Louisa Lawson was born on this day in 1848. She is probably best known as the mother of Henry, but is a major Australian author in her own right. Austlit lists 1 novel, 178 poems, and 59 separate pieces of prose. In 1888 she founded the periodical Dawn, Australia's first magazine specifically for women. She is considered to be one of the major early figures in the history of Australian feminism. In 1988 Brian Matthews wrote Louisa, probably the best known of her biographies. She died in 1920.
A.B. 'Banjo' Paterson was born on this day in 1864. In the top rank of Australian writers he appears on the Australian ten dollar note (of which more will be written at a later time) and is probably best known for such works as "Waltzing Matilda" (which some idiot has purloined for one of these web thingamajigs), "The Man From Snowy River", "Clancy of the Overflow" and many, many others. You can read more about Banjo, along with some of this famous poems, on the website that I have developed - yes, it needs work, but I've been busy, all right? In 1983, Lansdowne Press released a massive two volume set (Singer of the Bush and Song of the Pen) containing his complete works which I still see listed on the Australian Ebay fairly regularly. This, and the similar Henry Lawson collection, are essential items for any Australian literature library. Paterson died in 1941.
