Will Lawson

Will Lawson (1876 – 12 October 1957), born in Durham, England, was a popular bush poet and novelist of Australia.

Will's parents moved to Brisbane, Australia around 1885, where he received some education, then moved to Wellington, New Zealand, where he worked as a clerk in an insurance office, and began writing poems for The Bulletin. In 1912 he returned to Australia and joined the staff of Sydney's Evening News, also writing for Smith's Weekly and The Bulletin.

He was associated with the Sydney Bohemian artistic scene and such well-known figures as Randolph Bedford, Edward Dyson, Will Dyson, Livingston Hopkins, Percy Lindsay, Roderic Quinn. Although not related to Henry Lawson, he was a friend of his widow Bertha.

Bibliography

Poetry

• The Red West Road (1903)
• Between the Lights (1906)
• Stokin' and Other Verses (1908)
• The Three Kings (1914)
• Bush Verses (1943)
• Bill the Whaler (1944)

Novels

• The Laughing Buccaneer (1935)
• When Cobb and Co. Was King (1936), possibly his best-known book.
• Old Man Murray (1937)
• In Ben Boyd's Day (1939)
• Red Morgan Rides (1940)
• Bound for Callao (1942)
• Black Diamonds (1945)
• The Lady of the Heather (1945)
• Forbidden Gold (1945)
• Paddle Wheels Away (1945)

with Tom Hickey:

• Galloping Wheels (1947)
• Moira of Green Hills (1950)

Miscellaneous

edited:

• Australian Bush Songs and Ballads (1944)

historical:

• Harpoons Ahoy (1938)
• Blue Gum Clippers and Whale Ships of Tasmania (1949) In conjunction with the Shiplovers' Society of Tasmania, Georgian House, Melbourne

Sources

• Wilde, William H, Hooton, Joy, Andrews, Barry Oxford Companion to Australian Literature Oxford University Press, 2nd ed. 1994 ISBN 0 19553381 X