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42-572: The book was written while Franklin was still a teenager, as a romance to amuse her friends. She submitted the manuscript to Henry Lawson , who contributed a preface and took it to his publishers in Edinburgh. The popularity of the novel in Australia and the perceived closeness of many of the characters to her own family and circumstances as small farmers in New South Wales near Goulburn caused Franklin

84-515: A bottle and attempted to stab me and pulled me out of bed when I was ill and purposely made a noise in my room when I was ill and pulled my hair and repeatedly used abusive and insulting language to me and was guilty of divers other acts of cruelty to me whereby my health and safety are endangered. A judicial separation was granted and was declared in June 1903. They had two children, son Jim (Joseph) and daughter Bertha. Henry Lawson's first published poem

126-507: A cerebral haemorrhage, Lawson became the first Australian writer to be granted a state funeral . He was the son of the poet, publisher and feminist Louisa Lawson . Henry Lawson was born 17 June 1867 in a town on the Grenfell goldfields of New South Wales . His father was Niels Hertzberg Larsen, a Norwegian -born miner. Niels Larsen went to sea at 21 and arrived in Melbourne in 1855 to join

168-426: A great deal of distress and led her to withdraw the novel from publication until after her death. Shortly after the publication of My Brilliant Career , Franklin wrote a sequel, My Career Goes Bung , which would not be published until 1946. The heroine, Sybylla Melvyn, is an imaginative, headstrong girl growing up in rural Australia in the 1890s. Drought and a series of poor business decisions reduce her family to

210-516: 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 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

252-734: A publishing deal. It was in Mrs Isabel Byers' home that Henry Lawson died, of a cerebral hemorrhage, in Abbotsford , 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 Billy Hughes and

294-477: A significant part in women's movements, and edited a women's paper called The 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 Lawson's grave (with headstone)

336-431: A subsistence level, her father begins to drink excessively, and Sybylla struggles to deal with the monotony of her life. To her relief, she is sent to live on her grandmother's property, where life is more comfortable. There, she meets wealthy young Harold Beecham, who loves her and proposes marriage. But Sybylla is convinced that she is ugly and cannot believe he could love her. By this time, her father's drinking has plunged

378-545: A swagman, a dog and a fencepost (reflecting his writing) stands in The Domain, Sydney . The Henry Lawson Memorial committee raised money through public donation to commission the statue by sculptor George Washington Lambert in 1927. The work was unveiled on 28 July 1931 by the Governor of New South Wales , Sir Philip Game . In 1949 Lawson was the subject of an Australian postage stamp . Lawson's "The Drover's Wife" short story

420-645: A university education. However, he failed his exams. Lawson lived in a boarding house along William Street and wrote a poem titled William Street . Lawson also spent time in Newcastle at the Wickham School of Arts while working for the Hudson Brothers branch railway workshops. He remarked that he "haunted the School of Arts, still with an idea of learning before it was too late." At around 20 years of age Lawson went to

462-507: A walking track. A kilometre east of Coxs Road is Lockyers Road, which was started in 1828 by Major Lockyer as an alternative crossing to Coxs Road, but was never finished. It goes down into the valley and finishes slightly west of the Hartley Vale village. Another kilometre east is Lawsons Long Alley, which was started as an alternative road by William Lawson , with the aim of avoiding the steep grades of Coxs Road at Mount York. While building

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504-537: 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 Hemingway or Raymond Carver . 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

546-684: Is among the best-known Australian poets and fiction writers of the colonial period and is often called Australia's "greatest short story writer". A vocal nationalist and republican , Lawson regularly contributed to The Bulletin , and many of his works helped popularise the Australian vernacular in fiction. He wrote prolifically into the 1890s, after which his output declined, in part due to struggles with alcoholism and mental illness. At times destitute, he spent periods in Darlinghurst Gaol and psychiatric institutions. After he died in 1922 following

588-572: 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 . Hartley Vale is centred on Hartley Vale Road, which stretches from Darling Causeway to the Great Western Highway . The area is largely open countryside with many substantial private properties, bounded by the River Lett to the north and Mount York to

630-677: Is earning his living under some difficulties as a housepainter, a youth whose poetic genius here speaks eloquently for itself. Lawson was 20 years old, not 17. In 1890-1891 Lawson worked in Albany . 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. While in Brisbane he contributed to William Lane 's Worker ; he later angled for an editorial position with

672-404: Is in the little private cemetery at Hartley Vale , New South Wales, a few minutes' walk behind what was Collitt's Inn. Lawson attended school at Eurunderee from 2 October 1876 but experienced an ear infection 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 did all he could for Lawson, who

714-662: Is now the Katoomba Scenic Railway . Hartley Vale Station was created on the Main Western Line, but closed in 1975 and no longer exists. About 40 feet below the shale seam was a seam of coal, discovered around 1874, which could be used as fuel to support retorts and a refinery. Hartley Vale was the longest lived of the oil shale mining and refining sites in New South Wales, with operations occurring between 1865 and 1910. Originally worked by two separate companies,

756-507: The Afghan cameleers who were there at the time, and being written about in local newspapers, and who were responsible for opening up the interior of the continent. In 2024, to celebrate the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relationship between Australia and Indonesia, Indonesian composer Ananda Sukarlan was commissioned to set one of his poems to music, and Sukarlan chose "On the Night Train". It

798-400: 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

840-408: The "brilliant career" she desires as a writer. A 1979 film version , produced by Margaret Fink and directed by Gillian Armstrong , features Judy Davis and Sam Neill in starring roles as Sybylla and Harry. 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

882-424: The (later) Premier of New South Wales , Jack Lang (who was the husband of Lawson's sister-in-law Hilda Bredt), as well as thousands of citizens. He is interred at Waverley Cemetery Lawson was the first person to be granted a New South Wales state funeral (traditionally reserved for Governors, Chief Justices, etc.) on the grounds of having been a 'distinguished citizen'. A bronze statue of Lawson accompanied by

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924-474: The connection between that road at Bell and Lithgow. Hartley Vale Road, where it descends into the valley, follows a part of the original Bell's Line route. Other notable landmarks in the area are the Comet Inn, which dates back to 1879 and is located in the centre of the village, and Collits Inn, which dates back to 1823 and is approximately one and a half kilometres west of the village. The Hartley Vale Cemetery

966-481: The eye and ear hospital in Melbourne but nothing could be done for his deafness. In 1890 he began a relationship with Mary Gilmore . She writes of an unofficial engagement and Lawson's wish to marry her, but it was broken by his frequent absences from Sydney. The story of the relationship is told in Anne Brooksbank 's play All My Love . In 1896, Lawson married Bertha Bredt, Jr., daughter of Bertha Bredt ,

1008-487: The family into debt, and she is sent to work as a governess/housekeeper for the family of an almost illiterate neighbor to whom her father owes money. She finds life there unbearable and eventually suffers a physical breakdown, which leads to her return to the family home. When Harold Beecham returns to ask Sybylla to marry him, she concludes that she would only make him unhappy and sends him away, determined never to marry. The novel ends with no suggestion that she will ever have

1050-417: The gold rush, along with partner William Henry John Slee . Lawson's parents met at the goldfields of Pipeclay (now Eurunderee, Locality Mudgee ). Niels and Louisa Albury (1848–1920) married on 7 July 1866 when 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

1092-544: The operation progressed significantly once these companies merged, in 1872, to form the New South Wales Shale & Oil Company . The new company set up new retorts and a refinery at Harley Vale. In April 1906, the company and its operations at Hartley Vale and Torbane were acquired by the Commonwealth Oil Corporation . Mining and retorting operations at Hartley Vale ceased in 1910, while the refinery

1134-422: The prominent socialist. The marriage ended very unhappily. Bertha filed for divorce and in her affidavit she stated: My husband has during three years and upwards been a habitual drunkard and habitually been guilty of cruelty towards me. My affidavit consists of the acts and matters following. That my husband during the last three years struck me in the face and about the body and blacked my eye and hit me with

1176-475: The road, Lawson discovered what he thought was coal, but which was in fact oil shale . The deposit was examined by Rev. W. B.Clarke in 1841, and he wrote a paper on it in 1861. A sample of the oil shale was exhibited at the Paris Exposition . Mining began in the 1860s and a rail line was constructed into the valley of Kerosene Creek. The incline was designed by Norman Selfe who would also design what

1218-570: The similarly named Worker of Sydney, but was unsuccessful. 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. He also worked as a roustabout in the woolshed at Toorale Station . This resulted in his contributions to the Bulletin Debate and became a source for many of his stories in subsequent years. Elder writes of

1260-671: The south. The village is approximately five kilometres west of the Main Western Railway — which runs from Sydney to Lithgow and beyond—and ten kilometres from the nearest railway station at Bell . The valley is an historic area where the early roads over the Blue Mountains came down into the plains found to the west of the mountains. The first road through the mountains was built by William Cox from 1814-1815. Parts of his original road can still be seen at Mount York , immediately south of Hartley Vale, and have been incorporated into

1302-521: The trek Lawson took between Hungerford and Bourke 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 Banjo Paterson ". Lawson's most successful prose collection

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1344-796: The usual routine of life. Mrs Byers (née 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 Byers was, at the time she met Lawson, a woman of independent means looking forward to retirement. Byers 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

1386-520: The valley of Kerosene Creek and joins Waltons Road, which goes to Hartley Vale Road on the east side of the village. Lawsons Long Alley and Lockyers Road, along with Coxs Road, were developed as walking tracks by the Department of Lands, New South Wales. They all lead to the Hartley Vale area, culminating at a picnic area just west of the village. Hartley Vale was on the original route of the westernmost part of Bell's Line of Road , prior to construction of

1428-590: Was 'A Song of the Republic' which appeared in The Bulletin , 1 October 1887; his mother's republican friends were an influence. This was followed by 'The Wreck of the Derry Castle ' and then 'Golden Gully.' Prefixed to the former poem was an editorial note: In publishing the subjoined verses we take pleasure in stating that the writer is a boy of 17 years, a young Australian, who has as yet had an imperfect education and

1470-522: Was a firm believer in the merits of the sketch story , commonly known simply as 'the sketch,' claiming that "the sketch story is best of all." Lawson's Jack Mitchell story On the Edge of a Plain 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

1512-650: Was a prominent member of the Dawn and Dusk Club , a bohemian club of writer friends who met for drinks and conversation. In 1903 he bought a room at Mrs Isabel 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. He

1554-456: Was expanded in the same year, to process crude oil from the oil shale mining and retorting operations at Torbane . The refinery at Hartley Vale first closed, around August 1913. but it lingered on, until around May 1914, the final end of oil industry at Hartley Vale. There are still some remnants of the shale oil operations there. The village had a school, from 1872 until 1956, with the exception of 1946-1947. Lawsons Long Alley goes through

1596-441: Was featured on a 1991 $ 1.20 stamp, and a 2017 $ 1.00 stamp, both from Australia Post. In 2017 Lawson was again featured on two Australian postage stamps , one featuring Mitchell: A Character Sketch and the other The Drover's Wife and family, including dog, pitted against the snake. He was featured on the first (paper) Australian ten-dollar note issued in 1966 when decimal currency was first introduced into Australia. Lawson

1638-476: Was gaoled at Darlinghurst Gaol for drunkenness, wife desertion, child desertion, and non-payment of child support seven times between 1905 and 1909, for a total of 159 days 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

1680-505: Was pictured against scenes from the town of Gulgong in NSW . This note was replaced by a polymer note in 1993; the polymer series had different people featured on the notes. Lawson's treatment (or lack thereof) of Aboriginal Australians in his work has been criticised and debated. Author Ryan Butta writes that there are some "glaring omissions" in Lawson's writings about Bourke , in particular

1722-591: Was premiered by the soprano Mariska Setiawan and the strings of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra Currently the NSW towns of Gulgong and Grenfell both host Henry Lawson Festivals, with the Grenfell Festival also incorporating a literary competition. Hartley Vale, New South Wales Hartley Vale is a small village in the Blue Mountains area of New South Wales , Australia . It

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1764-484: Was quite shy. Lawson later attended a Catholic school at Mudgee , New South Wales around 8 km away; the master there, Mr Kevan, would teach Lawson about poetry. Lawson was a keen reader of Dickens and Marryat and Australian novels such as Marcus Clarke 's For the Term of His Natural Life (1874) and Rolf Boldrewood 's Robbery Under Arms (1882); an aunt had also given him a volume by Bret Harte . Reading became

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