Will Lawson (2 September 1876 – 13 October 1957), born in

Durham, England Durham ( , locally ), is a cathedral city and civil parish on the River Wear, County Durham, England. It is an administrative centre of the County Durham District, which is a successor to the historic County Palatine of Durham (which is dif ...

, was a popular

bush poet The bush ballad, bush song or bush poem is a style of poetry and folk music that depicts the life, character and scenery of the Australian bush. The typical bush ballad employs a straightforward rhyme structure to narrate a story, often one of a ...

, novelist, journalist and historian of Australia. Many of his works had sailing or stage coach themes.

Early life

Born at

Gateshead Gateshead () is a large town in northern England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank, opposite Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle to which it is joined by seven bridges. The town contains the Gateshead Millennium Bridge, Millennium Bridge, Sage ...

, Durham, England, the family was of Scandinavian descent, with the family name originally of Larsen. Moving with his family to New Zealand at the age of four, they first lived in

Wellington, New Zealand Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by metr ...

. The family moved to

Brisbane, Australia Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...

around 1885, where Lawson received some education, then moved back to

, where he worked as a clerk in an insurance office, and began writing poems for '' The Bulletin''. For

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, Lawson was rejected by the New Zealand military for the mounted infantry because of his

diabetes Diabetes, also known as diabetes mellitus, is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by a high blood sugar level ( hyperglycemia) over a prolonged period of time. Symptoms often include frequent urination, increased thirst and increased ap ...

Career

In 1912 Lawson returned to Australia and joined the staff of

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 ...

's ''Evening News'', also writing for ''

Smith's Weekly ''Smith's Weekly'' was an Australian tabloid newspaper published from 1919 to 1950. It was an independent weekly published in Sydney, but read all over Australia. History The publication took its name from its founder and chief financer Sir J ...

'' and ''The Bulletin''. In 1924 and 1925 Lawson went to

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

as the publicity officer for the Union Steamship Company. In 1929, he then undertook an extensive tour of the 'Far East'. From 1932, Lawson has been freelancing literature. He was associated with the Sydney Bohemian artistic scene and such well-known figures as poet and later politician

Randolph Bedford Randolph Bedford (born George Randolph Bedford 27 June 1868 – 7 July 1941) was an Australian poet, novelist, short story writer and Queensland state politician. Early life Bedford was born in Camperdown, Sydney, the son of Alfred Bedford, w ...

(1868–1941), journalist and writer

Edward Dyson Edward George Dyson (4 March 1865 – 22 August 1931), or 'Ted' Dyson, was an Australian journalist, poet, playwright and short story writer. He was the elder brother of illustrators Will Dyson (1880–1938) and Ambrose Dyson (1876–1913), w ...

(1865–1931), illustrator

Will Dyson William Henry Dyson (3 September 1880 – 21 January 1938) was an Australian illustrator and political cartoonist. In 1931 he was regarded as "one of the world's foremost black and white artists", and in 1980, "Australia's greatest cartoonist" ...

(1880–1938), artist

Livingston Hopkins Livingston York Yourtee "Hop" Hopkins (7 July 1846 – 21 August 1927)B. G. Andrews,, '' Australian Dictionary of Biography'', Volume 4, MUP, 1972, pp 421-422. Retrieved 2 August 2009 was an American-born cartoonist who became a major figure ...

(1846–1927), landscape painter

Percy Lindsay Percival (Percy) Charles Lindsay (17 September 1870 – 21 September 1952) was an Australian landscape painter, illustrator and cartoonist, born in Creswick, Victoria. Percy was the first child born to Jane Lindsay (née Williams) and Dr Robe ...

(1870–1952), and poet

Roderic Quinn Roderic Joseph Quinn (26 November 1867 – 15 August 1949) was an Australian poet. Early life Quinn was born in Sydney the seventh child of Irish parents: Edward Quinn, letter-carrier, and his wife Catherine. He was educated at Catholic school ...

(1867–1949). Although not related to poet

Henry Lawson Henry Archibald Hertzberg Lawson (17 June 1867 – 2 September 1922) was an Australian writer and bush poet. Along with his contemporary Banjo Paterson, Lawson is among the best-known Australian poets and fiction writers of the colonial perio ...

(1867–1922), they were lifelong friends, and a friend of his widow Bertha.

Later life

Lawson died in Sydney in 1957, aged 81. Some literary historians did not know whether to list Lawson as an Australian or a New Zealand writer, although Lawson considered himself Australian.

Selected works

Poetry

* ''The Red West Road'' (1903) * ''Light love'' (1904) * ''Between the Lights'' (1906) * ''Stokin' and Other Verses'' (1908) * ''The tug that went a-trawling'' (1909) * ''The Three Kings'' (1914) * ''To the Fallen'' () * ''Bush Verses'' (1943) * ''Bill the Whaler'' (1944)

Novels

* ''Red West Road'' (1906) * ''The Laughing Buccaneer'' (1935), based on the career of

blackbirder Blackbirding involves the coercion of people through deception or kidnapping to work as slaves or poorly paid labourers in countries distant from their native land. The term has been most commonly applied to the large-scale taking of people ...

'Bully' Hayes * ''When Cobb and Co. was King'' (1936), possibly his best-known book * ''Old Man Murray'' (1937) * ''Harpoons ahoy!'' (1938) * ''In Ben Boyd's Day'' (1939), considered to be his best to date, in a historical setting of a gentleman adventurer * ''Red Morgan Rides'' (1940) * ''Bound for Callao'' (1942) * ''Black Diamonds'' (1945) * ''The Lady of the Heather'' (1945) * ''Forbidden Gold'' (1945) * ''Paddle Wheels Away'' (1945) * ''Gold in their Hearts'' (1950), republished as ''Mary Smith's Hotel'' (1957) With fellow author Tom Hickey: * ''Galloping Wheels'' (1947) * ''Moira of Green Hills'' (1950), set in the paddle-steamer days of trade between the Hunter River and Sydney, about an Irish colleen Moira.

Short stories

* ''A stokehold tragedy'' (1909) * ''A pack track knight'' (1913) * ''The buggy ride'' (1935)

Miscellaneous

* ''The Three Kings, and other verses'' (1914), 250 pages of many verses and poems, including ''The Old Ngahauranga Road'', published by

Angus & Robertson Angus & Robertson (A&R) is a major Australian bookseller, publisher and printer. As book publishers, A&R has contributed substantially to the promotion and development of Australian literature.Alison, Jennifer (2001). "Publishers and editors: A ...

, being sold for the cost of 2 shillings 7 pence. Edited: * ''Australian Bush Songs and Ballads'' (1944) Historical: * ''Historic Trentham 1914–1917: The story of a New Zealand Military Training Camp'' (1917). * ''Pacific steamers'' (1928), about the development of steam shipping on the Australian, and West American coasts. It contained 237 pages with illustrations, and sold for 16 shillings. * ''Blue Gum Clippers and Whale Ships of Tasmania'' (1949), in conjunction with the Shiplovers' Society of Tasmania, Georgian House, Melbourne.

References

Sources

* Wilde, William H, Hooton, Joy, Andrews, Barry ''Oxford Companion to Australian Literature'' Oxford University Press, 2nd ed. 1994

External links

Australian Dictionary of Biography
entry * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lawson, Will 1876 births 1957 deaths Writers from New South Wales 20th-century Australian poets Australian male poets 20th-century Australian male writers Australian male novelists Australian maritime historians 20th-century Australian historians 20th-century Australian journalists British emigrants to Australia