Henry Lawson (17 June 1867 – 2 September 1922) was an Australian writer and poet . Along with his contemporary
Banjo PatersonAndrew Barton "Banjo" Paterson was a famous Australian bush poet, journalist and author. He wrote many ballads and poems about Australian life, focusing particularly on the rural and outback areas, including the district around Binalong, New South Wales where he spent much of his childhood...
, Lawson is among the best-known Australian poets and fiction writers of the colonial period, and is often called Australia's "greatest writer".
Early life
Henry Lawson was born in a town on the
Grenfell goldfieldsGrenfell is a country town in the Central West of New South Wales, Australia, in Weddin Shire. It is 370 kilometres west of Sydney and five hours' drive from the city. It is close to Forbes, Cowra and Young...
of
New South WalesNew South Wales is Australia's most populous state, located in the south-east of the country, north of Victoria, south of Queensland and east of South Australia...
. His father was Niels Herzberg Larsen, a Norwegian-born miner who went to sea at 21 and arrived in
MelbourneMelbourne is the capital city and most populous city of the State of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne city centre is the anchor of the larger geographical area and statistical division known as the Greater Melbourne metropolitan area – of which Melbourne is...
in 1855 to join the gold rush. Lawson's parents met at the goldfields of Pipeclay (now Eurunderee, New South Wales) Niels and
Louisa AlburyLouisa Lawson was an Australian writer, publisher, suffragist, and feminist.Louisa Lawson was born and raised in Mudgee, New South Wales. The second of 12 children, her family were typical strugglers, and like many girls at that time left school at the age of thirteen. In 1866 she married Niels...
(1848 - 1920) married on 7 July 1866; he was 32 and she, 18. On Henry's birth, the family surname was anglicised and Niels became Peter Lawson. The newly-married couple were to have an unhappy marriage. Louisa, after family-raising, took a significant part in women's movements, and edited a women's paper called
Dawn (published May 1888 to July 1905). She also published her son's first volume, and around 1904 brought out a volume of her own,
Dert and Do, a simple story of 18,000 words. In 1905 she collected and published her own verses,
The Lonely Crossing and other Poems. Louisa likely had a strong influence on her son's literary work in its earliest days.
Peter Larsen's grave (with headstone) is in the little private cemetery at
Hartley Vale, New South WalesHartley Vale is a small village in the Blue Mountains area of New South Wales, Australia. It is approximately 150 kilometres west of Sydney and 12 kilometres south-east of Lithgow. It is in the Local Government Area of the City of Lithgow.-Description:...
, a few minutes' walk behind what was Collitt's Inn.
Henry Lawson attended school at Eurunderee from 2 October 1876 but suffered an ear infection at around this time. It left him with partial deafness and by the age of fourteen he had lost his hearing entirely. However, his master John Tierney was kind and seems to have done his best for Lawson who was quite shy. Lawson later attended a
CatholicThe word Catholic is derived from the Greek adjective , meaning "universal". In the context of Christian ecclesiology, it has a rich history and several usages. For some, the term "Catholic Church" refers to the church in full communion with the Bishop of Rome, made up of the Latin Rite and the 22...
school at
Mudgee, New South WalesMudgee is a town in central New South Wales, Australia. It is located in the broad fertile Cudgegong River valley 261 kilometres north west of Sydney. As of 2004, Mudgee is the centre of the Mid-Western Regional Council Local Government Area with a population of 24,000...
around 8 km away; the master there, Mr. Kevan, would teach Lawson about poetry. Lawson was a keen reader of Dickens and Marryat and serialised novels such as
Robbery under Arms and
For the Term of his Natural Life; an aunt had also given him a volume by
Bret HarteFrancis Bret Harte was an American author and poet, best remembered for his accounts of pioneering life in California.-Life and career:...
. Reading became a major source of his education because, due to his deafness, he had trouble learning in the classroom.
In 1883, after working on building jobs with his father and in the Blue Mountains, Lawson joined his mother in Sydney at her request. Louisa was then living with Henry's sister and brother. At this time, Lawson was working during the day and studying at night for his matriculation in the hopes of receiving a university education. However, he failed his exams. At around 20 years of age Lawson went to the eye and ear hospital in
MelbourneMelbourne is the capital city and most populous city of the State of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne city centre is the anchor of the larger geographical area and statistical division known as the Greater Melbourne metropolitan area – of which Melbourne is...
but nothing could be done for his deafness.
In 1896, Lawson married Bertha Bredt Jr., daughter of Bertha Bredt, the prominent socialist. The marriage was ill-advised due to Lawson's alcohol addiction. They had two children, son Jim (Joseph) and daughter Bertha. However, the marriage ended unhappily.
Poetry and prose writing
Lawson's first published poem was 'A Song of the Republic' which appeared in
The BulletinThe Bulletin is a discontinued Australian weekly magazine that was published in Sydney from 1880 until January 2008. It was influential in Australian culture and politics from about 1890 until World War I, the period when it was identified with the "Bulletin school" of Australian literature. Its...
, 1 October 1887; his mother's radical friends were an influence. This was followed by 'The Wreck of the
Derry CastleThe Derry Castle was a 1367 ton iron barque built at Glasgow in 1883, and initially operating out of Limerick, Ireland. In 1887 while voyaging from Australia to the United Kingdom with a cargo of wheat, it foundered off Enderby Island, in the sub-antarctic Auckland Islands, on a reef which now...
' and then 'Golden Gully.' Prefixed to the former poem was an editorial note:
Lawson was actually 20 years old, not 17, but the editor showed good judgment in recognizing the poet's ability so early.
In 1890-1891 Lawson worked in
AlbanyAlbany is located in the Great Southern region of Western Australia, situated around a port on the southern coast.Its metropolitan area has a population of 25,196 as of the 2006 census, making it the sixth largest city in the state....
. He then received an offer to write for the Brisbane
Boomerang in 1891, but he lasted only around 7-8 months as the
Boomerang was soon in trouble. He returned to Sydney and continued to write for the
Bulletin which, in 1892, paid for an inland trip where he experienced the harsh realities of drought-affected New South Wales. This resulted in his contributions to the
Bulletin Debatethumb|250px|right|[[Henry Lawson]] with [[J.F. Archibald]], the co-founder of [[The Bulletin]]The "Bulletin Debate" was a famous dispute in The Bulletin magazine from 1892-93 between two of Australia's most iconic writers and poets: Henry Lawson and Andrew Barton "Banjo" Paterson...
and became a source for many of his stories in subsequent years. Elder writes of the trek Lawson took between Hungerford and
BourkeBourke is a town and Local Government Area in the north of New South Wales, Australia. The town is located approximately 800 kilometres north-west of Sydney, on the south bank of the Darling River...
as "the most important trek in Australian literary history" and says that "it confirmed all his prejudices about the Australian bush. Lawson had no romantic illusions about a 'rural idyll'." As Elder continues, his grim view of the outback was far removed from "the romantic idyll of brave horsemen and beautiful scenery depicted in the poetry of 'The Banjo' [Paterson]".
Lawson's most successful prose collection is
While the Billy Boils, published in 1896. In it he "continued his assault on Paterson and the romantics, and in the process, virtually reinvented Australian realism". Elder writes that "he used short, sharp sentences, with language as raw as
Ernest HemingwayErnest Miller Hemingway was an American writer and journalist. He was part of the 1920s expatriate community in Paris, and one of the veterans of World War I later known as "the Lost Generation." He received the Pulitzer Prize in 1953 for The Old Man and the Sea, and the Nobel Prize in Literature...
or
Raymond CarverRaymond Clevie Carver, Jr. was an American short story writer and poet. Carver is considered a major American writer of the late 20th century and also a major force in the revitalization of the short story in the 1980s....
. With sparse adjectives and honed-to-the-bone description, Lawson created a style and defined Australians: dryly laconic, passionately egalitarian and deeply humane." Most of his work focuses on the Australian bush, such as the desolate "Past Carin'", and is considered by some to be among the first accurate descriptions of Australian life as it was at the time. "The Drover's Wife" with its "heart-breaking depiction of bleakness and loneliness" is regarded as one of his finest short stories. It is regularly studied in schools and has often been adapted for film and theatre.
Lawson was a firm believer in the merits of the
sketch storyA sketch story, in older usage, is a piece of writing that is generally shorter than a short story, and contains very little, if any, plot. The term was most popularly-used in the late nineteenth century. It is also often referred to simply as 'the sketch.'...
, commonly known simply as 'the sketch,' claiming that
"the sketch story is best of all." Lawson's
Jack MitchellJack Mitchell is a recurring fictional character in many short stories and sketches by popular Australian writer and poet Henry Lawson.Mitchell is a shrewd, kindly and philosophical swagman...
story,
On The Edge Of A Plain"On The Edge Of A Plain" is a well-known sketch story by iconic Australian writer and poet Henry Lawson. The story is one of many to use the shrewd, philosophical character of Jack Mitchell to tell a story. It is often considered to be among Lawson's best Mitchell stories.-Plot summary:Mitchell and...
, is often cited as one of the most accomplished examples of the sketch.
Like the majority of Australians, Lawson lived in a city, but had had plenty of experience in outback life, in fact, many of his stories reflected his experiences in real life. In Sydney in 1898 he was a prominent member of the
Dawn and Dusk ClubThe Dawn and Dusk Club was an Australian bohemian club of writer friends from the late 1800s who met for drinks and camaraderie. Writer Henry Lawson was a prominent member of the club.-History:...
, a bohemian club of writer friends who met for drinks and conversation.
Later years
During his later life, the alcohol-addicted writer was probably Australia's best-known celebrity. At the same time, he was also a frequent beggar on the streets of Sydney, notably at the Circular Quay ferry turnstiles.
In 1903 he sought a room at Mrs Isabella Byers' Coffee Palace in North Sydney. This marked the beginning of a 20 year friendship between Mrs Byers and Lawson. Despite his position as the most celebrated Australian writer of the time, Lawson was deeply depressed and perpetually poor. He lacked money due to unfortunate royalty deals with publishers. His ex-wife repeatedly reported him for non-payment of child maintenance, resulting in gaol terms. He was gaoled at
Darlinghurst GaolDarlinghurst Gaol was an Australian prison located in Darlinghurst, New South Wales. Construction on Darlinghurst Gaol wall began in 1822, with completion of some of the cellblocks in 1840. The gaol was ready for occupation in a year later, with the first prisoners occupying the gaol on 7 June...
for drunkenness and non-payment of alimony, and recorded his experience in the haunting poem "One Hundred and Three" - his prison number - which was published in 1908. He refers to the prison as "Starvinghurst Gaol" because of the meagre rations given to the inmates.
At this time, Lawson became withdrawn, alcoholic, and unable to carry on the usual routine of life.
Mrs Byers (nee Ward) was an excellent poet herself and although of modest education, had been writing vivid poetry since her teens in a similar style to Lawson's. Long separated from her husband and elderly, Mrs Bryers was, at the time she met Lawson, a woman of independent means looking forward to retirement. Bryers regarded Lawson as Australia's greatest living poet, and hoped to sustain him well enough to keep him writing. She negotiated on his behalf with publishers, helped to arrange contact with his children, contacted friends and supporters to help him financially, and assisted and nursed him through his mental and alcohol problems. She wrote countless letters on his behalf and knocked on any doors that could provide Henry with financial assistance or a publishing deal. [Olive Lawson The Good Wards of Windsor Deerubbin Press 2004].
It was in Mrs Isabella Bryers' home that Henry Lawson died, of cerebral haemorrhage, in
AbbotsfordAbbotsford is a suburb in the Inner West region of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Abbotsford is located 10 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of the City of Canada Bay...
, Sydney in 1922. He was given a state funeral. His death registration on the NSW Births, Deaths & Marriages index is ref. 10451/1922 and was recorded at the Petersham Registration District. It shows his parents as Peter and Louisa. His funeral was attended by the Prime Minister
W. M. HughesWilliam Morris Hughes, CH, KC , Australian politician, was the seventh Prime Minister of Australia, the longest serving member of the Australian Parliament, and one of the most colourful figures in Australian political history...
and the Premier of
New South WalesNew South Wales is Australia's most populous state, located in the south-east of the country, north of Victoria, south of Queensland and east of South Australia...
Jack LangJohn Thomas Lang , Australian politician, usually referred to as J. T. Lang during his career, and familiarly known as "Jack" and nicknamed "The Big Fella," was Premier of New South Wales for two terms...
(who was the husband of Lawson's sister-in-law Hilda Bredt), as well as thousands of citizens. He is interred at
Waverley CemeteryThe Waverley Cemetery opened in 1877 and is a cemetery located on top of the cliffs at Bronte in the eastern suburbs of Sydney. It is noted for its largely intact Victorian and Edwardian monuments. The cemetery contains the graves of many significant Australians including and the poet Henry Lawson...
. Lawson was the first person to be granted a state funeral.
Henry Lawson was featured on the first (paper) Australian ten dollar note issued in 1966 when decimal currency was first introduced into Australia. This note was replaced by a polymer note in 1993. Lawson was pictured against scenes from the town of
GulgongGulgong is a 19th century gold rush town in the Central-West of the Australian state of New South Wales. The town is located about 300km north west of Sydney, and about 30km north of Mudgee along the Castlereagh Highway. At the 2006 census, Gulgong had a population of 1,907 people...
in
NSWNew South Wales is Australia's most populous state, located in the south-east of the country, north of Victoria, south of Queensland and east of South Australia...
.
Collections of Poetry and/or Prose
- Short Stories in Prose and Verse (1894)
- In the Days When the World was Wide and Other Verses (1896)
- While the Billy Boils (1896)
- On the Track (1900)
- Over The Sliprails (1900)
- Verses: Popular and Humorous (1900)
- The Country I Come From (1901)
- Joe Wilson and His Mates (1901)
- Children of the Bush (1902)
- When I was King and Other Verses (1905)
- The Elder Son (1905)
- The Romance of the Swag (1907)
- Send Round the Hat (1907)
- The Rising Of The Court, and Other Sketches in Prose and Verse (1910)
- The Skyline Riders and Other Verses (1910)
- Triangles of Life and Other Stories (1913)
Posthumous Collections
- A Camp-Fire Yarn: Henry Lawson Complete Works 1885-1900 (1984)
- A Fantasy of Man: Henry Lawson Complete Works 1901-1922 (1984)
- The Penguin Henry Lawson Short Stories (1986)
- The Songs of Henry Lawson (1989)
- The Roaring Days (1994) (aka The Henry Lawson Collection Vol. 1)
- On the Wallaby Track (1994) (aka The Henry Lawson Collection Vol. 2)
Popular Poems, Short Stories and Sketches
- "Andy's Gone with Cattle" (poem)
- "Freedom on the Wallaby
"Freedom on the Wallaby", Henry Lawson's well known poem, was written as a comment on the 1891 Australian shearers' strike and published by William Lane in the Worker in Brisbane, May 16, 1891....
" (poem, 1891)
- "The Babies of Walloon (poem, 1891)
- "Saint Peter" (poem, 1893)
- "Scots of the Riverina
Scots of the Riverina is an Australian bush poem by Henry Lawson. It is set in the Riverina, New South Wales in the town of Gundagai. It tells of a boy who leaves home at the start of the harvest to move to the city, an unheard of and unforgivable thing for a Scot to do in the early 1900's,...
" (poem, 1917)
- "The Teams" (poem, 1896)
- "Up The Country
Up The Country is a popular poem by iconic Australian writer and poet Henry Lawson. It was first published in The Bulletin magazine on July 9 1892, under the title Borderland, and famously started the Bulletin Debate, a series of poems by both Lawson and Andrew Barton "Banjo" Paterson about the...
" (poem, 1892)
- "The City Bushman
The City Bushman is a poem by iconic Australian writer and poet Henry Lawson. It was first published in The Bulletin magazine on August 6 1892, under the title In Answer to "Banjo", and Otherwise. It was the fourth work in the Bulletin Debate, a series of poems by both Lawson and Andrew Barton...
" (poem, 1892)
- "The Drover's Wife" (short story, 1892)
- "The Bush Undertaker
"The Bush Undertaker" is a popular short story by iconic Australian writer and poet Henry Lawson. Along with "The Drover's Wife", "The Bush Undertaker" is one of Lawson's first sketches, and is among the stories for which he first gained attention as an accommplished writer...
" (short story, 1892)
- "The Loaded Dog
"The Loaded Dog" is a popular short story by iconic Australian writer and poet Henry Lawson. The humorous storyline concerns three easy-going goldminers and their dog, and the farcical consequences of leaving a bomb cartridge unattended.-Plot summary:...
" (short story, 1901)
- "The Iron-Bark Chip" (short story,1900)
- "Steelman's Pupil" (short story)
- "The Geological Spieler" (short story, 1896)
- "A Child in the Dark, and a Foreign Father
"A Child in the Dark, and a Foreign Father" is a short story written by the iconic Australian writer and poet, Henry Lawson. The story, often considered to be partially autobiographical, considers the rather bleak relationship between a man and his family....
" (short story, 1902)
- "The Union Buries Its Dead
"The Union Buries Its Dead" is a well-known sketch story by iconic Australian writer and poet Henry Lawson.The story takes place in Bourke, and concerns the burial of an anonymous union labourer, who had drowned the previous day "while trying to swim some horses across a billabong of the Darling."...
" (short story, 1893)
- "A Neglected History" (essay)
- "Australian Loyalty" (essay, 1887)
- "United Division" (essay, 1888)
Recurring Characters
- Joe Wilson
Joe Wilson is a fictional character appearing in several well-known short stories written by popular Australian writer and poet Henry Lawson.Joe Wilson first appeared in "Brighten's Sister-in-law," the first story Lawson wrote after his arrival to England, and the longest he had ever written up to...
- "Brighten's Sister-in-law"
- "A Double Buggy at Lahey Creek
"A Double Buggy at Lahey Creek" is a short story written by iconic Australian writer and poet Henry Lawson. It was Lawson's second story to include the character of Joe Wilson, however, chronologically, it is fourth and final in the Joe Wilson series....
"
- "Water Them Geraniums"
- "Joe Wilson's Courtship"
- Jack Mitchell
Jack Mitchell is a recurring fictional character in many short stories and sketches by popular Australian writer and poet Henry Lawson.Mitchell is a shrewd, kindly and philosophical swagman...
- "Mitchell: A Character Sketch"
- "On The Edge Of A Plain
"On The Edge Of A Plain" is a well-known sketch story by iconic Australian writer and poet Henry Lawson. The story is one of many to use the shrewd, philosophical character of Jack Mitchell to tell a story. It is often considered to be among Lawson's best Mitchell stories.-Plot summary:Mitchell and...
"
- "'Some Day'"
- "Shooting The Moon"
- "Our Pipes"
- "Bill, the Ventriloquial Rooster
"Bill, the Ventriloquial Rooster" is a well-known sketch story by iconic Australian writer and poet Henry Lawson. The sketch is one of many to include Jack Mitchell the swagman as the story's main character and narrator...
"
- "Enter Mitchell"
- "Mitchell Doesn't Believe in the Sack"
- "Another of Mitchell's Plans"
- Steelman and Smith
Steelman and Smith are two fictional characters appearing in several well-known short stories written by popular Australian writer and poet Henry Lawson.-Steelman and Smith Short Stories:*"The Geological Spieler"*"Steelman's Pupil"...
- "The Geological Spieler"
- "Steelman's Pupil"
- "An Oversight of Steelman’s"
- "How Steelman told his Story"
- "A Gentleman Sharper and Steelman Sharper"
- Dave Regan
Dave Regan is a fictional character appearing in several well-known short stories written by popular Australian writer and poet Henry Lawson.A laid-back, somewhat mischievous young man, Dave is rarely found without the company of good mates Jim Bently and Andy Page.Arguably, Dave's character first...
, Jim BentlyJim Bently is a fictional character appearing in several well-known short stories written by popular Australian writer and poet Henry Lawson.
...
and/or Andy PageAndy Page is a fictional character appearing in several well-known short stories written by popular Australian writer and poet Henry Lawson. A laid-back, somewhat mischievous young man, Andy is rarely found without the company of good mates Jim Bently and Dave Regan.Andy's character first appeared...
- "The Loaded Dog
"The Loaded Dog" is a popular short story by iconic Australian writer and poet Henry Lawson. The humorous storyline concerns three easy-going goldminers and their dog, and the farcical consequences of leaving a bomb cartridge unattended.-Plot summary:...
"
- "The Iron-Bark Chip"
- "Andy Page's Rival"
- "The Mystery of Dave Regan"
- "Poisonous Jimmy Gets Left"
Recurring Themes of Lawson's Stories
Many of Henry Lawson's short stories explore similar themes:
- Roles of women
- Roles of men
- Roles of children
- Loneliness / Isolation
- Hardship
- Importance of Humour
- The Emotional Impact of Bush Life
- Mateship
External links