Thomas Louis Buvelot Esson (10 August 1878 – 27 November 1943) was an Australian poet, journalist, critic and

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

. He was a co-founder of the Pioneer Players. His second wife, Hilda Esson (nee Bull), had a career in theatre besides working as a doctor in the field of

public health Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals". Analyzing the det ...

Early life and education

Esson was born on 10 August 1878 at

Leith Leith (; gd, Lìte) is a port area in the north of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith. In 2021, it was ranked by '' Time Out'' as one of the top five neighbourhoods to live in the world. The earliest ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

, Scotland, but moved to

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, Australia, when he was three, along with his widowed mother. She had siblings in Melbourne, including artist

John Ford Paterson John Ford Paterson (1851, Dundee – 30 June 1912, Carlton), often referred to as Ford or J. Ford Paterson, was a Scottish-born Australian artist. He specialised in landscapes. Biography While still a teenager, he began his studies at the Royal ...

, and Esson was raised mostly by his aunts. He attended the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb nor ...

from 1896, but did not finish his arts degree.

Career

Esson began working as a journalist and playwright afterwards, and visited

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, Ireland, and

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

in 1904–1905. He met Irish playwrights

J. M. Synge Edmund John Millington Synge (; 16 April 1871 – 24 March 1909) was an Irish playwright, poet, writer, collector of folklore, and a key figure in the Irish Literary Revival. His best known play ''The Playboy of the Western World'' was poorly r ...

(in Paris) and

W. B. Yeats William Butler Yeats (13 June 186528 January 1939) was an Irish poet, dramatist, writer and one of the foremost figures of 20th-century literature. He was a driving force behind the Irish Literary Revival and became a pillar of the Irish liter ...

(in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

), who suggested that he writes plays with Australian themes. He returned to Melbourne in 1906, hoping to establish the equivalent of the

Irish National Theatre The Abbey Theatre ( ga, Amharclann na Mainistreach), also known as the National Theatre of Ireland ( ga, Amharclann Náisiúnta na hÉireann), in Dublin, Ireland, is one of the country's leading cultural institutions. First opening to the pu ...

. His first collection of poetry was published in 1910, with three collections of plays following by 1912, including ''Dead Timber''. He and his second wife Hilda moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

in 1916 and then to London in 1918, returning in June 1921. In 1921 he was a co-founder of the Pioneer Players with

Vance Palmer Edward Vivian "Vance" Palmer (28 August 1885 – 15 July 1959) was an Australian novelist, dramatist, essayist and critic. Early life Vance Palmer was born in Bundaberg, Queensland, on 28 August 1885 and attended the Ipswich Grammar School. With ...

and Stewart Macky. The company was dedicated to the performance of Australian plays and the development of a national theatre. The Pioneer Players produced 18 new Australian plays in their four years of existence. John McCallum, writing in ''

The Weekend Australian ''The Australian'', with its Saturday edition, ''The Weekend Australian'', is a broadsheet newspaper published by News Corp Australia since 14 July 1964.Bruns, Axel. "3.1. The active audience: Transforming journalism from gatekeeping to gatewat ...

'' in 1999, write that the Pioneer Players had been called "a mismanaged collection of fly-by-night amateurs, but somehow he has come to be called 'The Father of Australian drama'". Hilda acted in several of their productions. He moved to

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 ...

in 1930.

Personal life

He married first Madeleine Stephanie Tracy in 1906, which ended in divorce in 1911. They had one child, James Paterson Esson (died 1971). He married Hilda Wager Bull (1886–1953) in December 1913, who, as Hilda Esson, became a force in her own right. She had qualified as a medical doctor at the University of Melbourne in 1913, and was a founding member of the Melbourne University Dramatic Society. After marrying, she provided economic, intellectual and emotional support to her husband, and acted in Pioneer Players productions. She later worked as a doctor in the field of public health.

Selected plays

*''Dead Timber'' (1911) *'' The Time is Not Yet Ripe'' (1912) *''The Woman Tamer'' *''The Sacred Place'' *''The Drovers'' (1922) *''Mother and Son'' (1923) *''The Bride of Gospel Place'' (1926)

Notes

References

External links

Louis Esson
at Australian Poetry Library * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Esson, Louis 1878 births 1943 deaths Australian male dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Australian dramatists and playwrights Australian literary critics Australian male poets Australian journalists Writers from Edinburgh Scottish emigrants to colonial Australia Writers from Melbourne 20th-century Australian poets