Hubert Newman Wigmore Church (13 June 1857 – 8 April 1932) was an Australian poet.
Church was born in
Hobart
Hobart ( ; Nuennonne/Palawa kani: ''nipaluna'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Home to almost half of all Tasmanians, it is the least-populated Australian state capital city, and second-small ...
,
Tasmania
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, the son of Hubert Day Church and his wife Mary Ann. His father, a barrister, came from
Somerset
( en, All The People of Somerset)
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and was a descendant of the family of
John Hampden
John Hampden (24 June 1643) was an English landowner and politician whose opposition to arbitrary taxes imposed by Charles I made him a national figure. An ally of Parliamentarian leader John Pym, and cousin to Oliver Cromwell, he was one of th ...
. Hubert Church was taken to England when eight years old, and was educated at
Guildford
Guildford ()
is a town in west Surrey, around southwest of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The name "Guildf ...
and
Felstead. Around 16 years of age Church went 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 ...
and later joined the treasury department at
Wellington, New Zealand.
In 1902 Church's first volume of verse, ''The West Wind'', was published at
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 ...
, this was followed by ''Poems'' (1904), published at Wellington, New Zealand, and ''Egmont'', at
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 ...
in 1908. In 1911 he retired from the New Zealand public service, and in 1912 went to Melbourne. There he collected the best of his poems from his earlier volumes and published them with 10 additional pieces under the title of ''Poems''. In 1913 he went to England and during the war was engaged in voluntary war-work. In 1916 he published a novel, ''Tonks, a New Zealand Yarn'', and in 1919 returned to New Zealand. He went to Melbourne in October 1923, where he became well known in literary circles, and was much liked and admired.
When he was 12 years old he was struck on the head by a cricket ball and he became completely deaf. Relying on his own resources, he read widely.
He died at
East Malvern
Malvern East is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 13 km south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Stonnington local government area. Malvern East recorded a population of 22,296 at the 202 ...
(a suburb of Melbourne) on 8 April 1932. In December 1900 he married Catherine Livingstone McGregor, who survived him; there were no children.
References
Dictionary of Australian Biography Ca-Ch] at gutenberg.net.au
Biography at PoemHunter.com
External links
Gravesite at Brighton General Cemetery (Vic)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Church, Hubert Newman Wigmore
1857 births
1932 deaths
Australian poets
People from Hobart