George Gordon McCrae (29 May 1833 – 15 August 1927) was an Australian poet.

Early life

McCrae was born in Leith, Scotland; his father was Andrew Murison McCrae, a writer; his mother was

Georgiana McCrae Georgiana Huntly McCrae (15 March 1804 – 24 May 1890) was an English-Australian painter and diarist. Early life Born in London, she was the illegitimate daughter of George Gordon, the Marquess of Huntly, son and heir to Alexander, 4th Duk ...

, a painter. George attended a preparatory school in London, and later received lessons from his mother. Georgiana and her four sons emigrated to Melbourne in 1841 following her husband who emigrated in 1839.

Career

After a few years as a surveyor, McCrae joined the Victorian Government service, eventually becoming Deputy Registrar-General, and also a prominent figure in literary circles. Most of his leisure time was spent in writing. His first published work was ''Two Old Men's Tales of Love and War'' (London, 1865). His son Hugh McCrae, also a poet, produced a volume of memoirs (''My Father and My Father's Friends'') about George and his association with such literary figures as Henry Kendall, Adam Lindsay Gordon,

Richard Henry Horne Richard Hengist Horne (born Richard Henry Horne) (31 December 1802 – 13 March 1884) was an English poet and critic most famous for his poem ''Orion''. Early life Horne was born at Edmonton, London, son of James Horne, a quarter-master in t ...

and Marcus Clarke. George McCrae wrote

novel A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itsel ...

s, stories, poetry, and travel sketches, and illustrated books. After his retirement, unpublished manuscripts entitled 'Reminiscences—Experiences not Exploits' contain detailed descriptions of events from his youth and present a record of the early European part of Melbourne country-side.

Late life

McCrae died 15 August 1927 at

Hawthorn Hawthorn or Hawthorns may refer to: Plants * '' Crataegus'' (hawthorn), a large genus of shrubs and trees in the family Rosaceae * ''Rhaphiolepis'' (hawthorn), a genus of about 15 species of evergreen shrubs and small trees in the family Rosace ...

in Melbourne, survived by four of his six children, including Dorothy Frances Perry, also an author.

Bibliography

*''The Story of Balladeadro'' (1867) *''Mamba, the Bright-Eyed: an Aboriginal Reminiscence'' (1867) *''The Man in the Iron Mask'' (1873) *''The Fleet and Convoy'' (1915) *''John Rous'' (1918)

References

*Norman Cowper,
McCrae, George Gordon (1833 - 1927)
, ''

Australian Dictionary of Biography The ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'' (ADB or AuDB) is a national co-operative enterprise founded and maintained by the Australian National University (ANU) to produce authoritative biographical articles on eminent people in Australia's ...

'', Volume 5, MUP, 1974, pp 136–137. * Additional resources listed by the Australian Dictionary of Biography: *

R. G. Howarth Robert Guy Howarth (10 May 1906 — 21 January 1974) was an Australian scholar, literary critic and poet. Early life Howarth was born in Tenterfield, NSW, on 10 May 1906, the son of Australian-born parents, his father being a school teacher. He ...

, ''Literary Particles'' (Sydney, 1946) *H. E. Chaplin, ''A McCrae Miscellany'' (Sydney, 1967) *W. Dixson, 'Notes on Australian artists', ''Journal of the Royal Australian Historical Society'', 9 (1923) *''Spinner'', July 1925 *'' The Argus'' (Melbourne), 11 July 1890, 16 August 1927 *family papers (privately held). Extracts of McCrae's papers were reprinted, with the permission of son Hugh, in '' Southerly'' magazine in 1946.

External links

George Gordon McCrae
(contains some of his poems) {{DEFAULTSORT:McCrae, George Gordon 1833 births 1927 deaths 19th-century Australian novelists 20th-century Australian novelists People from the Colony of Victoria Australian male novelists Scottish emigrants to colonial Australia Australian male short story writers People from Leith Poets from Melbourne Australian male poets 19th-century Australian short story writers 19th-century male writers 20th-century Australian short story writers 20th-century Australian male writers 19th-century Australian public servants Australian surveyors Australian people of English descent