Henry Lawson 1902

W.A. POETS FROM THE PAST

His Poems
from his WA visits

 An Old Chum's Advertisement
(1890)

On the Summit of Mt. Clarence
(1890)

Possum - (Extract amended for easier reading) (1890)

Skeleton Flat (1890)

Straight Talk (1890)

The Author's Farewell to the Bushmen (1890)

The Black Tracker (1890)

The New Religion (1890)

Who's Dot Pulleteen (1890)

After All (1896)

The Bulletin Hotel (1896)

The Bursting of the Boom (1896)

The Swaggie and His Mate
(1896)

Write by Return
(1896)

Born: 17 June 1867   near Grenfell, NSW

Died: 2 September 1922  Sydney NSW  -  given a State Funeral

Biography:

Considered to be Australia's greatest ever poet, Henry Lawson's story is documented in many other websites,  eg.  The Australian Governments Cultural Portal  ,  The Australian Dictionary of Biographies and the NSW important people Births Death & Marriages  and Wilsons Almanac

Henry came to Western Australia twice,  the first time in 1899 when he arrived in Albany.  He stayed there for almost a year during which time he wrote a number of poems many of which were published in the Albany Advertiser.
His reason for coming to WA was apparently that his mother, Louisa Lawson, (poet, feminist, political activist) was disturbed by Henry's relationship with the poet Mary Gilmore, Henry had proposed to Mary, but Mary did not share Henry's enthusiasm for a permanent relationship.  Louisa apparently paid Henry's passage.

His second visit was to Perth, where he came in 1896 on the SS Marloo with his new wife Bertha Marie (nee Bredt)  seeking material for his poems and stories from among those who had come to the West looking for gold. 

This was not a very productive trip (either poetically or financially) and they returned east after just over two months, mostly living "rough" in a tent near Clay's Brook (now the upmarket district of Claisebrook (East Perth) )

It is generally believed that Henry did not visit the goldfields during that period, although his literary friends expected that he would.  He had great expectations of a steady income from his writings however the local papers did not see fit to print the amount that he expected and so he was forced to take up house painting in order to survive.
In around 2004, Author Chris Holyday, researching for his book "Into the West" discovered some writings in a Perth Newspaper that would suggest that early in his visit,  Henry actually  did make a quick trip for he mentions visiting some places in the surrounds of Coolgardie (the railhead at that time)

Return to the WA Past Poets Page

Return to the WA Bush Poets Home Page