George Herbert Gibson (28 August 1846 – 18 June 1921) was an

Anglo Anglo is a prefix indicating a relation to, or descent from, the Angles, England, English culture, the English people or the English language, such as in the term '' Anglosphere''. It is often used alone, somewhat loosely, to refer to people ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

n writer of humorous

ballads A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

and verse. He is better known by his pen name, Ironbark. Gibson was born in

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...

, England, where his father was a solicitor. Gibson also qualified as a solicitor in 1868 but the next year he decided to emigrate to

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

, soon crossing the Tasman to settle in

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, where he had experience on the land for some years. In

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

Gibson pursued a career in the Lands Department initially as a temporary clerk in June 1876. He was later appointed to the permanent staff on 1 January 1877, a job that allowed him to tour the

Outback The Outback is a remote, vast, sparsely populated area of Australia. The Outback is more remote than the bush. While often envisaged as being arid, the Outback regions extend from the northern to southern Australian coastlines and encompass a n ...

and regional areas of the colony and gain a strong impression of the culture and characters of the

Bush Bush commonly refers to: * Shrub, a small or medium woody plant Bush, Bushes, or the bush may also refer to: People * Bush (surname), including any of several people with that name **Bush family, a prominent American family that includes: *** ...

. His knowledge of the hardships on the land and the trials of the selectors informs much of his humorous verse. This tendency is seen in the following extract from ''Nursery Rhymes for Infant Pastoralists'': :Baa, baa, black sheep :Have you any wool? :Yes, sir, oh, yes, sir! three bales full. :One for the master who grows so lean and lank; :None for the mistress, :But ''two'' for the Bank! Like his more well-known contemporary, A. B. 'Banjo' Paterson, much of Gibson's best work appeared in the strongly nativist Sydney ''

Bulletin Bulletin or The Bulletin may refer to: Periodicals (newspapers, magazines, journals) * Bulletin (online newspaper), a Swedish online newspaper * ''The Bulletin'' (Australian periodical), an Australian magazine (1880–2008) ** Bulletin Debate, ...

''. He had no pretension about his work, describing it in the preface to ''Ironbark Splinters'' as "the lightest of light reading" and only "the thistledown and cobwebs" 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, ...

. Gibson left the Department of Lands for a time, but joined it again in January 1882, and on 1 May 1883 was appointed a relieving crown land agent. He became inspector of crown land agents' offices on 20 August 1896, and in his official capacity travelled widely throughout New South Wales. He retired from the department on 30 June 1915 and lived at Lindfield until he died in Lindfield, Sydney, at the age of 74.

Works

*''Southerly Busters'' (1878) *''Old Friends under New Aspects'' (1883) *''Ironbark Chips and Stockwhip Cracks'' (1893) – illustrations by

Percy Spence Percy Frederick Seaton Spence (14 December 1868 – 3 August 1933) was an Australian artist. Spence was born in Sydney, seventh child of English parents Francis Spence, civil servant, and his wife Hannah, ''née'' Turnbull. Spence spent his y ...

and Alf Vincent *''Ironbark Splinters from the Australian Bush'' (1912)

References

External links

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"Southerly busters" by Ironbark
photo of book {{DEFAULTSORT:Gibson, George Herbert 1846 births 1921 deaths Australian poets British emigrants to Australia People from Plymouth, Devon