The library is an integral part of the UWA student experience and provides a wide range of services, facilities ...