C. H. Souter (1864–1944) was a British/Australian medical practitioner and poet who was born in

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

in Scotland. At the age of eight, in 1872, Souter's family moved to

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...

, England, where he attended Highgate and University College Schools. His father, also a medical practitioner, became his supervisor when, at the age of 14, he was enrolled in the Royal College of Surgeons. In March 1879 Souter's father John took his family to Sydney from where they settled in

Coonabarabran Coonabarabran () is a town in Warrumbungle Shire that sits on the divide between the Central West and North West Slopes regions of New South Wales, Australia. At the 2021 census, the town had a population of 2,387, Material was copied from th ...

. Souter returned to Aberdeen in 1882 to complete his medical studies. There he married Jane Ann Raeburn and the two returned to Australia where they settled in Hillston. Jane died after the birth of a daughter in 1889. After a stint as a ship's surgeon, Souter went to

Balaklava, South Australia The town of Balaklava (population 2048, postcode 5461) is located in South Australia, 92 kilometres north of Adelaide in the Mid North region. It is on the south bank of the Wakefield River, east of Port Wakefield, South Australia, Port Wakefie ...

, where he practised medicine from 1891 to 1905. He married Lucy de Neufoille Lucas in 1896 and, after finishing in Balaklava, he worked in a number of South Australian towns before settling in North Adelaide in 1925, where he remained until his death in 1944.

Working life

Souter published his first short story in '' The Australian Town and Country Journal'' in 1888 and then didn't publish another until 1896, when his work — mainly poetry with an occasional short story — began to appear in '' The Bulletin''. A writer in ''The Oxford Companion to Australian Literature'' noted: "Souter wrote bush ballads and sea shanties as well as straightforward lyrical verse. His bush ballads, which reflect the daily life of the small farms of SA, are sensitive to the experience and idiom of a wide range of personalities, both male and female."''The Oxford Companion to Australian Literature'' edited by Wilde, Hooton and Andrews, 2nd edition, p639 Besides his own name Souter also used the pseudonyms "Nil" and "Dr Nil" when publishing his work.

Bibliography

Poetry collections

*''Irish Lords and Other Verses'' (1912) * ''To Many Ladies (And Others)'' (1917) * ''The Mallee Fire and Other Verses'' (1923) * ''The Lonely Rose, and Other Verses'' (1935)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Souter, C. H. 20th-century Australian writers Australian poets 1864 births 1944 deaths Writers from Aberdeen 19th-century Australian medical doctors 20th-century Australian medical doctors