Leslie Alfred Redgrave (1882 – 15 May 1956), was an Australian writer, grazier and headmaster. He was often published as L A Redgrave and as an educator was known as L Alfred Redgrave, B.A. Redgrave was best known for his 1913 novel ''Gwen: a romance of Australian station life''.

Birth and education

Redgrave was born in Newtown in Sydney, the son of Charles Alfred Hurst Redgrave and Mary Jane (née Bellingham). He attended

Newington College , motto_translation = To Faith Add Knowledge , location = Inner West and Lower North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales , country = Australia , coordinates = , pushpin_map = A ...

(1899–1902) as a day-boy whilst his parents resided in

Paddington Paddington is an area within the City of Westminster, in Central London. First a medieval parish then a metropolitan borough, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Three important landmarks of the district are Paddi ...

. In 1900, and again in 1901, he passed the Junior Examination and in 1902 he was appointed as a Prefect at Newington. In March 1902 he passed the Matriculation Examination and went up to 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 ...

. Redgrave graduated as a Bachelor of Arts three years later in 1905.

Highfield College

From 1907 until 1915, Redgrave was the proprietor and headmaster of Highfield College at

Turramurra Turramurra is a suburb on the Upper North Shore of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located north-west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Ku-ring-gai Council. It shares the postc ...

. The school was at 51 Ku-ring-gai Avenue and his brother, Wilfred Harold Redgrave, ran the junior school. Advertising for the school said:
(a) An ideal home for young boys, with a mother's care, and best of food, and every comfort.
(b) Primary and secondary education, with the individual attention of graduate masters.
(c) Specially equipped classrooms, dormitories, and playing fields, in a fine healthy climate. On its closure in 1915 the building was demolished and redeveloped with a new home in 1917.

Marriage and children

In 1911 he married Ruby Ella Bird at

St Leonards St Leonards may refer to: Places Australia *St Leonards, New South Wales **St Leonards railway station *St Leonards, Tasmania, suburb of Launceston *St Leonards, Victoria Canada *St. Leonard's, Newfoundland and Labrador New Zealand * St L ...

. The union produced two sons, Geoffrey Alfred (born 1912) and Ronald Leslie (born 1913).

Later life

From 1923 until 1943 Redgrave lived at ''Bellingara'', 109 Copeland Road Beecroft. He then moved to Oura via

Wagga Wagga, New South Wales Wagga Wagga (; informally called Wagga) is a major regional city in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. Straddling the Murrumbidgee River, with an urban population of more than 56,000 as of June 2018, Wagga Wagga is the state's la ...

, and he died in Wagga in 1956.

Publications

* Gwen: a romance of Australian Station life (1913) * Feathered favourites: a booklet of bird verse (1932) * Scatch Cock: a booklet of the bright birds of our bushland pictured in colour and rhyme for children (1933) * Little bungalows: a practical handbook for the homemaker (1937)State Library of NSW – Catalogue
Retrieved 22 April 2014.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Redgrave, Leslie Alfred 1882 births 1956 deaths 20th-century Australian novelists Australian male novelists 20th-century Australian non-fiction writers Writers from Sydney People educated at Newington College 20th-century Australian male writers