John Henry Macartney Abbott (1874 – 1953) was an

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Au ...

novelist and poet who was born in Haydonton,

Murrurundi Murrurundi( ), is a rural town located in the Upper Hunter Shire, in the Upper Hunter region of New South Wales, Australia. Murrurundi is situated northwest by road from Newcastle and north from Sydney. At the the town had a population of 84 ...

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 ...

in 1874.

Early life

He was the eldest son of son of (Sir)

Joseph Palmer Abbott Sir Joseph Palmer Abbott, (29 September 184215 September 1901) was an Australian politician, pastoralist and solicitor. Early life Joseph Palmer Abbott was born on 29 September 1842 at Muswellbrook, New South Wales, to John Kingsmill Abbo ...

and his first wife Matilda Elizabeth, née Macartney. He was educated at

The King's School, Parramatta The King's School is an Education in Australia#Non-government schools, independent Anglican Church of Australia, Anglican, Pre-school education, early learning, primary school, primary and secondary school, secondary day and boarding school, boardi ...

and then attended classes at the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's si ...

before returning to the family property to work as a jackaroo. He published his first verse in ''The Bulletin'' in 1897. In January 1900 he left Australia for the

Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sou ...

where he served as a corporal in the 1st Australian Horse, and later as a second lieutenant in the

Royal Field Artillery The Royal Field Artillery (RFA) of the British Army provided close artillery support for the infantry. It came into being when created as a distinct arm of the Royal Regiment of Artillery on 1 July 1899, serving alongside the other two arms of t ...

, but was invalided back to Australia in October 1900. He utilised his experiences in the war to write ''Tommy Cornstalk'' (1902), the success of which convinced him to move to London to work as a journalist. He returned to Australia in 1909 and worked for the next 40 years as a writer of novels, poetry and prose pieces for various newspapers and periodicals. According to Miller and Macartney, Abbott died in the Rydalmere Mental Hospital of vascular disease on 12 August 1953.

Bibliography

Novels

* ''Plain and Veldt : being studies, stories and sketches of my own people, in peace and at war'' (1903) * ''Letters from Queer Street: being some of the correspondence of the late Mr John Mason'' (1908) * ''The Sign of the Serpent'' (1910) * ''Castle Vane : A Romance of Bushranging on the Upper Hunter in the Olden Days'' (1916) * ''Sally : The Tale of a Currency Lass'' (1918) * ''The Governor's Man'' (1919) * ''Sydney Cove : A Romance of the First Fleet'' (1920) * ''Ensign Calder'' (1922) * ''Red O'Shaughnessy'' (1935)

Essays

* ''Out of the Past'' (1944)

Short stories

* ''The King's School and Other Tales for Old Boys'' (1931)

Children's fiction

* ''The Story of William Dampier'' (1911) * ''Dogsnose'' (1928)

Autobiography

* ''Tommy Cornstalk : Being Some Account of the Less Notable Features of the South African War from the Point of View of the Australian Ranks'' (1902)

References

1874 births 1953 deaths Australian male novelists Australian poets Royal Field Artillery officers People educated at The King's School, Parramatta {{Australia-writer-stub