Thomas William Heney (5 November 1862 – 19 August 1928) was an Australian journalist and poet. Heney was the son of Thomas William Heney (Snr), a printer, and Sarah Elizabeth, ''née'' Carruthers. He was born in Sydney and educated at

Cooma Cooma is a town in the south of New South Wales, Australia. It is located south of the national capital, Canberra, via the Monaro Highway. It is also on the Snowy Mountains Highway, connecting Bega with the Riverina. At the , Cooma had a po ...

. Heney Senior was a heavy drinker and died in 1875. Heney joined the staff of

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 ...

as a junior assistant reader in 1878, and became a reporter on the

Sydney Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', also nicknamed ''The Tele'', is an Australian tabloid newspaper published by Nationwide News Pty Limited, a subsidiary of News Corp Australia, itself a subsidiary of News Corp. It is published Monday through Saturday a ...

six years later. He was editor of the ''Western Grazier'' at

Wilcannia Wilcannia is a small town located within the Central Darling Shire in north western New South Wales, Australia. Located on the Darling River, the town was the third largest inland port in the country during the river boat era of the mid-19th ce ...

in 1886 but returned to Sydney in 1889 and worked on the ''Echo'' until it ceased publication in 1893. In 1896, he married Amy, daughter of

Henry Gullett Sir Henry Somer Gullett KCMG CB (26 March 1878 – 13 August 1940), known as Harry Gullett, was an Australian journalist, military historian and politician. He was a war correspondent during World War I and co-authored the official history of ...

. Heney rejoined the ''Herald'' as a reviewer and writer of occasional leaders, was appointed associate editor in 1899, and editor in October 1903. He held this position until 1918 and was subsequently editor of the

Brisbane Telegraph The ''Telegraph'' was an evening newspaper published in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was first published on 1 October 1872 and its final edition appeared on 5 February 1988. In its day it was recognised as one of the best news pictorial n ...

from 1920 to 1923, and the ''Sydney Daily Telegraph'' from 1923 to 1925. He retired on account of ill health in 1925, and died of heart disease at Springwood in the Blue Mountains on 19 August 1928 and was buried in the Anglican cemetery. He was survived by his wife, a son and two daughters. Heney was a modest man and a first-rate journalist, with a sense of the responsibility of his office as an editor. He published two volumes of poetry, ''Fortunate Days'' in 1886 and ''In Middle Harbour'' in 1890; but though he is represented in several anthologies his cultivated verse seldom reaches beyond the edge of poetry. His novel, ''The Girl at Birrell's'', is a simple story of pastoral life told with some ability. Another novel, ''A Station Courtship'', was serialized in the Melbourne ''Leader'' in 1898–99.

References

* *Ken Stewart, 'Heney, Thomas William (1862–1928)',

Australian Dictionary of Biography The ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'' (ADB or AuDB) is a national co-operative enterprise founded and maintained by the Australian National University (ANU) to produce authoritative biographical articles on eminent people in Australia's ...

, Volume 9, MUP, 1983, pp 258–259. Retrieved 13 March 2009 {{DEFAULTSORT:Heney, Thomas Australian poets Australian journalists 1862 births 1928 deaths Australian literary critics The Sydney Morning Herald people