John Bernard O'Hara (29 October 1862 - 31 March 1927) was an Australian poet and schoolmaster.

Early life

O'Hara was born at

Bendigo, Victoria Bendigo ( ) is a city in Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, located in the Bendigo Valley near the geographical centre of the state and approximately north-west of Melbourne, the state capital. As of 2019, Bendigo had an urban populat ...

. His father, Patrick Knight O'Hara, a primary school teacher in the education department, Victoria, also published two volumes of verse. Patrick was also the editor and part proprietor of the ''Chiltern Leader''. His mother was Mary Ann O'Hara, and she passed away in 1895. His sisters Elizabeth O'Hara and

Annie O'Hara Annie may refer to: People and fictional characters * Annie (given name), a given name and a list of people and fictional characters with the name * Annie (actress) (born 1975), Indian actress * Annie (singer) (born 1977), Norwegian singer The ...

were both doctors. They were famous for being two of the seven women who enrolled at the University of Melbourne Medical School in 1887, and together becoming the first women admitted to the faculty, and subsequently the first women to graduate as doctors in Australia. O'Hara was educated at Carlton College and

Ormond College Ormond College is the largest of the residential colleges of the University of Melbourne located in the city of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is home to around 350 undergraduates, 90 graduates and 35 professorial and academic residents. Hi ...

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 ...

, where he had a distinguished career. After winning various exhibitions he graduated with first-class honours in mathematics and physics in 1885.

Career

Educator

He was appointed lecturer in mathematics and natural philosophy at Ormond College in 1886, and in 1889 resigned to become headmaster of

South Melbourne College South Melbourne College was a co-education boarding school in South Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The school was founded by Thomas Palmer in 1883. John Bernard O'Hara became a partner in 1889 and became sole proprietor in 1893-4. In his ha ...

. In his hands it became the leading private school in Victoria, and its pupils more than held their own in competition with those from the public schools. During a period of eight years, of 28 first-class honours gained by all the schools of Victoria in physics and chemistry, 14 were obtained by pupils from South Melbourne College. O'Hara was an inspiring teacher, and many of his pupils have since held distinguished positions in the universities of Australia.

Poet

O'Hara published his first volume of poems, ''Songs of the South'', in 1891. This was followed by ''Songs of the South, Second Series'', in 1895, ''Lyrics of Nature'' (1899), ''A Book of Sonnets'' (1902), ''Odes and Lyrics'' (1906), ''Calypso and other Poems'' (1912), ''The Poems of John Bernard O'Hara, A Selection'' (1918), ''At Eventide'' (1922), and ''Sonnets and Rondels'' (1925). All these volumes were favourably received by the press, and in 1919 a critic in The Times Literary Supplement spoke of O'Hara as a "singer who takes his place in the company of representative English poets". In his youth O'Hara was a skillful cricketer and played pennant cricket for many years. As a boy he met

Marcus Clarke Marcus Andrew Hislop Clarke (24 April 1846 – 2 August 1881) was an English-born Australian novelist, journalist, poet, editor, librarian, and playwright. He is best known for his 1874 novel ''For the Term of His Natural Life'', about the co ...

, and was friendly with William Gay, Brunton Stephens, John Farrell and other literary men of his period. The close attention he had to give to his school kept him out of literary circles for many years. After his retirement in 1917 he did not enter them again, and lived quietly until his death on 31 March 1927. He married Agnes Elizabeth Law of Hamilton, Victoria in 1910 and was survived by her.

Bibliography

* ''Songs of the South'' (1891) * ''Songs of the South. Second Series : The Wild White Man and Other Poems'' (1895) * ''Lyrics of Nature'' (1899) * ''Rural Scenes from the Golden West'' (1900) * '"A Book of Sonnets'' (1902) * ''Odes and Lyricsa'' (1906) * Neath the Southern Cross : Bush Scenes'' (1909) * ''Calypso and Other Poems'' (1912) * ''The Poems of John Bernard O'Hara : A Selection'' (1918) * ''At Eventide : New Poems'' (1922) * ''Sonnets and Rondels'' (1925)

External links

John Bernard O'Hara (1864-1927)
Gravesite at Brighton General Cemetery (Vic)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ohara, John Bernard 1862 births 1927 deaths Australian poets Australian educators People from Bendigo People from the Colony of Victoria