George Lewis Becke (or Louis Becke; 18 June 1855 – 18 February 1913) was an Australian Pacific trader,

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest ...

writer and novelist.

Early life

Becke was born at

Port Macquarie Port Macquarie is a coastal town in the local government area of Port Macquarie-Hastings. It is located on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales, Australia, about north of Sydney, and south of Brisbane. The town is located on the Tasman Sea co ...

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 ...

, son of Frederick Becke, Clerk of Petty Sessions and his wife Caroline Matilda, née Beilby. Both parents were born in England. Becke was the ninth of twelve children and had a tendency to wander; he has stated that before he was 10 he had twice run away from home. The family moved to

Hunters Hill Hunters Hill is a suburb of the lower north shore of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Hunters Hill is located north-west of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre for the local government area ...

, Sydney in 1867 and Becke was educated at

Fort Street High School Fort Street High School (FSHS) is a Education in Australia#Government schools, government-funded Mixed-sex school, co-educational Selective school (New South Wales), academically selective secondary school, secondary day school, located in Petersh ...

. In 1869, Becke travelled to San Francisco with his brother William Vernon and was away for nineteen months. At 16 years of age, Becke was a stowaway on a ship bound for

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands (Manono Island, Manono an ...

. In

Apia Apia () is the Capital (political), capital and largest city of Samoa, as well as the nation's only city. It is located on the central north coast of Upolu, Samoa's second-largest island. Apia falls within the political district (''itūmālō ...

he took a job as a book-keeper in the store of Mrs Mary Mcfarlane which he held until some time after December 1872. Under orders of Mrs Mcfarlane, Becke sailed a

ketch A ketch is a two- masted sailboat whose mainmast is taller than the mizzen mast (or aft-mast), and whose mizzen mast is stepped forward of the rudder post. The mizzen mast stepped forward of the rudder post is what distinguishes the ketch fr ...

, the ''E.A. Williams'' to

Mili Atoll Mili Atoll (Marshallese language, Marshallese: , ) is a coral atoll of 92 islands in the Pacific Ocean, and forms a legislative district of the Ratak Chain of the Marshall Islands. It is located approximately southeast of Arno Atoll, Arno. Its to ...

to deliver it to William "Bully" Hayes, the notorious

blackbirder Blackbirding involves the coercion of people through deception or kidnapping to work as slaves or poorly paid labourers in countries distant from their native land. The term has been most commonly applied to the large-scale taking of people ...

. Beck arrived at

on 17 January 1874. Becke remained as a passenger on the ''Leonora'', until the ship was wrecked on 15 March 1874 during a storm while in Lele harbour at

Kosrae Kosrae ( ), formerly known as Kusaie or Strong's Island, is an island in the Federated States of Micronesia. The State of Kosrae is one of the four states of the Federated States of Micronesia, and includes the main island of Kosrae and a few near ...

. It was seven months until HMS Rosario rescued Becke and the others. Becke was later arrested for piracy, but was acquitted in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

at age 19. Then he tried his luck at the Palmer River goldrush, was employed at Ravenswood station and from 1878–79 worked as a bank clerk in

Townsville, Queensland Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 180,820 as of June 2018, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland; it is unofficially considered its capital. Estimated resident population, 3 ...

. The story ''Nell of Mulliner's Camp'' is set in a mining camp in North Queensland. From about April 1880 Becke was in the

Ellice Islands Tuvalu ( or ; formerly known as the Ellice Islands) is an island country and microstate in the Polynesian subregion of Oceania in the Pacific Ocean. Its islands are situated about midway between Hawaii and Australia. They lie east-northea ...

(now

Tuvalu Tuvalu ( or ; formerly known as the Ellice Islands) is an island country and microstate in the Polynesian subregion of Oceania in the Pacific Ocean. Its islands are situated about midway between Hawaii and Australia. They lie east-northeast ...

) working with the Liverpool firm of John S. de Wolf and Co. on

Nanumanga Nanumanga or Nanumaga is a reef island and a district of the Oceanian island nation of Tuvalu. It has a surface area of about 3 km² with a population of 491 (2017 Census). History On 9 May 1824 a French government expedition under Captain ...

until the trading-station was destroyed later that year in a

cyclone In meteorology, a cyclone () is a large air mass that rotates around a strong center of low atmospheric pressure, counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere as viewed from above (opposite to an anti ...

. In February 1881 he opened his own store in

Nukufetau Nukufetau is an atoll that is part of the nation of Tuvalu. The atoll was claimed by the US under the Guano Islands Act some time in the 19th century and was ceded in a treaty of friendship concluded in 1979 and coming into force in 1983. It has a ...

, where he married Nelea Tikena. The stories that Louis Becke set in the Ellice Islands are: ''The Fisher Folk of Nukufetau'' that describes a fishing expedition, ''The Rangers of the Tia Kau'' that describes a shark attack at the Tia Kau reef between

Nanumea Nanumea is the northwesternmost atoll in the Polynesian nation of Tuvalu, a group of nine coral atolls and islands spread over about of the Pacific Ocean just south of the equator and west of the International Date Line. Nanumea is with a pop ...

and

, and ''Kennedy the Boatsteerer'' that describes an attempt by a trader on

Niutao Niutao is a reef island in the northern part of Tuvalu. It is one of the nine districts (islands) of Tuvalu. It is also one of the three districts that consist of only one island - not counting the three islets inside the closed lagoon. Niutao has ...

to escape with a woman betrothed to a Niutaon chief, which ends in tragedy. Later in 1881 a shipwreck on

Beru Island Beru is an atoll in the Southern Gilbert Islands in the Pacific Ocean, part of the Republic of Kiribati. Beru was previously known as Eliza, Francis Island, Maria, Peroat, Peru Island or Sunday. It's part of a larger reef with the Nuka Lagoon at ...

in the

Gilbert Islands The Gilbert Islands ( gil, Tungaru;Reilly Ridgell. ''Pacific Nations and Territories: The Islands of Micronesia, Melanesia, and Polynesia.'' 3rd. Ed. Honolulu: Bess Press, 1995. p. 95. formerly Kingsmill or King's-Mill IslandsVery often, this n ...

caused him to lose all he had; Becke then worked in

New Britain New Britain ( tpi, Niu Briten) is the largest island in the Bismarck Archipelago, part of the Islands Region of Papua New Guinea. It is separated from New Guinea by a northwest corner of the Solomon Sea (or with an island hop of Umboi the Dam ...

and was in

Majuro Majuro (; Marshallese: ' ) is the capital and largest city of the Marshall Islands. It is also a large coral atoll of 64 islands in the Pacific Ocean. It forms a legislative district of the Ratak (Sunrise) Chain of the Marshall Islands. The ato ...

by November 1882. For the next ten years Becke moved about the

Caroline Islands The Caroline Islands (or the Carolines) are a widely scattered archipelago of tiny islands in the western Pacific Ocean, to the north of New Guinea. Politically, they are divided between the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) in the centra ...

and

Marshall Islands The Marshall Islands ( mh, Ṃajeḷ), officially the Republic of the Marshall Islands ( mh, Aolepān Aorōkin Ṃajeḷ),'' () is an independent island country and microstate near the Equator in the Pacific Ocean, slightly west of the Internati ...

acquiring a knowledge of the customs and beliefs of the islanders and meeting

palagi Pālagi (pronounced – ''singular'' ) or papālagi (''plural'') is a term in Samoan culture of uncertain meaning, sometimes used to describe foreigners. Tent and Geraghty (2001) comment that the origin of the Western Polynesian ''Papālagi~Pāla ...

traders and beachcombers that Becke later used his stories. George Lewis Becke c

Becke wrote about

Bully Hayes William Henry "Bully" Hayes (1827 or 1829 – 31 March 1877) was a notorious American ship's captain who engaged in blackbirding in the 1860s and 1870s.James A. Michener & A. Grove Day, ''Bully Hayes, South Sea Buccaneer'', in ''Rascals in Parad ...

in ''The Strange Adventures of James Shervinton'' and other stories: ''Captain "Bully" Hayes''; ''Concerning "Bully" Hayes''; ''The Wreck Of The Leonora: A Memory Of "Bully" Hayes''. However these stories must be read with caution as the line between fact and fiction-writing is unclear. Becke's experiences in the Pacific provided most of the material for Becke's stories. Becke's earliest writing on Hayes was published, without attribution to Becke, in the novel ''A Modern Buccaneer'' (1894), which was published by

Thomas Alexander Browne Thomas Alexander Browne (born Brown, 6 August 1826 – 11 March 1915) was an Australian author who published many of his works under the pseudonym Rolf Boldrewood. He is best known for his 1882 bushranging novel '' Robbery Under Arms''. Biog ...

under the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

'Rolf Boldrewood'. Browne was the author of ''

Robbery Under Arms ''Robbery Under Arms'' is a bushranger novel by Thomas Alexander Browne, published under his pen name Rolf Boldrewood. It was first published in serialised form by ''The Sydney Mail'' between July 1882 and August 1883, then in three volumes in ...

'' and paid Becke for his recollections of "Bully" Hayes. Following publication of ''A Modern Buccaneer'', Becke wrote to Browne protesting at the use of his manuscript without any significant change, and without attribution of Becke's contribution of the manuscript. Becke returned to

late in 1885 and on 10 February 1886 married Mary Elizabeth (Bessie) Maunsell, the daughter of Colonel Maunsell, of

. On 9 November 1888 his daughter, Nora Lois, was born. On 9 June 1896 he left Sydney for London with Nora Lois and Miss Fanny Sabrina Long. Becke and Fanny Long had 2 daughters, Alrema (born 30 October 1897) and Niya (born 27 September 1898). Bessie obtained a divorce on the grounds of desertion on 29 October 1903. In 1908 he and his family went to

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

, New Zealand, via

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

; then in 1909 the family travelled to Sydney, Australia. On 7 September 1910 he was elected a member of the

Royal Society of New South Wales The Royal Society of New South Wales is a learned society based in Sydney, Australia. The Governor of New South Wales is the vice-regal patron of the Society. The Society was established as the Philosophical Society of Australasia on 27 June ...

. He died on 18 February 1913 at the Hotel York in Sydney and was buried in the

Waverley Cemetery The Waverley Cemetery is a heritage-listed cemetery on top of the cliffs at Bronte in the eastern suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Opened in 1877 and built by R. Watkins (cemetery lodge, 1878) and P. Beddie (cemetery office, 1915 ...

near to the graves of

Henry Lawson Henry Archibald Hertzberg Lawson (17 June 1867 – 2 September 1922) was an Australian writer and bush poet. Along with his contemporary Banjo Paterson, Lawson is among the best-known Australian poets and fiction writers of the colonial perio ...

and Henry Kendall.

Literary career

In January 1892 Becke returned to Sydney and persuaded by

Ernest Favenc Ernest Favenc (21 October 1845 – 14 November 1908) was an explorer of Australia, a journalist, author of verse, novels and short stories, and an historian. Personal life Favenc was born in Walworth, Surrey, England. Of Huguenot descent, he ...

and J. F. Archibald began to contribute stories to '' The Bulletin'', the first of which was Tis in the Blood'' appearing in the edition of 6 May 1893. A collection of these stories, ''By Reef and Palm'', was published in England in 1894; ''His Native Wife'', a novelette, was published in Australia in 1895; followed by a further collection of stories, ''The Ebbing of the Tide'', which was published in 1896. Becke went to London about the beginning of 1896, helped by Archibald and

William Macleod William Macleod (27 October 1850 – 24 June 1929), was an Australian artist and a partner in '' The Bulletin''. He was described as generous, hospitable, a 'big man with a ponderous overhang of waistfront, a trim, grey beard, the curling moust ...

of ''The Bulletin'' who advanced him the sum of £200, and he remained in Europe for around 15 years, during which time a large number of collections of short stories and a few novels and stories for boys were published. Becke was fairly paid by the magazines for his stories, but his books were always sold outright and never on a royalty basis, he was not a wealthy man. His writings were of variable quality, but have been compared to

Rudyard Kipling Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)''The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English novelist, short-story writer, poet, and journalist. He was born in British India, which inspired much of his work. ...

Herman Melville Herman Melville (Name change, born Melvill; August 1, 1819 – September 28, 1891) was an American people, American novelist, short story writer, and poet of the American Renaissance (literature), American Renaissance period. Among his bes ...

Joseph Conrad Joseph Conrad (born Józef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski, ; 3 December 1857 – 3 August 1924) was a Poles in the United Kingdom#19th century, Polish-British novelist and short story writer. He is regarded as one of the greatest writers in t ...

and

Robert Louis Stevenson Robert Louis Stevenson (born Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson; 13 November 1850 – 3 December 1894) was a Scottish novelist, essayist, poet and travel writer. He is best known for works such as ''Treasure Island'', ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll a ...

Late life and legacy

Becke was in Sydney again in the middle of 1909 and died of cancer there on 18 February 1913, working up until his death. About 30 of Becke's books are listed in

E. Morris Miller Edmund Morris Miller, CBE (14 August 1881 – 21 October 1964) was an Australian author, professor, and vice-chancellor of the University of Tasmania between 1933–1945. Born in Pietermaritzburg, Colony of Natal, Miller moved with his famil ...

's ''Australian Literature'' with six other volumes written in collaboration with Walter J. Jeffrey. He was survived by his wife and a daughter. Becke had said that any literary success he had achieved was due entirely to the training received from the editor of ''The Bulletin'', J. F. Archibald, "who taught me the secrets of condensation and simplicity of language"Bulletin, 27 Feb 1913. Once having learned this, Becke had a wealth of experience to draw upon and, though there was inevitably some monotony of theme, he wrote a very large number of stories that can still be read with interest, and show him to have been a writer of considerable ability. ''By Reef and Palm'' and ''Ebbing of the Tide'' received both good reviews and strong sales; with ''By Reef and Palm'' going through seven reprints between 1894 and 1924. Almost all of Becke's works were published in America by J. B. Lippincott of Philadelphia. Becke was criticised by some reviewers for lapses in grammar and taste. ''His Native Wife'' was unfavourably received in America because of its subject matter; J. B. Lippincott also refused to publish ''The Mutineer: A Romance of Pitcairn Island''.

Works

''By Reef and Palm'' (Unwin, 1894) collection of stories: *''Challis the Doubter'' *Tis in the Blood'' *''The Revenge of Macy O'Shea'' *''The Rangers of the Tia Kau'' *''Pallou's Tāloi'' *''A Basket of Breadfruit'' *''Enderby's Courtship'' *''Long Charley's Good Little Wife'' *''The Methodical Mr. Burr of Majura'' *''A Truly Great Man'' *''The Doctor's Wife'' *''The Fate of the "Alida"'' *''The Chilian Blue Jacket'' *''Brantley of Vahitahi'' ''Ebbing of the Tide'' (Unwin, 1895) collection of stories: *''Luliban of the Pool'' *''Ninia'' *''Baldwin's Loisé'' *''At the Kava-Drinking'' *''Mrs. Liardet: A South Sea Trading Episode'' *''Kennedy the Boatsteerer'' *''A Dead Loss'' *''Hickson: A Half-Caste'' *''A Boating Party of Two'' *''The Best Asset in a Fool's Estate'' *''Deschard of Oneaka'' *''Nell of Mulliner's Camp'' *''Auriki Reef'' *''At the Ebbing of the Tide'' *''The Fallacies of Hilliard'' *''A Tale of a Mask'' *''The Cook of the "Spreetoo Santoo"'' *''Lupton's Guest: A Memory of the Eastern Pacific'' *''In Nouméa'' *''The Feast at Pentecost'' *''An Honour to the Service'' Besides those mentioned above, his works include: *''His Native Wife'' (Alex Lindsay, 1895; Unwin, 1896) *''Pacific Tales'' (Unwin, 1897) *''Wild Life in South Seas'' (Unwin, 1897) *''Rodman the Boat-steerer and Other Stories'' (Unwin, 1898) *''Ridan the Devil and Other Stories'' (Unwin, 1899) *''Tom Wallis, a Tale of the South Seas'' (Unwin, 1900) *''Edward Barry, South Seas Pearler'' (Unwin, 1900) *''Tessa, the Trader's Wife'' (Unwin, 1901) *''By Rock and Pool on an Austral Shore'' (Unwin, 1901) *''York the Adventurer and Other Stories'' (Unwin, 1901) *''Breachley, Black Sheep'' (Unwin, 1902) *''The Strange Adventure of James Shervinton and Other Stories'' (Unwin, 1902) *''The Jalasco Brig'' (Unwin, 1902) *''Helen Adair'' (Unwin, 1903) *''Chinkie's Flat and Other Stories'' (Unwin, 1903) *''Tom Gerard'' (Unwin, 1904) *''Under Tropic Skies'' (Unwin, 1905) *''Notes from My South-Sea Log'' (T Werner Laurie, 1901) *''The Adventures of a Supercargo'' (Unwin, 1906) *''Sketches from Normandy'' (T Werner Laurie, 1906) *''The Settlers of Karossa Creek and Other Stories of Australian Bush Life'' (Religious Tract Society, 1907) *''The Call of the South'' (John Milne, 1908) *''The Pearl Divers of Roncador Reef'' (James Clarke & Co, 1908) *''The Adventures of Louis Blake'' (T Werner Laurie, 1909) *Neath Austral Skies'' (John Milne, 1908) *''Bully Hayes: Buccaneer and Other Stories'' (NSW Bookstall Co Ltd, 1913) Illustrated by

Norman Lindsay Norman Alfred William Lindsay (22 February 1879 – 21 November 1969) was an Australian artist, etcher, sculptor, writer, art critic, novelist, cartoonist and amateur boxer. One of the most prolific and popular Australian artists of his genera ...

Works co-authored with Walter J. Jeffrey

*''A First Fleet Family'' (Unwin, 1896) *''The Mystery of the Laughlin Isles'' (Unwin, 1896) *''The Mutineer: A Romance of Pitcairn Island'' (Unwin, 1898) *''The Naval Pioneers of Australia'' (John Murray, 1899) *''Admiral Philip: The Founding of New South Wales'' (Unwin, 1899) *''The Tapir of Banderah and Other Stories'' (C. Arthur Pearson, 1901)

References

External links

* *

Dirk HR Spennemann Dr. Dirk Spennemann, an Australian cultural heritage academic, is an Associate Professor in Cultural Heritage Management at the School of Environmental Sciences, Charles Sturt University in Albury, New South Wales, Australia. His main research ...

(2000)
Louis Becke (1859–1913)
A biography. * *

at

Project Gutenberg Australia Project Gutenberg Australia, abbreviated as PGA, is an Internet site which was founded in 2001 by Colin Choat. It is a sister site of Project Gutenberg, though there is no formal relationship between the two organizations. The site hosts free eboo ...

* *
Bibliographic details of Becke's works

Archival holdings

*Louis Becke (George Louis Becke)
Papers 1880-1905

State Library of New South Wales The State Library of New South Wales, part of which is known as the Mitchell Library, is a large heritage-listed special collections, reference and research library open to the public and is one of the oldest libraries in Australia. Establish ...

, A 1372/vols. 1-2 , A 1373 , A 1374 , A 1391 , A 1807 *Louis Becke (George Louis Becke)
Papers 1880-1913

, MLMSS 248 *Louis Becke (George Louis Becke)
Papers 1881-1912

, Safe 1/8 {{DEFAULTSORT:Becke, George Lewis 1855 births 1913 deaths 19th-century Australian novelists 20th-century Australian novelists Australian male novelists Australian people of English descent Australian male short story writers History of Tuvalu History of Kiribati Oceania in fiction 19th-century Australian short story writers 19th-century male writers 20th-century Australian short story writers 20th-century Australian male writers Australian sailors Beachcombers Maritime writers