Martin Boyd (1893-1972)

Brief Biography

Martin a Beckett Boyd was born in Lucerne, Switzerland in 1893 of Anglo-Australian parents. He was brought to Australia when he was six months old. Boyd was born into a family of great artistic and philosopical qualities - his father, Arthur Merric Boyd, and his mother, Emma Minnie a Beckett, were painters; his brothers Merric and Penleigh were painters; as were his nephews Arthur, David and Gaynor.

Boyd's original area of study was theology which he later changed to architecture. At the start of World War I he travelled to England where he joined an English regiment and later the Royal Flying Corps. He served in France during the period 1915-18. After a brief visit to Australia after the war he returned to England in 1921 where he undertook another try at a religious vocation in a Franciscan order in the Church of England. After this period he started his career as a fiction writer. He returned to Australia in 1948 and settled in his grandfather's house in Berwick. Ill health forced him to return to England in 1951 where he remained until 1957 when he moved to Rome. He died there in June 1972.

Bibliography

Novels
Scandal of Spring 1934
The Lemon Farm 1935
The Picnic 1937
Night of the Party 1938
Nuns in Jeopardy 1940
Lucinda Brayford 1946, later revised in 1954
Such Pleasure 1949
The Cardboard Crown 1952, later revised in 1954
A Difficult Young Man 1955
Outbreak of Love 1957
When Blackbirds Sing 1962
The Tea-Time of Love: The Clarification of Miss Stilby 1969
The Langton Quartet 1988
    comprising The Cardboard Crown, A Difficult Young Man, Outbreak of Love and When Blackbirds Sing

Under the pseudonym of "Martin Mills"
Love Gods 1925
Brangane: A Memoir 1926
The Montforts 1928
    published in America under the title The Madeleine Heritage and later revised in 1963

Under the pseudonym of "Walter Beckett"
Dearest Idol 1929

Poetry
Retrospect 1920

Children's
The Painted Princess: A Fairy Story 1936

Non-Fiction
Much Else in Italy: A Subjective Travel Book 1958
Why They Walk Out: An Essay in Seven Parts 1970

Autobiography
A Single Flame 1939
Day of My Delight: Anglo-Australian Memoir 1965

Biography
Martin Boyd: A Life by Brenda Niall 1988

This page and its contents are copyright © 1997-2006 by Perry Middlemiss, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

Last modified: December 2, 2006.