Ruth Bedford (2 August 1882 – 24 July 1963) was an Australian

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

, playwright and

fiction Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying individuals, events, or places that are imaginary, or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent with history, fact, or plausibility. In a traditi ...

writer.

Career

Born in Petersham,

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 ...

, to Alfred Percival Bedford and Agnes Victoria Stephen, daughter of Sir

Alfred Stephen Sir Alfred Stephen (20 August 180215 October 1894) was an Australian judge and Chief Justice of New South Wales. Early life Stephen was born at St Christopher in the West Indies. His father, John Stephen (1771–1833), was related to James S ...

, an influential chief justice, whose family she wrote about in her humorous book ''A Family Chronicle'' (1954). Ruth Bedford and her sisters Sylvia and Alfreda were educated at home by governesses. Bedford proved a talented verse writer from an early age: her first book, ''Rhymes by Ruth'' was published when she was eleven years old in 1893 (revised and reprinted 1896). Bedford wrote a number of poems for various Australian newspapers, especially ''

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper ...

'', where her poetry appeared over a 30-year period. The ''

Brisbane Courier ''The Courier-Mail'' is an Australian newspaper published in Brisbane. Owned by News Corp Australia, it is published daily from Monday to Saturday in tabloid format. Its editorial offices are located at Bowen Hills, in Brisbane's inner norther ...

'' described her as a poet who "writes attractive verse, reflective and sensitive to a degree." In 1931, Ruth Bedford established the Sydney PEN Centre in collaboration with her friend, the poet

Dorothea Mackellar Isobel Marion Dorothea Mackellar, (1 July 1885 – 14 January 1968) was an Australian poet and fiction writer. Her poem ''My Country'' is widely known in Australia, especially its second stanza, which begins: "''I love a sunburnt country/ ...

. As honorary secretary she traveled to Buenos Aires as the club's representative in 1936. Bedford was also honorary secretary of the Zonta Club in Sydney in 1933 and a member of the Women's Pioneer Society. In 1953 Bedford received a grant from the Commonwealth Literary Fund to publish her chronicle of the Bedford and Stephen families, which was largely based on the diaries kept by her grandmother from 1846 to 1886. Ruth Bedford never married and died in Paddington, New South Wales in 1963.

Bibliography

Novels

* ''The Little Blue Devil'' with

(1912) * ''Two's Company'' with

(1914) * ''Hundreds and Thousands'' (1934) children's fiction, illustrated by

Pixie O'Harris Pixie O'Harris (born Rhona Olive Harris; 15 October 1903 – 17 November 1991) was a Welsh-born Australian artist, newspaper, magazine and book illustrator, author, broadcaster, caricaturist and cartoonist, designer of book plates, sheet music ...

Poetry

* ''Rhymes'' (1893) * ''Sydney at Sunset and Other Verses'' (1911) * ''Rosycheeks and Goldenhead'' (1914) * ''Fairies and Fancies'' (1929) children's poetry * ''The Learner and Other Verses'' (1937) * ''Who's Who in Rhyme and Without Reason'' (1948)

Drama

* ''Fear: A play in blank verse'' (1930) * ''The Murder Next Door'' (1931) *''Postman's Knock'' (1932)

Biography

* ''Think of Stephen: a family chronicle'' (1954)

Libretto

* ''Cross Words and Cross Currents'' (1925)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bedford, Ruth 1882 births 1963 deaths Australian women poets 20th-century Australian poets 20th-century Australian women writers 19th-century Australian women