BONZASCHOOLDAYS.COM:
Annotated Bio-Bibliography of Australian School Stories

Explanation and Arrangement to the Annotated Bio-Bibliography

Explanation and Arrangement to the Annotated Bio-Bibliography

The bibliography will be arranged alphabetically according to the author’s surname. The name listed will be the name the author wrote under, including pseudonyms, in which case the author’s real name will be listed underneath. Following will be the biographical outline provided for each author where possible. It has not been possible to obtain details on some authors, but these remain in the minority, and for some forgotten authors, detailed information has been collected which does not appear in standard literary reference works. Biographical outlines include details of parentage, education, career, and families, etc. School stories are listed chronologically with the following details provided: title, place of publication, publisher, date published, number of pages, illustrator and type and number of illustrations. A copy of each school story has been physically examined, except for some rare titles such as Robert Richardson’s school stories for which photocopies or microfiche copies have been studied, to obtain these details. Marcie Muir & Kerry White’s definitive Australian Children’s Books: A Bibliography has been used as an aid in the identification of first editions, and for clarification in areas such as illustrative content.

Three shorter bibliographies will also be provided in addition to the annotated Bio-Bibliography: a Short Bibliography, and an Alphabetical Listing and a Chronological Listing .

J. H. M. Abbott (John Henry Macartney Abbott)

John Henry Macartney Abbott was born on 26 December 1874, in Haydonton, New South Wales, the eldest son of Sir Joseph Palmer Abbott, and Matilda Elizabeth, née Macartney. His father was Speaker of the Legislative Assembly. Abbott was educated at The King’s School, Parramatta, where he was part of the 1892 Premiership winning First XV (Waddy 94). He later attended classes at the University of Sydney. In 1900 he served in the Boer War, using his experiences to write Tommy Cornstalk in 1902. He then worked as a journalist in England, writing articles and a number of books. He returned to Australia in 1909 and began a forty year long career in Australia, writing hundreds of articles, series and serials, for publications including the Bulletin and the Lone Hand (Australian Dictionary of Biography 2). His novels were mostly historical novels set in colonial New South Wales. In addition to Dogsnose he published a book of short stories about the King’s School, The King’s School. Despite his prolific writing career he experienced financial difficulties, becoming bankrupt in 1923, but then in 1924 his financial situation was eased with an annuity from his uncle, W. E. Abbott (ADB 2). He married fellow author and journalist, Katherine Wallace on 2 August 1926 in Sydney (ADB 2). They had no children. Ill health forced him to stop writing in 1946, and he died from vascular disease on 12 August 1953 at Rydalmere Mental Hospital (ADB 2). His most significant work was Tommy Cornstalk, which presents a view of Australian soldiers which preceded the Anzac legend but contained many aspects later associated with Australian soldiers (ADB 2).

Links
Australian Dictionary of Biography, Online Edition: Abbott, John Henry (Macartney) (1874 - 1953) by B. G. Andrews.

Dogsnose. Sydney: Cornstalk Publishing Company, 1928. 237 pages. Illustrated 'Edgar A. Holloway', b/w frontis. & 2 b/w illus.

Dogsnose details the adventures of fourteen-year-old schoolboy, Bill Carfax, otherwise known as Dogsnose, because of his extreme sense of smell, when he teams up with a detective to track down a couple of criminals during the school holidays. Dogsnose is representative of the trend of 1920s and 1930s boys’ school stories to introduce adventure and mystery plots. Like two other boys’ school stories, Blue Brander, and The Gang on Wheels, Abbott sets the adventure part of the story mostly within the holidays. When Bill arrived at Birmingham House School as a new boy, he was christened with his nickname in the school’s traditional initiation ceremony in the Parramatta River. A master’s room is burgled a week before the start of the holidays and a valuable antique gold cup is stolen. Bill initially trails the burglars to the Parramatta River and the Head calls in the Police. Detective Marlinspike asks Billy to team up with him in the holidays to track the burglars because of his amazing sensory powers. Billy accompanies Marlinspike as he interviews ‘Conkey Ike’, a prisoner, and they head off to the Newcastle Steelworks to track down a suspect, Sam Considine. The duo pursue them to Port Stephens eventually capturing Sam and Ikey. Abbott effectively portrays the search for the criminals against various New South Wales north coastal locations. While many British boys’ school stories used schoolboy detectives as characters, Dogsnose varies this with the teaming up of a detective and a schoolboy on the case.

Miriam Agatha (Pseudonym for Agatha Magdalen Le Breton)

Agatha Magdalen Le Breton was born on 28 June 1886 in Maryborough, Queensland. She wrote under the name of Miriam Agatha. Le Breton wrote a series of stories for the Australian Catholic Truth Society Penny Publications series produced in 1910. She also wrote a romance novel and a history of Australia for Catholic schoolchildren.

Nellie Doran: A Story of Australian Home and School Life. Sydney: E. J. Dwyer, 1914. 240 pages. Not illus.

Nellie Doran is one of just two Australian girls’ school stories to be set in a Catholic school, the other being M. I. Little’s Dunham Days. Nellie Doran concerns the arrival of a new girl, fifteen-year-old Nellie Doran, at St. Mary’s Convent High School. The character of the new pupil was a popular device used in many girls’ and boys’ school stories in Australia. Nellie quickly becomes a favourite amongst her school fellows, arousing jealousy in one of the girls, Milcie, who had formerly been the most popular girl in the school. Milcie’s jealousy is increased when Nellie outshines her in music lessons. When Milcie discovers that she is related to Nellie she is ashamed to be related to a ‘bushie’, but during the Annual Retreat, a Catholic reflection exercise, she regrets her attitude towards Nellie and endeavours to be good to her. Nellie’s musical talent is discovered by a visiting German music teacher, Herr Hartmann, who offers her the opportunity to study in Europe, but Nellie declines the offer, choosing to remain with her family on their property, instead of pursuing possible fame and fortune. A preface by James Duhig, Archbishop of Brisbane, praises the tale of convent school life as presenting a beautiful moral. Nellie Doran faithfully depicts Catholic convent boarding school life, and the role religion played in these schools in the form of ceremonies and events including Shrove Tuesday, St Patrick’s Day, Lent, May Day, the Retreat and the Feast of the Immaculate Conception.

Eustace Boylan

Eustace Boylan was born on 9 March 1869 in Dublin, Ireland. At the age of seventeen he entered the Society of Jesus, and due to ill-health was sent to Australia where he taught at Saint Ignatius College (Riverview) and St. Aloysius College, in Sydney, New South Wales. Boylan was a scholastic at Riverview. After an initial period as a novice, a Jesuit would become a scholastic, where they studied philosophy and taught as a school master (Lea-Scarlett 69). He later returned to Ireland, becoming a priest and being appointed editor of the Catholic publication, Messenger. Under his editorship circulation of the paper increased from 75000 readers to 300000 (Austlit). In 1907 he returned to Australia and was appointed Prefect of Studies at Xavier College. The Prefect of Studies looked after all matters relating to classes and studies. He held that position from 1907 to 1917 during an important period in the school’s history. Boylan was one of the longest serving Prefects of Studies. (Dening, Xavier 57) After leaving Xavier, Boylan edited two Catholic publications from 1918 to 1949, Madonna, and Messenger of the Sacred Heart. He was also Rector of St. Patrick’s College, East Melbourne from 1919 to 1921 (Auslit). In 1949 he moved to the Jesuit House at Pymble, New South Wales, and died there on 17 October 1953 (Austlit).

The Heart of the School: An Australian School Story. Melbourne: J. Roy Stevens, Printer and Publisher, 1920. 399 pages. Illustrated Colin Colahan, 4 b/w illus. & numerous small b/w illus. throughout text.

The Heart of the School was the first Australian boys’ school story to be set in a Catholic school, one of only two, the other being "Go It! Brothers!!". The Heart of the School follows the experiences of new boy, Peter Jackson, at Xavier College in Melbourne. The Heart of the School was also the first Australian boys’ school story to be set explicitly in a real school. Peter is ill-prepared for school, having been educated by a series of governesses on his family’s country station property. He is given some school stories to read by his uncle, who also tells him about his own experiences at a great English public school, leaving Peter to fear the worst. When Peter arrives at Xavier, school life is much better than he expected. Peter’s arrival occurs soon after Xavier had joined the GPS sports competitions, but are struggling to win matches against their more experienced rivals. The growth of Xavier as a public school through sport is illustrated. Xavier wins the Football Premiership and ties for the Cricket Championship, marking a new era for the school, which parallels real events Xavier experienced. Boylan celebrates the coming of age for Xavier as a public school on a level with its protestant counterparts. Boylan concludes the story with an epilogue set seven years later in 1918. Peter has returned from the First World War, wounded, and is dying. Father Brownless, the Prefect of Studies from Xavier, is with him when he dies, and his last words are, "dear old school". While other authors sent their schoolboy heroes to war, (see Max the Sport) Boylan alone allows his to die.

Anne Bracken

Anne Bracken was born in England and immigrated with her large family to Australia at the age of ten. Though she initially studied music, she began writing and pursued it as a career. She spent much of her life on the South Coast of New South Wales before returning to England after writing the ‘Jancy’ and ‘Twins’ series, later returning to Australia after five years, realising she didn’t belong in England (Anderson 7). Bracken wrote a number of illustrated children’s books and two elder series for girls: the four ‘Jancy’ titles’ and two ‘Twins’ titles. In Singing Roads she refers to a new series about a twelve-year-old girl called Pim, to be published by Sydney Ure Smith, but these remain untraced.

Jancy Wins Through. Sydney: Jons Productions Pty. Ltd., [1945]. 253 pages. Illustrated, 4 b/w illus.

Jancy Wins Through Dust Jacket Jancy Wins Through, is the first title in the Jancy series, which ran to four titles in the late 1940s, depicting the schooldays and adventures of heroine, Jancine Mitford. Jancy Wins Through mixes adventure and mystery plots against a school background and was part of the post-war revival in girls’ school stories. Twelve-year-old Jancy is sent to live with a friend of her father’s family, while she attends Miss Grey’s School. Jancy’s mother had suffered a nervous breakdown following the disappearance of her husband during the war. Jancy gets intro trouble when an older girl tells the school that Jancy’s father was a deserter, and most of the girls avoid her. When Jancy’s aunt accuses her of stealing a necklace, Jancy decides to run away, hitching a ride with a lorry driver who encourages her to return home and sort things out. Plots involving the heroine or hero being falsely accused of theft or some other misdeed were commonly used in school stories. When the lorry is involved in a collision with another lorry, Jancy shows her bravery and courage in rescuing both drivers from the burning wrecks. Jancy returns to school a heroine, where she is no longer an outcast. When the Head discovers the real culprit in the theft of the necklace, Jancy is cleared and the thief expelled, an unusual occurrence in an Australian girls’ school story, another instance occurring in Janey of Beechlands. The story concludes with the mystery surrounding Jancy’s father being resolved. He is found, having been on an undercover mission, and the family are reunited. The finding of lost relatives was a fashionable motif in girls’ school stories

Jancy Wins Through was reprinted three times: 2nd edition: 1946; 3rd edition: 1947; 4th edition: 1952.

Jancy Scores Again. Sydney: Jons Productions Pty. Ltd., [1946]. 250 pages. Illustrated, 4 b/w illus.

Jancy Scores Again Dust Jacket Jancy’s schooldays are continued in Jancy Scores Again, which mostly centres on the mysteries surrounding two new girls at Jancy’s school. As with Bracken’s previous Jancy title, Jancy Wins Through, the school provides a background for mystery and adventure plots. The two new girls who arouse interest at the school are Giralda Channing, a glamorous American teenager, and twelve-year-old Brigid O’Brien, a pianist prodigy. Giralda rouses Jancy’s interest when she appears to go into hysterics when Brigid is playing, while Brigid and her Nurse seem to be hiding from someone. When Giralda breaks bounds to visit a gypsy camp they ask her for information about Brigid. The gypsies follow the girls during an island picnic and attempt to kidnap Brigid. The girls hide in a cave and are eventually rescued, though Giralda falls down and becomes unconscious in the drama. The mysteries surrounding the two new girls are finally revealed. It turns out that one of Brigid’s guardians was trying to track Brigid down to make her return to her musical studies. She had been a child star but had stopped performing due to ill-health. Giralda had developed a split personality resulting from the emotional shock caused when her beloved Spanish grandmother died. Whenever she heard Spanish music she became unstable, but the fall in the caves had provided the sufficient shock to reverse the damage and cure her. Many authors enjoyed using brain diseases of various types.

Jancy Scores Again was reprinted twice: 2nd edition: 1948; 3rd edition: 1952.

The adventures of Jancy are continued in two further adventure/mystery stories which are not set at school: Jancy in Pursuit (1950), and Jancy Stands Alone (195?). In Jancy in Pursuit, Jancy and Rusty spend their Christmas holidays with Rusty’s grandmother, rescue an author from a gang of kidnappers, and help clear a woman’s deceased husband who was wrongly convicted of embezzlement. In Jancy Stands Alone, Jancy is now fifteen and spends an action-packed Christmas holidays with three spinster sisters. A girl is saved from her evil stepmother, missing family money and jewels are found and a difficult uncontrollable son reforms. Jancy finds romance with a teenage boy called Geoffrey.

Related Titles
---. The Twins to the Rescue. Sydney: Jons Productions, 1947.
---. Jancy in Pursuit. Sydney: Jons Productions, 1950.

Hilda Bridges (Hilda Maggie Bridges)

Hilda Maggie Bridges was born on 19 October 1881, in Hobart, Tasmania, the eldest daughter of 3 children of Samuel Bridges and Laura Jane, née Woods. Hilda’s younger brother was author, Roy(al) Bridges. He was educated at Queen’s College and the University of Tasmania, before beginning a long career as a journalist and author. He wrote a total of 36 novels during his career. Hilda was educated at Scotch College, Hobart. She was an accomplished pianist and taught music for a number of years before joining Roy in Melbourne to keep house for him (Giordano & Norman 120). She never married, living with her brother for most of her life, working as his housekeeper and secretary. Hilda’s first novel was published in 1922 and she wrote 13 novels in total (mostly romances and mysteries), 3 children’s books and hundreds of short stories and articles (ADB 405). In 1935 the pair moved to Woods farm, a family property. When Roy died in 1952, Hilda arranged for his manuscripts to be presented to the University of Tasmania Archives. Hilda died on 11 September 1971 in a Hobart nursing home (Giordano & Norman 112).

Further Reading
Bridges, Roy. That Yesterday Was Home. Sydney: Australasian Publishing Co., 1948.
Giordano, Margaret, and Don Norman. Tasmanian Literary Landmarks. Hobart: Shearwater Press, 1984.
University of Tasmania. Library., D. H. Borchardt, and Bonnie Tilley. The Roy Bridges Collection in the University of Tasmania : A Catalogue. Cremorne: Stone Copying Co., 1956.

Bobby's First Term: A School-boys' story. Christchurch: Whitcombe and Tombs Limited, 1924. 86 pages. Illus. 'J. M. Thomasson', b/w frontis. & 2 b/w illus.

Bobby's First Term Cover Bobby's First Term is one of the few Australian school stories to be set in private prepatory schools. Robert Richardson’s earlier school stories were set in small schools for younger pupils. Dick Holloway is a pupil at Rockley School when he learns that his father cannot afford to let him stay another year. He and his younger brother, Bobby, are sent to spend a year with their aunt, uncle and cousin. His uncle is initially disappointed with Dick’s apparent cowardice, but is reconciled with Dick when the latter saves a drowning man, praising Dick’s bravery, heroism and courage. Their father has a change of luck and is able to send the two boys to Rockley. Dick is determined to swot and try to win a scholarship to the Grammar School. Bobby and another boy, Dalton, plan a revenge on one of the seniors but Bobby steps on a tack and his foot is poisoned. Dick is suspected of stealing from one of the teachers when he wakes up at night looking for his brother. Dick is questioned, but his schoolboy honour prevents him from giving up Bobby. The new Head turns out to be the man Dick rescued, Dalton confesses to the trick, and the real thief, a former employee, is caught. Bobby's First Term is one of a number of boys’ school stories to be written by women. Other female authors of boys’ school stories include Lillian Pyke and Mary Grant Bruce.

Bobby's First Term was reprinted in 1933 and 1940.

Connie of the Fourth Form. Christchurch: Whitcombe and Tombs Limited, [1930]. 88 pages. Illustrated 'G. M. Richardson', b/w frontis. & 2 b/w illus.

Connie of The Fourth Form Cover Connie of the Fourth Form incorporates standard school motifs such as the persecution of a new girl, the importance of playing the game and sports scenes with a plot involving hidden treasure and a wicked teacher. Adventure plots were quite common in British girl’s school stories of the period, yet in Australia they were more prevalent in boys’ school stories, Connie of the Fourth Form being one of the earliest Australian girls’ school stories to use plots such as hidden treasure. It was not until the 1940s with the stories of Anne Bracken and Dora Joan Potter that they appear again. When Constance Somerley, an orphan, arrives as a new pupil at Lowbanks College in dowdy, old-fashioned clothes she is ridiculed by some of the girls, including the rich and spoilt Ella Myers. One of the teachers, Miss Spotswood, also makes things difficult for Connie. One night Connie discovers the existence of a secret door in the school. Miss Spotswood is very interested in the discovery and tries to find it. Miss Spotswood had heard of a hidden treasure left by the original owner of Lowbanks and came to the school to try and discover it. Connie, and another girl, Mollie, explore the school and find the secret door which leads to a passage and a hidden room, just as Miss Spotswood is trying to follow them. When the two girls disappear the Head calls the Police in and they find the girls in the hidden room with old papers and money stored in an old desk. The Head discovers Miss Spotswood’s intentions and she is asked to leave. Connie and Molly learn that they will be rewarded for their discovery. A title in the Whitcombe’s Story Books: Stories for Girls series, this slim volume story contains a glossary of words and two pages of questions to test silent reading.

David Britten

Little is known about David Britten, who wrote one boys’ school story as well as co-authoring the four Ranford titles with Paul White, author of the Jungle Doctor stories. Paul White, in his autobiography Alias Jungle Doctor, records that he met Britten at the University of Sydney where White helped Britten become a Christian and the two became close friends (55).

The Making of Stephen Hall. London: Children's Special Service Mission, 1953. 188 pages. Illustrated 'L F L', b/w frontis. & small illus. throughout text.

The Making of Stephen Hall Dust Jacket Britten’s The Making of Stephen Hall is the first Australian example of an evangelist school story, promoting the duties of an active Christian life against a school background. In the beginning of the story Stephen Hall is a successful athlete at Westlake School who develops polio during the holidays, and is forced to spend months recovering in a hospital, questioning his faith in God. When he returns to school he is befriended by a classmate’s father and becomes a Christian. The story skips seventeen months, and Stephen and his friend, Brian, have been transferred to a different house, McIvor, and appointed School Prefects. The new Head wants the pair to try to reform the troublesome house which doesn’t take an interest in sport and runs an illicit smoking club. Stephen’s and Brian’s struggle with the wayward house is the central theme of The Making of Stephen Hall. The plot of an errant house being reformed was frequently used in British boys’ school stories. The Making of Stephen Hall is an Australian example of this motif but is different to the standard plot in the Christian approach the two Prefects take in trying to reform the house. The pair regularly pray for guidance and actively attempt to convert their schoolmates, typical aspects of evangelistic school stories. The two have good success, setting up a House Rowing Team, and converting four boys, but Stephen feels somewhat disappointed until one of his troublesome young charges asks to help him become a Christian.

Mary Grant Bruce (Minnie Grant Bruce)

Minnie Grant Bruce was born on 24 May 1878, in Sale, Victoria, the daughter of Eyre Lewis Bruce and Mary (Minnie) Atkinson, née Whittakers. She was educated at Miss Estelle Beausire’s Ladies’ High School in Sale where she matriculated with honours in English, Botany, and History. In 1895 she was awarded first prize in the Melbourne Shakespeare Society Essay competition, after being encouraged by her French teacher to enter for it (Anderson 7). She continued to win first prize for the next two years. In 1900 she moved to Melbourne where she began working as a journalist for the Age and the Leader, and wrote articles for a number of other publications. A story which appeared as a serial for the Children’s Page in the Leader was later submitted to Ward, Lock & Co, who published the The Little Bush Maid in 1910, the first in the Billabong series. She wrote under the name of Mary as her publishers thought it was more marketable than ‘Minnie’ (ABD 452). In 1913 she visited England where she met a distant cousin, Major George Evans Bruce, whom she married in 1914, the pair living in Ireland during the war before returning to Australia. From 1927 to 1939 they lived in Ireland, Europe and England before returning to Australia in 1939. She later returned to England in 1948 and died in Sussex, England, on July 12 1958.

Bruce was best known for her Billabong series which concerns the adventures of Mr Linton and his two children, Norah and Wally, on their family property, and follows their progression to adulthood. There were fifteen titles in the series. Bruce predominantly wrote family stories. Between 1910 and 1942 Bruce wrote 38 novels during her career, and after Turner retired from writing in 1928, she became Ward, Lock & Co.’s leading author (Niall, Australia Through the Looking Glass 124-5).

Further Reading
Alexander, Alison. Billabong's Author: The Life of Mary Grant Bruce. Sydney: Angus & Robertson, 1979.

Links
Australian Dictionary of Biography, Online Edition: Bruce, Minnie Grant (Mary) (1878 - 1958) by Lynne Strahan
Mary Grant Bruce from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Dick. London: Ward, Lock & Co., 1918. 256 pages. Illustrated J. Macfarlane, b/w frontis. & 7 b/w illus.

Dick was originally published as a serial in the Leader. Dick Lester lives on Kurrajong Station in rural Victoria with his mother whilst his father is working in England. Dick is going to be sent to school as his father wants him to grow up "straight and square", to learn to "do the decent thing". Similar motivations for sending a son to a public school are explored in Max the Sport. The first half of the story concerns his last week at home and his subsequent journey to school. At school he is introduced to two of his dormitory mates, Teddy Raine, and Willie Glass ‘Bottles’, who take him up so he is not as lonely as he might have been as a new boy. Dick warms to Melville, the Captain of the School, a "jolly good all-round man", who is down on bullying and becomes Dick’s idol. Various school incidents are shown, a first night dorm raid, bathing and midnight feasts. Dick is unique in exploring the problem of bullying in some depth. Dick discovers Barry, a new boy, crying because he has been bullied. Against the traditional schoolboy honour code of not sneaking, Teddy and Bottles make Barry confess who has been bullying him, as "bullying’s a thing this school doesn’t go in for". Barry reveals it was Bayliss and Ahearne, two older boys, and when the boys see Barry’s bruises, weals and cigarette burns, they decide to take action, forming a Committee of Public Safety and launching an attack on Bayliss and Ahearne when they catch them bullying Barry. Melville interrupts them and agrees not to tell the Doctor if Ahearne and Bayliss promise not to bully anymore. The figure of Melville, the decent School Captain and his endeavours to ensure there is a good moral atmosphere in the school is comparable to the figure of ‘Dreamy’ Howard in Jack of St. Virgil’s. Dick faces a dilemma popularly used in school stories, when he is accused of a rag. A master is hit by an ink bomb hidden in his desk and Dick remembers seeing his friend, Nugent, fiddling around with the teacher’s desk the night before. Dick himself is accused but keeps silent, wanting to shield Nugent. When a schoolmate returns from an impromptu holiday and reveals he is the culprit, Dick is cleared. Dick and Nugent make up and Dick invites Nugent, the ‘school orphan’, home with him for the holidays.

Dick’s adventures are continued in Dick Lester of Kurrajong (1920) where Dick travels to Fremantle to meet his father’s ship but is injured by a spear and faces the prospect of being crippled until he is cured by a specialist in Melbourne.

M. R. Clark/ Mavis Thorpe Clark (Mavis Rose Latham)

Mavis Rose Latham, who wrote predominantly as Mavis Thorpe Clark, was born on 26 June 1909, in Melbourne, Victoria, the youngest of five children of John Thorpe Clark and his wife, Rose Matilda. Mavis was educated at the Methodist Ladies’ College, Melbourne. She wrote her first story when she was in her Intermediate year at school, which was later published as a serial in the Australasian (Anderson 11). Her first book, Hatherley’s First Fifteen, was written when she was eighteen. Mavis married Harold Latham on 19 December 1931. The couple had (at least) two daughters, Ronda and Beverley. Mavis returned to writing in the 1940s, using the pen name of Mavis Thorpe Clark, working on serials, short stories and articles before returning to writing books in 1949. She continued to write children’s novels including family and historical stories from the 1950s to 1980s gaining acclaim as an Australian children’s author. Her 1967 story, The Min-Min, won the Children’s Book Council Book of the Year Award. Clark died on 8 July 1999 in Melbourne, Victoria.

Further Reading
Clark, Mavis Thorpe. Trust the Dream: The Autobiography of Mavis Thorpe Clark, Author of 'the Min Min'. Melbourne: Australian Scholarly Publishing, 2004.

Links
MS 7847: Papers of Mavis Thorpe Clark at the National Library of Australia

Hatherley’s First Fifteen. Auckland: Whitcombe & Tombs Ltd., 1930. 254 pages. Illustrated F(rancis). E. Hiley, col. frontis. & 4 b/w illus.

Hatherley’s First Fifteen is part school story, part holiday or mystery story. The opening and closing chapters are set in the school, but the main part of the mystery plot occurs in the country during the holidays. The school part centres on sport and Hatherly’s attempt to win an unprecedented fourth straight Rugby premiership, whilst the holiday plot involves two boys being reunited with their long lost father in a lost relative motif, and the curing of one boy’s blindness. The novel opens with eleven-year-old new boy, Tom, watching Hatherly win the final in the Rugby Union Cup against Hamilton College. His idol, Jim Manning, scores the winning try, meaning that Hatherly have won the premiership three years straight. For the past twelve years four different schools have each won the cup consecutively three times each, but have not been able to hold it for a fourth year. How Hatherly are able to break this spell is the main thrust of the school story. In the holidays Tom returns to his country home where he lives with his older blind brother, Bob and an old nurse. They are orphans. They meet Jim Manning, who is staying with relatives, and become good friends with him and his sisters. One of the sisters, Jeanne, asks her father to help Bob. The story then moves forward six months. Bob has agreed to the Manning family’s offer of help and his eyesight is restored in an operation. At Mr Manning’s suggestion, Bob goes to Hatherly with his brother, eager to experience public school life. Bob shows natural talent in athletics and sport, and plays in the First XV against Welton in the final for the Cup. The spell is broken when Bob scores the winning try. Bob and Tom are reunited with their father, whom they thought was dead. A friend of Mr Manning’s turns out to be their father. His wife had taken their children to Australia and he had been trying to trace them when he learnt of their whereabouts from Mr Manning’s. Clark uses quite a romantic plot in reuniting the family.

Dark Pool Island. Melbourne: Oxford University Press Geoffrey Cumberlege, 1949. 112 p. Not Illus.

Dark Pool Island, part of Oxford University Press’ post-war growth in Australian publishing, features four pals at Gillman College, who are caught up in a mystery involving a rogue Headmaster, and a hidden fortune. Gillman College was founded fifty years earlier by Doctor Winston, and when the Doctor dies, his nephew, Albert Smith, takes over the school. However the new Head has been causing problems, leaving both pupils and teachers contemplating leaving. When the Head puts a nearby lake, Dark Pool, out of bounds, the four pals, Ted and his friends, Bill, Thomas, and the Nipper, wonder if it has anything to do with the rumours of the original owner of the property leaving a hidden fortune. The Nipper breaks bounds at night and discovers the Head and a couple of men searching near the lake. The boys’ suspicions are further aroused when they discover a bound and gagged stranger in a cave. The stranger claims he is Albert Smart, the Doctor’s nephew, and that the Head is an impostor, George Whitby, intent on stealing the fortune. They join forces and make a plan to capture the crooks and after some near misses manage to do so. They return to Dark Pool Island and find a safe hidden in an abandoned hut. Mr Smart is restored as the real Head of Gillman College, and the money is enough to solve the college’s financial difficulties. Dark Pool Island is a late example of the 1920s Australian boys’ school and adventure story, involving a rogue Headmaster.

Alice Guerin Crist

Alice Guerin Crist was born on 6 February 1875, in Clarecastle, Ireland. Her family emigrated to Australia when she was a child. She became a pupil teacher at Upper-Coomera School in Queensland, where her father taught, before teaching at a one teacher school at Blackall Range until she was dismissed. Alice married Joseph Christ, a German farmer, on 4 October 1902, in Toowoomba, and they had 3 daughters and 1 son. When her children reached school age she returned to writing. She started working for the Catholic Advocate in June 1927 and remained with them for twelve years (Dornan 142). Her first book When Roddy Came to Ironbark was published by Cornstalk. In the early 1930s she was made Children’s Editor of the Catholic Advocate, writing the weekly Children’s Corner as ‘Betty Bluegum’ (Dornan 163). She also wrote for the Toowoomba Chronicle and the Bulletin. She received recognition for her literary career. In 1935 she was awarded the King’s Jubilee Medal for her outstanding contribution to Australian Literature, one of the few women to do so; and in 1937 she received the Commemoration Medal of the Coronation of the new King George VI and Queen Elizabeth for her service to literature (Dornan 185). Crist died from pneumonia in a Toowoomba hospital on 13 June 1941.

Further Reading
Dornan, Dimity, and Sue Hayne. Alice with Eyes a-Shine. Virginia, Qld.: Church Archivists' Press, 1998.

"Go It! Brothers!!" Sydney: Pellegrini & Co., 1929. 155 pages. Not illus.

"Go It! Brothers!!" was originally published as a serial for the Brisbane paper, the Catholic Advocate, proving so popular that it was published as a full-length novel by Catholic publishers, Pellegrini, in 1929 (Dornan 191). The novel follows new boy, Cyril O’Hara, or ‘Ginger’ as he is otherwise known, for three years as he attends St Mary’s, a Christian Brothers School. Crist based "Go It! Brothers!!" on her two sons, Dick and Terry’s schooling at St Mary’s Christian Brothers College in Toowoomba, incorporating many local characters and events into the story. Crist dedicated "Go It! Brothers!!" to the Christian Brothers order and the core values of their Catholic education of moral, mental and physical training play a central idea throughout the novel. Cyril, the hero, is a delicate boy from a troubled home. His overly strict father is away in America, and his frivolous mother is being led astray by her irreligious neighbours. An accident causes Cyril to overcome his delicate constitution and leads to a change in his mother’s behaviour. When Cyril’s father returns from America he regrets his hardness and they reconcile. This treatment of marital problems is unusual in a school story. Cyril makes friends with his new neighbour, a boy called Jim O’Brien, and spends his holidays with them at their family property, Weeronga Station, having some adventures. Crist contrasts differing family values, emphasising the godliness of Catholic families. Tom Healy, the school captain, and his friendship with a girl, is described as "sweet, wholesome and invigorating", a rare touch of romance in a boys’ school story. In the novel’s conclusion, the author highlights the values of Christian Brothers’ teaching, "whose human, even earthly value to Australia can never be fully calculated or adequately compensated" (155).

Castleden Dove

Little is known about Castleden Dove; the name may well have been a pseudonym. In addition to Lowanna the author wrote at least two short stories, ‘The Push’ for the Bulletin in 1927 and ‘Finishing Her Husband’ for The Lone Hand in 1919.

Lowanna: An Australian School Story. London: Humphrey Milford Oxford University Press, 1925. 256 pages. Illustrated J. Dewar Mills, col. frontis. & 4 b/w illus.

Lowanna is the story of Lowanna Laurenson, a popular Sixth Former at Ellaroo College, and her friendship with Joan Grantham, a new girl. The contrasting personalities of the two girls are shown. Lowanna is rich, popular and worldly, and has recently been elected to the position of Warden (similar to Head Girl). For one of her special privileges she chooses Joan to be her roommate. Joan, old-fashioned and lonely, secretly adores Lowanna. Joan quickly realises that Lowanna is manipulative when Lowanna keeps a cruel sketch Joan made of one of the teachers. Some of the other Sixth form girls view Lowanna as a tyrant. Dove does not overtly condemn Lowanna’s behaviour. Despite sabotaging Joan’s hopes for a career in art, Lowanna genuinely likes Joan and attempts to reform her character to a degree. Lowanna is re-elected as Warden for another year, narrowly defeating Joan. But when the Head discovers she starred in a movie, she almost loses her post and later quarrels with Joan as Joan believes that Lowanna gave the sketch to a teacher out of revenge. After Lowanna saves Joan from drowning, she is cleared of giving the caricature to the teacher, and their friendship is renewed. Lowanna concludes with some description of their activities after school. Lowanna returns to Australia after spending two years in America, travelling with her Aunt and working in films. When she returns she is reunited with Joan’s brother, Philip, and the pair declare their affection for each other. This romantic element was rare in girls’ school stories, only appearing elsewhere in the Sheila series, and Mack’s Teens trilogy.

Ennis Honey (Ennis Josephine Honey)

Ennis Josephine Honey was born on 23 April 1919, in Victoria, the eldest of 12 children of Joseph O’Callaghan and Ennis (Irene), née Angus. Ennis had an impoverished childhood as her father struggled with alcoholism, unemployment and supporting a large family (Honey, Nymphs and Goddesses 14) Ennis attended Elwood Central School before going to Melbourne Girls’ High School in 1932 (now MacRobertson Girls’ High School). After finishing school she became a student teacher and then taught drama and speech part-time in two private schools. Winning a Melbourne radio station acting contest, she moved to Sydney in 1942 and had several small radio parts. During the war she worked as a governess in northern New South Wales (Honey, Nymphs and Goddesses 236). She returned to Sydney, working in a private library where she met publisher Bill Honey, a widower. She taught at Cranbrook before the pair were married in 1944 (Honey, Nymphs and Goddesses 237). Returning to radio she was involved in the Argonauts in 1964 and school broadcasts from 1964 to 1966. In 1965 she was appointed sub-editor of the Australian Women’s Weekly, a position she held for ten years. During her writing career she wrote articles for publications including the Daily Mirror, New Idea, Sydney Morning Herald, Home and Family and 24 Hours (Whos’ Who 324). Honey wrote four children’s picture books and a book of poetry in addition to her school story, Janey of Beechlands. In 1985 she wrote a biography of Violet Somerset, an Australian singer and artist teacher, and in 1994, a memoir, Nymphs and Goddesses, describing her schooling at Melbourne Girls’ High School. In the 1990s she was living at Balgowlah in New South Wales.

Further Reading
Honey, Ennis. Nymphs and Goddesses: The Story of a Girlhood. Balgowlah Heights: Beaufort Books, 1994.

Janey of Beechlands. Edgecliff: Bilson-Honey Pty. Ltd., [1947]. 287 pages. Not illus.

Janey of Beechlands is an example of the trend of 1940s Australian girls’ school stories to delve into mystery and adventure plots. It features an impoverished heroine who recovers her family fortune. Thirteen-year-old Janey is a new girl at St Clares, having won a scholarship. She lives with her parents on their struggling station property, Beechlands. Janey’s Grandfather died penniless two years earlier despite rumours that he was very wealthy, and Janey’s parents are trying to keep Beechlands from being sold. Janey discovers an old diary of her grandfather’s, which mentions hidden diamonds. Janey’s efforts to locate the diamonds are thwarted by a fellow school mate, Christine, whose father is trying to buy Beechlands and find the diamonds himself, which is the key action plot of the story. Janey and her friend Wendy try to find the diamonds but Christine and an accomplice plot to search a secret passage on the property. They tie Janey up but she is rescued by Wendy and the police arrest Christine. Janey and Wendy find the diamonds in an old perfume bottle, meaning Beechlands will not have to be sold. Honey’s romantic storyline is continued with Janey’s parents adopting orphaned Wendy. The adventure storyline is interspersed with more traditional school details. Janey faces both trials and triumphs at St Clares: she wins a place in the First Eleven, but is later accused of theft and threatened with expulsion (a popular theme in school stories), until the real culprit is revealed. Janey’s resourcefulness and popularity are shown when she helps her form win the Boat Race against the Sixth Form, and is awarded the Raymond Prize, voted for by her peers, for the girl who has done most for the school.

R. G. Jennings (Reginald Gellibrand Jennings)

Reginald Gellibrand Jennings was born in Melbourne, Victoria, in 1879 and was educated at Cumloden, St Kilda, and St. Peter’s College Adelaide. He worked briefly in business before teaching at the Queen’s School, Adelaide, and then Melbourne Grammar School from 1909 to 1913 (Bate 147). Jennings had no university degree. In 1914 he was appointed as the first Junior House Master at Geelong Grammar, a position he held from 1914 to 1932, when Junior House was transformed into Junior School with Jennings remaining as Master until he retired in 1941 due to ill health. Jennings made two visits to the United Kingdom, in 1908 and 1923. He is described by Geelong Grammar historian, Weston Bate, as being something of a legend at Geelong Grammar. Under Jennings, Junior House, then Junior School, became an institution at Geelong Grammar. During his reign Jennings implemented a "manners maketh man" policy. Boys wore Eton collars and Jennings ensured strict discipline in dress, manners and speech. Jennings divided the House into three sections which competed for points against each other in all aspects of school life. Jennings’ policies of gentrification and socialization led to mixed feelings among old boys about their schooling (Bate 147-50). Jennings died in 1943.

Jennings wrote two collections of short stories, Told in the Dormitory in 1911, and Stories of a House Master in 1933. Stories of a House Master contains selections from Told in the Dormitory and The Human Pedagogue. Both contain a number of short school stories though they amount to less than one quarter of the total contents. He also wrote a play, and an adult novel: The Threads of Yesterday. In addition to his novels, he wrote articles for Australian newspapers and education stories.

The Human Pedagogue. Melbourne: Australian Authors' Agency, 1924. 345 pages. Not illus.

The Human Pedagogue is a rich and detailed boys’ school story, modelled on classic British school stories, concerning the arrival of a sixteen-year-old English boy at an Australian public school. The Human Pedagogue is one of the few Australian school stories to be written in the first person, the only other examples were by Robert Richardson. The use of this style of narrative allows the narrator to discuss his school experiences intimately. Despite the title of the story, suggesting an emphasis on the teacher, in this case the Housemaster, Bolt, the book focuses on the narrator’s experiences at school and his friendships with contemporaries, Spider and Barney, and Sixth Formers, Linacre and Farr. The latter two were close friends but fell out when Farr was made House Captain. At times the unnamed narrator plays a background role in the story, an observer of the people and events around him. Typical scenes of public school life including school discipline, chapel and sport as well as its darker aspects such as smoking and cribbing are explored in detail by Jennings, who draws on his experience as a longstanding House Master at Geelong Grammar School to provide one of the most comprehensive portrayals of fictional public school life in Australia. The narrator of The Human Pedagogue is often used as a mouthpiece by Jennings to discuss his views on the adaptation and practice of the public school system in Australia. In common with boys’ school stories of the period, Jennings explores the impact of war on public schools with several Sixth Formers enlisting in the war.

M. I. Little (Maud Isabel Little)

Maud Isabel Little was born in September 1867, in Darwin, Northern Territory, the daughter of John Archibald Graham Little, the Northern Territory Post and Telegraph Superintendent, and his wife Matilda Cecily, née Johnston. Matilda died soon after Maud was born, and her father sent his children south to be educated. She had at least one sister, Edith, who was nine years older, and was educated at Miss Brunskill’s School, Semaphore, South Australia before attending Sydney University. Her sister later married a Mr Lawrie (Austlit). Maud learnt the violin and the piano, and public performances by the sisters are recorded in Northern Territory newspapers between 1895 and 1901. When Maud’s father died in 1906, Maud went to live with her sister in Mount Gambier, South Australia. She died in 1961 in Victoria. Dunham Days in part portrays Subiaco, which has led to suggestions that Maud was educated there (Austlit). Subiaco was a Benedictine girls’ convent school founded near Parramatta in 1858 (Sherington 22).

Dunham Days: A Sketch. Adelaide: E. J. McAlister & Co., 1913. 106 pages. Illustrated Marian Alsop, b/w frontis. & 3 b/w illus.

The second of only two Australian girls’ school stories to be set in Catholic schools, Dunham Days concerns the final term of best friends. Helen Scott and Marian Dance attend Dunham, a convent school on the Parramatta River in Sydney. The two girls are dual Heads and about to sit for the University examinations. Dunham Days contains similar moral themes to the ones explored in the other catholic girls’ school story, Nellie Doran . One of the girls, Inez, loses her temper and accidentally hits another girl. Inez has a passionate temper which she constantly has to control. According to school rules Inez will be expelled unless the whole school petitions against it. One of the girls, Eleanor, refuses to comply until her friend threatens that she will tell the Nuns about the illicit books she reads. Inez is saved from expulsion and vows she will never forget the incident, praying to God to help her control her temper. When one of the girls falls violently ill, Eleanor’s misdeeds comes to light and she is punished. She has to make a public apology to Inez and she is stripped of her monitor’s privileges and can no longer wear the ribbon which signifies that she is a Child of Mary. These storylines encourage good Catholic morals in the readers. In Dunham Days ’ conclusion, Helen and Marion have finished their exams and are contemplating their respective careers. Helen is going to live in New Guinea to play the role of daughter to her widowed father while Marian would like to become a Nun. Unlike British girls’ school stories which offered careers at University, there were few fictional Australian schoolgirls who pursued this path. The traditional catholic careers of family, convent, service and home life also appear in Nellie Doran where the heroine chooses to remain with her family instead of pursuing a musical career in Europe.

Louise Mack (Marie Louise Hamilton Mack Creed)

Louise Mack was born on October 10 1870, in Hobart, Tasmania, the eldest daughter of 13 children of the Reverend Hans Hamilton Mack, a Wesleyan Minister, and his wife, Jemima, née James. The family moved several times during Louise’s childhood, living in Hobart and Adelaide before settling in Sydney, where Louise spent five years at the Sydney Girls’ High School (Miller 71). At Sydney Girls’ High School she formed a lifelong friendship with Ethel Turner. In 1896 she married Sydney barrister John Percy Creed, and worked on the Bulletin until 1901. She travelled to England in 1901 and spent some years living in Florence from 1904 to 1907 where she edited the Italian Gazette. Her husband died in 1914. She was in Belgium for the outbreak of the First World War, where she reported for the Evening News and the Daily Mail. Her experiences were later recounted in A Woman’s Experiences in the Great War, published in 1915. In 1916 she returned to Australia and undertook charitable work for the Red Cross. She lectured in New Zealand and the Pacific Islands. In 1924 she remarried, marrying Allen Illingworth Leyland, who died in 1932. She wrote a number of girls’ stories, and romance stories for publishers, Rivers, in the 1900s and Mills and Boon in the 1910s. Louise died on 23 November 1935 in Mosman New South Wales of cerebrovascular disease.

Further Reading
Phelan, Nancy. A Kingdom by the Sea. Sydney: Angus and Robertson, 1969.
---. The Romantic Lives of Louise Mack. St. Lucia, Qld.: University of Queensland Press, 1991.
---. Phelan, Nancy. Setting out on the Voyage: The World of an Incorrigible Adventurer. St Lucia, Qld.: University of Queensland Press, 1998.

Links
Australian Dictionary of Biography, Online Edition: Mack, Marie Louise Hamilton (1870 - 1935) by Nancy Phelan
Jessie Street National Women's Library Scroll down the list of women to access a link to a pdf Fact File on Louise Mack.

Teens: A Story of Australian Schoolgirls. Sydney: Angus and Robertson, 1897. 266 pages. Illustrated F. P. Mahoney, b/w frontis. & 13 b/w illus.

Teens is the only Australian school story to be set in a high school. Teens is the story of thirteen-year-old Lennie Leighton and her schooldays at the Girl’s High School in Sydney. Lennie becomes best friends with Mabel James, a classmate. The friendship of Mabel and Lennie and their characters were based on the author’s own friendship with Ethel Turner at the Sydney Girls’ High School. Mabel is fifteen and shares the same birth date as Lennie. Lennie and Mabel’s friendship is tested when they both forget their lunch and quarrel with each other, but they later make it up. Mack writes about their friendship, and the incidents and events that occur in a girls’ school at the turn of the century with great understanding and detail. When Mabel writes a poem, ‘The Schoolgirl’s Dream’, they decide to start a school magazine, calling it The Chronicle . The school is excited about it and the Headmistress plans to have the next number printed. They work hard on their paper but are dismayed when a Sixth Former, Leah Cohen, starts a rival paper. The professional looking rival paper is a sharp contrast to their effort. When the Head questions them Mabel becomes hysterical and Lennie faints and when the schoolgirls realise it is because they are worried about their paper they endeavour to buy all the remaining copies of The Chronicle to help them. In real life, Louise Mack and Ethel Turner were the rivals in the newspaper incident. At the end of Teens Teens Mabel is planning to go to Paris with her Aunt and Uncle for two years and Lennie decides to study hard for the Matriculation. When they say goodbye Lennie realises she will never find another friend like her, and mourns their lost friendship.

Lennie’s adventures are continued in two sequels, Girls Together (1898) and Teens Triumphant (1933) In Girls Together Mabel returns to Australia after spending two years in Paris and her friendship with Lennie is renewed. Mabel becomes engaged to Lennie’s older brother, Bert. When Lennie fails her Junior and her mother falls ill, Lennie takes her mother’s place in their family. In Teens Triumphant, Lennie is studying art in England.

Teens was reprinted frequently; an abridged edition was published by Angus & Robertson in 1924; a new edition by Cornstalk Publishing appeared in 1924 and was reprinted at least four times. There were also editions by several English publishers, Melrose (1904), and Pilgrim Press (1934).

Constance Mackness

Constance Mackness was born on 17 June 1882, in Tuena, New South Wales, the second child of James Mackness, a goldminer, and his wife, Alice, née Brown. Her childhood was later fictionalised in her first novel Gem of the Flat (1915). She was educated at Fort Street Model School, where she became the first female Dux. She matriculated with Honours in French and secured one of the three scholarships to the University of Sydney which were available to women. She graduated with a B.A. in 1902 with first class Honours in English, French and History (ADB 318). She began teaching history at Presbyterian Ladies’ College, Croydon, where she taught for thirteen years before being promoted to Senior Mistress at PLC’s new branch school in Pymble in 1916 (Macfarlane 31-34). Mackness became the founding Headmistress of the Presbyterian Girls’ College, Warwick, in 1919, a position she held until her retirement in 1949. During her time she gave the school its motto and uniform, and started the school magazine, giving the school a distinct Scottish infused identity. In addition to her four school stories, she wrote another six children’s novels and wrote articles and short stories for local papers and the Bulletin, as well as a local history of Clump Point. In 1959 she was awarded an M.B.E. She moved to a Presbyterian nursing home in Brisbane and died on 13 December 1973 in Corinda. Just before her death she had started writing an autobiography.

Links
Australian Dictionary of Biography, Online Edition: Mackness, Constance (1882 - 1973) by Nancy Bonnin.
Australian Children's Literature: 1830-1950: Constance Mackness

Miss Pickle: the Story of an Australian Boarding-School. London: Humphrey Milford Oxford University Press, 1924. 280 pages. Illustrated M. D. Johnston, col. frontis. & 4 b/w illus.

Miss Pickle Decorated Board Miss Pickle is the first of Mackness’ four school stories, and she dedicated it to the former students of the Presbyterian Ladies’ College, Croydon, where she taught. Miss Pickle centres on the arrival of Lola Sinclair, a new girl, at a Sydney church boarding school, known as ‘the College’. Lola’s roommate is Trix Carr, called ‘Miss Pickle’ by classmates and teachers alike, due to her propensity for mischief making. Brillant and virtuous, Lola forms a strong friendship with Trix, influencing her to do well in class. Miss Pickle focuses on the development of the friendship between Lola and Trix, rather than a moral tale of a ‘good’ schoolgirl reforming a ‘wicked’ schoolgirl. Lola is not portrayed as being excessively pious, and Trix is more of a ‘madcap’ schoolgirl, fond of ragging teachers and having fun, but thoroughly straight. Madcap schoolgirl characters were very popular in British girls’ school stories, where they were often Irish. Mackness uses madcaps in all of her four school stories. Trix becomes almost a model pupil, being appointed a Prefect, where she has to learn to work for the good of the school. Lola reforms the school’s character by influencing the wayward juniors. Miss Pickle Dust Jacket Australian Edition 1948 Compared to contemporary British girls’ school stories which often show the development of school honour through games, in Miss Pickle it is the behaviour of the pupils and what the school makes of them that is important. This is shown with one pupil who had cheated at the school but who later earns the respect of the schoolgirls she had wronged when she saves another girl’s life, losing her own. Mackness, for the most part, avoids the romantic styled plots favoured by the other major authors of the period, e.g. Lillian Pyke, with no lost relatives or fortunes being found.

Miss Pickle was reprinted in The New Ensign Series (OUP) in 1930 and 1933. An Australian edition by Oxford University Press was published in 1948.

The Glad School. Sydney: Cornstalk Publishing Company, 1927. 244 pages. Illustrated 'Edgar A. Holloway', 3 b/w illus.

The Glad School is set at Mackness’s own school: the Presbyterian Girls’ College (PGC) in Warwick, which was nicknamed The ‘Glad School’. Mackness dedicated the story to her pupils, describing it as a faithful picture of the school’s spirit, traditions and activities. The Glad School centres on the adventures and misadventures of two madcap friends, Frances ‘Wuzzie’ and Dorothy ‘Twinkle’, who are both fond of pranks. The story starts with their midnight feast being interrupted when one of their schoolmates, dressed as a ghost, steals their food. The girls are determined to discover the culprit and seek retribution, though they target two innocent girls before discovering the real culprit. The Glad School contains many chapter-length vignettes of school life and activities. Treasure hunts, netball matches, the annual Scots PGC dance, Good Luck Tea for Exam Sitters, Michaelmas Break, etc, are described with Mackness including poems and stories taken from PGC’s actual magazine Miss Thistle. This makes The Glad School’s portrayal of boarding school life, lessons, amusements and sport very authentic. Mackness based some of the minor characters, such as Alison, the Head Girl, on real PGC pupils. The Glad School is also distinctive in its treatment of the schoolgirl honour code, which typically discourages sneaking. An episode occurs when Dorothy discovers one of her classmates cheating in an exam, and she decides to tell the Head Girl, "a class’s honour lay in its own hands, and no member of a class must tolerate dishonesty in another" (23). The culprit is punished by the School Council; as the Head of PGC gave much of the day to day disciplinary powers to the prefects and school council. Dorothy is initially upset at the apparent leniency of the punishment until the Head Girl reminds her that to encourage reformation one must be merciful to ensure that the school remains a "big happy family".

Di-Double-Di. Sydney: Cornstalk Publishing Company, 1929. 299 pages. Illustrated 'Edgar A. Holloway', b/w frontis. & 2 b/w illus.

Di-Double-Di follows Mackness’ previous school story, The Glad School, in using two madcap friends as the main characters. Di-Double-Di is the story of two friends at Brentwood College, a boarding school with 65 boarders in Hornsby, run by the three Misses Dimsdale. Diana Morton, otherwise known as ‘Buzz’, is a new girl who is befriended by madcap pupil, Diana Brand, otherwise known as ‘Monkey’. Most of the teachers at Brentwood College like Monkey despite her mischievous behaviour, though one teacher, Miss Templeton finds Monkey difficult in class. Di-Double-Di is different to Mackness’ two previous school stories in that she introduces a romantic plot involving the school’s neighbours. Buzz and Monkey make friends with Clive, a crippled author, who lives in the house next door to the school, with his mother in law, two maiden sisters in law, and his niece. Clive encourages the girls to be nicer to Miss Templeton. Despite Monkey’s resolve to do so, she finds herself in trouble when the teacher accuses her of playing a trick in class. When the real culprit acknowledges her guilt, Miss Templeton is ashamed of her actions and Monkey endeavours to end the feud. Because of Mackness’ profession as a Head mistress, many of the teachers in her school stories are a given a human side, and often the school is viewed through the eyes of the teachers, not just the schoolgirls. Miss Templeton is sympathetically portrayed as an ill-suited teacher. Though she is a brilliant scholar she lacks the temperament for teaching, but has to work to support an invalided father. Mackness ends Di-Double-Di with a happy romantic ending, resolving the problems of the girls’ neighbours. Clive is cured, the maiden aunts are freed of their oppressive mother, Clive is to marry one of Brentwood’s teachers and Miss Templeton becomes engaged.

Clown of the School. London: Ward, Lock & Co. Limited, 1935. 254 pages. Illustrated 'Sutcliffe', 3 b/w illus.

School gardens
'She made an effort to escape but Rosalie caught her by her tunic.' Constance Mackness Clown of the School fp.
Illus. Sutcliffe. The Clown of the school is Mary Trevor, an incorrigible thirteen-year-old Fourth Former at Fairview College, a girls’ school in Hornsby, in the Northern Suburbs of Sydney. Mary plays the fool in her classes and is such a disruptive influence that the Head, Miss Maxwell, enlists the help of prefect Rosalie Melrose, to try to reform Mary. Rosalie decides to take Mary along with her when she visits her Uncle and his family. Like Di-Double-Di, Mackness employs an older male author character who tries to help in the reformation of the madcap. Mary continues to play the clown in class so the Head decides to try to occupy Mary’s time and keep her from mischief, by making her work for a scholarship and appointing her as head of the newly formed Junior Dramatic Club. The Clown of the School illustrates the trend of girls’ schools in Australia to adopt public school elements. Before the end of the first term, Miss Maxwell announces the introduction of houses and house competitions in work and sport, dividing the school into four guilds. Mary finds herself in Rosalie’s guild. Mary’s reformation begins again in earnest when Miss Maxwell encourages her to help her mother during the holidays. In the new term the whole school, including Mary, returns with a new keenness for work and sport. Mary’s efforts for her guild to win the Gardening Prize are more out of spite against a despised Sixth Former in another guild. Mary’s friend, Dell, is accused of thieving from the boarders’ pantry, but is cleared when Mary discovers an old tramp helping himself to food. This ‘falsely accused’ motif is a recurrent theme in Australian girls’ school stories. Mary’s reformation is complete when on the final day of term she is voted by the teachers as the "girl most improved in her conduct for the sake of her guild". This reformation for the sake of her house theme and ideas of British public school honour make this title quite different to Mackness’ other school stories.

Margaret Paice (Margaret D. Paice-Harriss)

Margaret was born on 1 September 1920 in Brisbane, Queensland, the daughter of Sydney Cantle, an engineer. She had at least one sister, Stella. Margaret spent much of her childhood living in central Queensland though she did spend one year at Moreton Bay High School in Wynnum, Brisbane (McVitty, Authors and Illustrators of Australian Children’s Books 164). She moved to Brisbane following the outbreak of the Second World War and joined the Women’s National Emergency League. In 1942 she met Herbert Paice, Supervisor of the Telegraph Section of the Post Office. They married soon afterwards, living in Townsville for the remainder of the war. They had two children, Jeanette, and Peter who was born in 1946 (McVitty, Authors and Illustrators 164; Anderson 77).

In 1955 Hubert died and Margaret moved with her young family to Sydney where she finally realised her childhood ambition of being an artist. She enrolled at East Sydney Technical College to study illustration. Paice-Harriss is also credited with having studied illustration at the National Art School Sydney and painting at the Royal Art Society (Adelaide, Australian Women Writers: A Bibliographical Guide 150). Colin Roderick, the editor of educational publishing at Angus & Robertson was impressed with an illustrated story she wrote about an Aboriginal girl which was later published in 1955 (McVitty, Authors and Illustrators 164). In 1960 Margaret married high school teacher, Wilfred Harris, and they had one son, Christopher. The family lived in Winmalee in the Blue Mountains, New South Wales. Wilfred died in 1975. Paice-Harriss has written over 20 children’s novels and her Depression-era trilogy, Colour In The Creek, was made into a children’s television series in 1985.

The Secret of Greycliffs. Sydney: Angus and Robertson, 1961. 147 pages. Illustrated author, b/w illus. throughout text. The Secret of Greycliffs Dust Jacket

The Secret of Greycliffs is the sequel toThe Lucky Fal (1959). In The Lucky Fall, heroine Kathy Brown, discovered a gold rush. Paice mixes mystery plots with school routines. Fourteen-year-old Kathy Brown arrives as a new girl at Greycliffs, which Paice modelled on her own experiences of schooling at Moreton Bay High School in Brisbane. Kathy makes friends with two of the girls, Gerry and Peg, and they meet a local girl, Julie, who had saved Kathy’s life in the previous summer. Kathy learns that Julie’s Great-Grandfather, Christopher Alroyd, built Greycliffs, but when he died penniless, the property was left to a distant cousin because of a family dispute. Julie thinks that he hid money somewhere in Greycliffs, and Kathy and her friends promise to look for it. The trio find an old book of Alroyd’s detailing where he hid his fortune, but suspect one of their classmates, Jane, is trying to find the treasure too. The girls search in some old cellars but are locked in by Jane. A fire breaks out and the girls manage to escape through a secret passage, but the wing is destroyed. The treasure is discovered when workers are demolishing the ruined wing. A new will is found which leaves Alroyd’s estate, including a large sum of money, to Julie’s family. This fairly standard school story plot prevalent in the period contains unconventional realism through the portrayal of Julie’s family. Her drunken father has fits and rages and struggles to look after his family.

Margaret Parker (Margaret MacDonald Parker)

Margaret MacDonald Parker was born in Scotland, one of (at least) two daughters of the Reverend Professor Murdoch MacDonald. The family immigrated to Australia in 1875 where her father was employed at Ormond College at the University of Melbourne (Murphy 19). Margaret and her younger sister Isobel were educated at the Presbyterian Ladies’ College, Melbourne. Her sister, Isobel, was the first woman to win First Class Honours in Arts at the University of Melbourne and she returned to the College in 1899, teaching until 1915 when she became Headmistress of St. Cuthbert’s, Auckland. Later she was Headmistress of Fintona and PGC Adelaide (Reid 127). Margaret and Isobel were founding members of the Magpie Club in 1885 at PLC, a club which included amongst its members, Mathilda Monash, sister of future General Monash, and Vida Goldstein. ‘Henry Handel Richardson’ applied for membership but was blackballed as she was not always "invariably truthful" (Reid 221-22). Parker held the distinction of being the first Old Collegian to have a novel published. She wrote two novels, and two girls’ stories. She is said to have been a teacher, but little else is known about her later life.

For the Sake of a Friend: A Story of School Life. Glasgow: Blackie and Son. Limited, 1896. 224 pages. Illustrated G. Demain Hammond, b/w frontis. & 3 b/w illus.

Two schoolgirl friends.
'Susie and Trix became friends at last.'
Margaret Parker For the Sake of a Friend p 210. Illus. G. Demain Hammond. The first Australian girls’ school story published, For the Sake of a Friend, features a plot involving a new girl, a stolen essay and a false accusation motif. For the Sake of a Friend introduces Susannah Snow, a fifteen-year-old orphan, who lives with her maiden aunt in Melbourne. She is sent to Stormont House, "the very grandest and most fashionable school in Melbourne", when her aunt has to travel to America. Stormont House is run by Mrs Lorraine and her daughter Miss Lorraine, and has built up a reputation for academic achievement as well as the traditional accomplishments and deportment favoured by Mrs Lorraine. Susannah has had a very sheltered upbringing, and finds school rather bewildering. She is befriended by pretty, popular and rich Trix, but the pair fall out when Susannah refuses to post a clandestine letter for Trix, and she is sent to Coventry. Susannah is further ostracised when a secret dance, organised by Trix and her friend Nelly, is discovered by one of the teachers, and the girls suspect Susannah sneaked. Susannah is further persecuted when the girls believe she stole Trix’s Essay Prize entry, and plan a trick which causes Susannah to have an accident and become seriously ill. The doctor fears she may develop brain fever. When the real culprit is revealed to be Nelly, all the girls regret their actions and Susannah recovers. This plot involving the heroine being falsely accused was used in early British girls’ school stories.

The trio’s story is continued in Trefoil (1900). Here the girls are in their last days at Stormont House and resolve to form a society, ‘Trefoil’, and meet again in five years’ time.

Dora Joan Potter (Joan Potter)

Joan Potter was born in 1915, the daughter of Irene Florence Potter (b. 1876, d. 1967). She had at least two sisters, Yootha Heath Cooke and Brenda Sandercock (she dedicated two of her novels to them). She was educated, also dedicating one of her novels to her headmistress. Joan began to train as a nurse, but stopped her studies due to ill health. Joan then worked as the Maths Department secretary at the University of Adelaide, becoming the Mathematical Secretary for Pure Maths when the Department divided, as she had developed into an expert maths typist. She retired in 1976 (Austlit). Joan never married and lived with her mother. In the 1940s they lived in Toorak, in the 1950s Blackwood and Lower Mitcham, and in the 1960s Joan lived alone in Fullarton. Joan died of cancer at the Fulham Retirement Village in South Australia in February 1987. Joan is thought to have been "very shy, highly strung, and with definite moral opinions", which is evident in her ten Australian girls’ school stories (Austlit).

Pam Pays Her Debt. Melbourne: Oxford University Press Geoffrey Cumberlege, 1945. 135 pages. Not illus.

Pam Pays Her Debt Dust Jacket In addition to her six Winterton titles, Potter wrote three other single school titles. Pam Pays Her Debt was the first published. Each of these single titles focuses on particular themes: duty and honour in Pam Pays her Debt, bravery and courage in Helen’s Inheritance, and sacrifice in Margaret’s Decision. Pamela Bryant is the heroine of this story, a boarder at St. Catherine’s School. Pam’s ‘debt’ is a promise to the man, Captain Harvey, who saved the life of her P.O.W. father, to look after his daughter, Janita, who is starting as a new girl at Pam’s school. Pam has a difficult time with Janita, who is shallow and spoilt, and finds herself torn between her best friend Judy and her duty to look after Janita. Matters come to a head when Pam is caught at a nightclub during a police raid. Pam had discovered that Janita was going to break bounds and followed her to try and stop her, remembering her promise to Captain Harvey. The Head decides not to expel Pam, despite the seriousness of the offence. Instead her punishment will be a public explanation of Pam’s disgrace to the entire school. Pam does not tell the Head about her reasons for going to the night club: ‘not sneaking’ was an important part of the public school code and often an entrenched theme in school stories. A plot involving Janita’s identity provides the means for Pam to repay her debt. The local Reverend and his family claim that Janita is their long lost daughter who disappeared when she was three years old. Captain Harvey admits that his own wife left with their child, so when he found Janita in the country he kidnapped her. Janita is overwhelmed and runs away, and Pam with the help of a police constable from the nightclub raid, tracks her down. Potter’s coincidence-filled plot concludes when the adopted daughter of the police constable turns out to be Captain Harvey’s daughter. Both girls are reunited with their new families, and Captain Harvey tells Pam she has repaid the debt a hundred-fold.

With Wendy at Winterton School. Melbourne: Oxford University Press Geoffrey Cumberlege, 1945. 128 pages. Not illus.

With Wendy at Winteron School Dust Jacket (partial) The first title in the ‘Winterton’ series written by Potter in the late 1940s, With Wendy at Winterton School, introduces new girl, Wendy Murphy, a rebellious fourteen-year-old High Schoolgirl entering Winterton School, the "leading girls’ school in Australia" (9). With six titles the Winterton series was the longest Australian school story series. The series is significant for a number of reasons. They were the first real ‘public school’ girls’ school stories written. While prolific authors of the 1920s and 1930s, Pyke and Mackness, had set their stories in public schools, they did not wholeheartedly embrace the British public school model. Winterton is described in great detail, emphasising the traditional components of an English public school, the school chapel, the division of the school into houses, a boarding school, the use of prefects and emblems of school identity such as a school motto and song. With Wendy at Winterton School follows Wendy’s progression from a rebellious new girl to a valued member of the school who loves it. Wendy, the daughter of a butcher, is initially concerned the school will be full of snobs, showing her dislike for Felicity, the Head Prefect. When the Head compares Wendy’s disloyalty to that of war traitors, Wendy begins to change her attitude and reconciles with Felicity, realising her error in judgement. With Wendy at Winterton School, while not featuring many of the elements of evangelistic school stories, places a strong emphasis on religious character. When Wendy is near death after saving the life of the Head’s young daughter, the school gathers in the chapel to pray for her. In a moving ceremony Wendy is presented with a stained glass window in the chapel in recognition of her bravery.

With Wendy at Winterton was reprinted in 1947, 1948 and 1949.

Margaret's Decision. Melbourne: Oxford University Press Geoffrey Cumberlege, 1947. 149 pages. Not illus.

Margaret's Decision combines Christian themes of sacrifice and service with romantic adventure plots. Margaret Forbes is a pupil at Wirra-Warra School and is faced with the biggest decision of her life when her father is forced to sell the family farm and can only afford to pay for the education of one of his children. He chooses to let the pair make the decision between them; either Margaret can stay at Wirra-Warra, or her brother, Bob, can continue studying medicine at university. This motif of parents facing new financial conditions was used in some depression-era British school stories, where pupils changed schools or had to leave school to look for work. Margaret, anxious to stay at her beloved school lets Bob make the sacrifice, much to the dismay of her father. When Bob enlists in the Airforce and is later reported killed in action, Margaret is overcome with guilt. Potter’s religious overtones are reinforced when Margaret resolves to make a fresh start after visiting the school chaplain. Margaret is caught on a ship when she visits one of Bob’s friends, who is a sailor, and gets knocked out. When she regains consciousness, the ship has left port and has been torpedoed. Margaret and five sailors are put in a life boat and drift until they sight land and swim ashore. They discover two men on the island, and Margaret is amazed to find Bob. Their plane had been shot down. The group are rescued and return home, and Margaret resolves to spend her life always in God’s service, always to choose her family first. She puts this into practice at Wirra-Warra, where she wins an award for the girl who most closely followed the life of Jesus. Margaret’s Christian behaviour influences the Head to abandon the typical custom of holding school elections for the posts of Captain and Prefects, instead choosing the girls who show the most Christian virtues. Margaret is appointed Head Prefect.

Wendy Moves Up. Melbourne: Oxford University Press Geoffrey Cumberlege, 1947. 189 pages. Not illus.

Wendy Moves Up Dust Jacket Wendy Moves Up is set two years after With Wendy at Winterton School. Wendy Murphy is now sixteen years old and is returning to her home at Karrinyup Plains for the school holidays, with her best friend, Marjorie. Wendy hopes that her old high school friend, Mary, will be able to win a scholarship to Winterton. When Marjorie spends time coaching Mary, Wendy becomes jealous, but is pleased when Mary wins the scholarship and returns to Winterton with them. Wendy is hoping she will be elected Head Prefect in the upcoming school elections. Problems arise when the Head moves Wendy and Mary to Waratah House as there were no vacancies in Wendy’s current house, Gums, and Mary’s mother wanted the two girls to be together. The motif of being moved to a different house and the ensuing tensions that arise in loyalties has been explored in some British school stories. Wendy is furious at the change, and makes no effort to help her new house. This leads to suspicion falling on Wendy when the Waratah Garden is sabotaged and soon the whole house think she is a traitor. Anxious to ensure her friends are not also ostracised, Wendy falsely confesses. This false confession is uncommon in school stories; another example appears in Lilian Turner’s The Girl from the Back Blocks. Wendy is cleared when the Head’s daughter, Fairlie, confesses and the whole school realises Wendy was innocent. Potter’s religious motifs are reinforced with the Winterton elections. At Winterton the Head decrees that the girls must vote for the girls they think are the most Christian for the post of Head Girl and Prefects. As each girl votes, they make an oath on the bible. Wendy is elected as Head Prefect, by one vote, over Marjorie. Many of the girls voted for Wendy as they admired the way she has overcome her difficult temper and jealous nature.

Wendy in Charge. Melbourne: Oxford University Press Geoffrey Cumberlege, 1947. 140 pages. Not illus.

Wendy in Charge Dust Jacket (partial) The third title in the Winterton series, Wendy In Charge, follows Wendy Murphy’s first term as Head Girl of Winterton School. There are only a handful of Australian girls’ school stories which portray the heroine in the role of head girl, such as Lowanna and Dunham Days, though this role was popular for heroines in British girls’ school stories. Potter’s use of Wendy’s role as Head Girl allows the discussion of some of the typical duties, responsibilities and privileges of the position. The Head Girl plays an important role in the tone and discipline of the school. Wendy In Charge follows the problems that arise when the Headmistress, Miss Lethbridge, appoints a new girl, Venetia Kirby, to the vacant post of Senior Prefect, against the traditional school custom of holding elections. The post was made vacant when Wendy’s best friend, Marjorie, the elected Senior Prefect, has an accident in the holidays and will not be returning to school until later in the term. The Headmistress decides to appoint Venetia as Venetia has leadership experience, she was Captain of her previous school, and she is worried the Prefecture is weak despite the girls promising to vote for the most Christian girls. Wendy’s old jealousy returns, she is very unhappy with the change and views Venetia as an interloper, a view shared by many of the prefects, and the school in general. Some members of the Remove form a society against Venetia and Wendy refuses to intervene. Waratah House loses the Sports Shield and Wendy blames Venetia. When Venetia reports some of the Remove for breaking bounds, the Headmistress learns of the girls’ refusal to obey Venetia as she is an unelected prefect and decides to hold an election, so the school can decide whether or not to vote for Venetia. Wendy In Charge displays Wendy’s faults and her attempts to overcome them, and explores promises and vows, promises by the Remove to their society not to obey Venetia, and promises by the girls to vote for the most Christian girls, within a religious context.

Althea's Term at Winterton. Melbourne: Oxford University Press Geoffrey Cumberlege, 1948. 152 pages. Not illus.

Dora Joan Potter Althea’s Term at Winterton 1948 An English girl’s arrival at Winterton causes mixed reactions in Althea’s Term at Winterton, the fourth title in the Winterton series. Most of the girls like the tall fair-haired fifteen-year old Lady Althea St George, but one girl, Lesley Douglas, is convinced the new girl will be an unbearable snob. Lesley’s dislike of Althea is further intensified when she discovers that her father knew Lord Lannon, Althea’s father, when they were young, but recently Lord Lannon has snubbed Mr Douglas. On two more occasions Lord Lannon meets Lesley’s father but snubs him. The mystery surrounding Althea’s father is a central theme in the story. Lesley accuses Althea’s father of theft, when a wool formula of the Head’s husband is stolen, and papers subsequently report a scientific discovery made by Lord Lannon to improve wool. Althea’s father is cleared when Fairlie, the Headmistress’s daughter, admits she took the formula. Althea reveals that her father and the Head’s husband worked together in the past, hence the similarity of their work. The mystery surrounding Althea’s father is resolved when Lord Lannon is caught in a field with a bull and Althea rescues him, revealing that he is blind but too ashamed to let anyone know. Lesley realises why he snubbed her father and apologises to the pair. Potter’s treatment of snobbery and dislike stems from British girls’ school stories which examined the prejudices that scholarship pupils, working-class girls, and aristocratic girls alike, could face at school. Althea’s Term at Winterton concludes with Althea being enthusiastically farewelled by the girls as she returns to England to attend her mother’s old school, while her father has obtained a post in a school for the blind.

The fifth title in the Winterton series, Winterton Holiday Cruise (1946) , describes a Christmas school holiday cruise in Western Australia, and apart from Winterton schoolgirls features characters from Those Summer Holidays (1949) and Margaret’s Decision. It is not strictly, or even partly, a school story.

A New Girl for Winterton. Melbourne: Oxford University Press Geoffrey Cumberlege, 1950. 122 pages. Not illus.

A New Girl for Winterton Dust Jacket The final title in the Winterton series, A New Girl for Winterton, introduces new girl, Jill Bentley. Leonie Filmore-Danvers, sister of Felicity from With Wendy at Winterton School, is now Head Girl. The mystery surrounding the Head’s missing husband Hugh Lethbridge, is finally resolved in an identity motif. This identity motif, of lost relatives being recovered, is used in another of Potter’s school stories, Pam Pays her Debt, and earlier used in Lillian Pyke’s Sheila the Prefect. The story opens introducing fourteen-year-old orphan, Jill Bentley, who lives with her aunt and uncle on their family farm. A stranger, who calls himself Hugh, comes to the farm looking for work, and helps the family make a success of their struggling farm. Hugh reveals that he was in a P.O.W. camp during the war. He had lost his memory and has no idea who he is, so he assumed the name of Hugh Lethbridge, a dead soldier. Potter was one of the few authors to use plots and events involving the Second World War, with her school stories containing Japanese spies, ex P.O.W.’s, and missing soldiers. Hugh offers to send Jill to Winterton, and she is placed in Form Five A, where she becomes friends with a girl called Elizabeth Hathefield. Elizabeth had spent some time in the same P.O.W. camp as the Head’s husband, and when she spends the holidays with Jill, she recognises Hugh as Hugh Lethbridge, though he looks like a different person. The mystery of Hugh Lethbridge is finally unravelled when Hugh travels to Winterton, and upon seeing the Head regains his memory, He had worked in Intelligence during the war, and was reported Killed in Action so he could work undercover. The reason his appearance is changed is that the Germans experimented with plastic surgery techniques on him. The Head and Hugh make plans for the future after Miss Lethbridge finishes her appointment as Head of Winterton

Helen's Inheritance. Melbourne: Oxford University Press Geoffrey Cumberlege, 1950. 109 pages. Not illus.

Helen's Inheritance Dust Jacket Helen’s Inheritance examines themes of bravery, courage and overcoming timidity from a Christian perspective. British girls’ school stories used this motif of introducing a weak and timid schoolgirl who shows her true pluck and bravery, and in the end becomes a heroine to the school (e. g. Ethel Talbot The Bravest Girl in the School), and Potter follows this model. Helen Browne’s inheritance is the George Cross she receives, awarded posthumously to her mother for her service during the Second World War. Helen’s mother had gone to Evanmore School, the school Althea was to attend in Althea’s Term at Winterton. Potter enjoyed creating common links and threads in her stories, either explicitly or implicitly as in this case. Helen starts at Christchurch School, a school founded by Marmion Tregonning, who was formerly the Head of a famous British public school, but who felt it was his duty to found a new school in Australia, with a motto of ‘Trust in Him’. The girls quickly discover Helen’s famous relation and she gains a reputation for bravery based on her mother’s actions. However following an incident during her dormitory’s attempts to lay a ghost, Helen is accused of cowardice and ‘funking’, a low schoolgirl act, and she spends a day in the sickroom suffering from nervous exhaustion. The Head reveals that she went to the same school as Helen’s mother, who used to be timid and was teased as a result. The Head also reveals that Helen’s mother, Clyda, changed when she became a Christian. Potter usually gives religious reasons for positive changes in character. Helen falls down a cliffside and is dramatically rescued. Authors enjoyed involving their heroines in events such as rescues, near drownings, fires, cliff falls, and so on. Helen becomes a Christian and reveals her true courage when she is hit by a car and bravely endures the suffering caused by horrific injuries.

Related Titles
Potter, Dora Joan. Those Summer Holidays. Melbourne: Oxford University Press Geoffrey Cumberlege, 1946.
---. Winterton Holiday Cruise. Melbourne: Oxford University Press Geoffrey Cumberlege, 1949.

Lillian M. Pyke (Lillian Maxwell Pyke)

Lillian Maxwell Pyke was born in 1881, the youngest of ten children of Robert Mosely Heath and Susannah Ellen, née Wilson, who emigrated to Australia in 1862 (Heath). Lillian was educated at University High School under the Headship of L. A. Adamson, who later became Headmaster of Wesley College. In 1908 she married Richard Diamond Pyke and the pair moved to Kingaroy where her husband worked as a railway engineer. Lillian used these experiences for her novel, Camp Kiddies (1919) which is illustrated with original family photographs. The couple had three children, two daughters, Joyce Maxwell, and Phyllis Lillian, and a son, Lawrence Richard Diamond (born 1 November 1912). Her husband died in 1917 and Pyke supported her young family by writing children’s stories. She wrote 18 children’s novels, mostly for Ward, Lock & Co., from 1916 to 1927. She also wrote two adult novels under the pen name of Erica Maxwell, as well as a book on Australian Etiquette which was frequently republished. Lillian died on 31 August 1927 whilst in her mid-forties, leaving her children orphans. At the time her fourteen-year-old son was a boarder at Wesley College and he was adopted by L. A. Adamson (Meyer 138). L. R. D. Pyke later completed a BSc at the University of Melbourne and became a Rhodes Scholar. He was Headmaster of Newington College from 1952 to 1960, and had two sons and one daughter. He died in July 1987.

Links
Australian Dictionary of Biography Online Edition: Pyke, Lillian Maxwell (1881 - 1927) by Beverley Kingston.
Heath Family Geneology Website by Clifford Heath.

Max the Sport. London: Ward, Lock & Co., Limited, 1916. 250 pages. Illustrated 'J. Macfarlane', b/w frontis & 7 b/w illus.

A football match
'Green and Sumers met with a resounding crash, just where he had stood.'
Lillian Pyke Max the Sport p 128. Illus. J. MacFarlane. Max the Sport details Max Charlton’s schooldays at St. Virgil’s School, the first of three titles Pyke set at the fictional Melbourne public school based on Wesley College. Pyke explores ‘playing the game’ themes in school, sport, study and war in the story. The opening of Max the Sport initially deals with Max’s childhood, in a manner similar to Pyke’s Jack of St. Virgil’s and Bruce’s Dick. It was quite common in early Australian boys’ school stories to detail the hero’s childhood. Max’s parents had wished to send their son to a public school, as they value the public school spirit, and ‘playing the game’ - they want Max to be a sport. When Max’s father dies whilst saving the life of a child, Max must compete for a scholarship to St. Virgil’s and is successful. He is immediately inspired by the Headmaster’s speech, urging school patriotism, unselfishness and playing the game. Max’s trials in striving to be a ‘sport’ include winning football matches against unfair competitors, and almost sacrificing his chances of winning the Senior Championship to allow a rival’s crippled sister some joy. In his last year, Max becomes ill and misses out on a scholarship, facing the prospect of having to leave St. Virgil’s until his mother learns that he is heir to an estate in England. Max returns to St. Virgil’s and wins a scholarship to Melbourne University to study medicine. This moving of Two schoolboys
‘What will my father say? Oh! don’t tell him.’ He cried.'
Lillian Pyke Max the Sport p 192. Illus J. MacFarlane. the school story to university life is unique in Australian school stories¹ . Max becomes a doctor and is working in a hospital when war is declared. Max enlists, much to the dismay of his mother, until she realises that he is only being a ‘sport’, and to do otherwise would be against his upbringing of playing the game. Pyke’s war motif touches on the contemporary divisions within Australia regarding enlistment and expands the ‘playing the game’ theme to the battlefields of war. Max is wounded, but is awarded the VC, and despite facing an uncertain future, he is still determined to be a sport. Max the Sport is the strongest of all of Pyke’s boys’ school stories in advocating the ‘playing the game’ ethic and leading an honourable sporting life.

¹Thomas Hughes wrote a sequel to Tom Brown’s Schooldays, Tom Brown at Oxford, which was less popular.

Jack of St. Virgil's. London: Ward, Lock & Co., Limited, 1917. 319 pages. Illus. 'J. Macfarlane', b/w frontis. & 7 b/w illus.

The Head of the River.
'A shout went up, ‘St. Virgil’s leads.'' Lillian Pyke Jack of St. Virgil’s p 183. Illus. J. MacFarlane. In Jack of St. Virgil's, Jack Brown is a fourteen-year-old boy, who lives in the country, and wins a scholarship to St. Virgil’s. He doesn’t know anything about his parents. The scholarship pupil was a conventional character in British school stories, though Pyke’s sporting hero somewhat fails to match the British stereotype of a ‘swot’; overly academic, weak at games, looked down upon and socially inferior. Jack engages with the typical school tussles, newie’s initiation and trying out for sports teams. The school receives a visit from an Old Boy and war hero, Captain Romaine, who deeply impresses Jack and he decides to try and model his life on the courageous ex-soldier. Jack discovers who his parents are during a holiday stint as a cabin boy. As a baby he was stolen from Captain Romaine and his wife. Jack is unable to tell Captain Romaine because of a promise he made to his aunt. Jack discovers his uncle trying to steal at St. Virgil’s and he is later blackmailed about this by an older boy. When Jack rescues Captain Romaine’s daughter from being trampled by a pack of horses, Captain Romaine discovers the truth and is reunited with his long-lost son. While British and Australian girls’ school stories often incorporated the finding of lost sisters, mothers, fathers, cousins and heirs this motif appears less frequently in boys’ school stories. Pyke still recreates St. Virgil’s atmosphere as a public school through descriptions of sport including the Head of the River, the courageous school captain, owing money, and Jack’s talk with the captain about illicit literature.

A Prince at School. London: Ward, Lock & Co., Limited, 1919. 252 pages. Illustrated J. Macfarlane, b/w frontis. & 7 b/w illus.

Celebrating a cricket victory 'The Prince was a popular hero that day.'
Lillian Pyke A Prince at School p 144. Illus. J. MacFarlane. Mr Lester, a middle-aged bachelor, is Head Master of Whitfield College, a boarding school, in A Prince at School. His ordered world is turned upside down when he receives news that an old lady friend has died leaving him guardianship of her two children, who currently live on Vilatonga. Mr Lester travels to Vilatonga to collect Arnold, a sixteen-year-old boy, and Lola, a twenty-year-old young woman and take them back to Australia. Their friend, Andi, the son of the deposed Island chief, stows away on the boat. Andi, a ‘prince’, can be seen as an equivalent of the Ruritanian princess motif which appeared in British girls’ school stories.² Andi is allowed to go to Whitefield College, and though some of the boys are initially hostile to Andi, he soon gains popularity through his good nature. Arnold, Lola and Andi are worried they have been followed by Lola’s unwanted German suitor from Vilatonga, Mr Bernstein. Mr Lester secretly sends them to Queensland to recover from illness but Lola and Andi are kidnapped by Mr Bernstein. Mr Lester thinks they have been killed, as Mr Bernstein makes it look like they were mauled by an escaped lion. Mr Bernstein wants Andi to reveal where his father hid his tribe’s cache of guns and money, and he wants Lola to marry him. War is declared and Mr Lester is approached by the British navy to travel to Vilatonga to help the bases there and he takes Arnold with him. This direct involvement of some of the characters in the First World War is unique amongst Australian boys’ school stories. Bernstein threatens to kill Andi if Lola does not agree to marry him, but Andi manages to escape, and locating his father’s cache, is discovered by Arnold and some tribesmen. They form a party and rescue Lola and destroy the German boat. Lola and Mr Lester marry, while Arnold is to return to school. Andi’s father is restored as chief of Vilatonga.

² See Elinor M. Brent-Dyer A Princess at the Chalet School, Dorothea Moore Guide Gilly, F. O. H. Nash Kattie of the Balkans, etc.

The Best School of All. London: Ward, Lock & Co., Limited, 1921. 256 pages. Illustrated J. Macfarlane, b/w frontis. & 5 b/w illus.

A cricket match
'He had effected a wonderful catch.' Lillian Pyke The Best School of All fp. Illus. J. MacFarlane. The sequel to Jack of St. Virgil's, The Best School of All, centres on Jack Romaine, who is now seventeen years old and in the Sixth Form, and the ructions caused by two new boys, Theo, Jack’s younger cousin, and the mysterious Sixth Former, Smith, who is thought to have a secret past. Pyke follows a very classic British school story in plot, subject and characterization, focussing on themes of playing the game, school loyalty and schoolboy honour in a level of complexity not seen in her other school stories while for the most part she avoids romantic plots. The story centres on Smith, a strong sportsman who causes antagonism in the school when he refuses to play in any of the school teams. Jack discovers that Smith used to be a crack sportsman at Mervale, a rival school to St. Virgil’s, but had to leave after becoming involved in drinking and gambling. Pyke touches on the treatment that ‘bloods’, leading sportsmen, underwent at school, the idolisation they experienced, and the fierceness of the GPS sporting competitions. The school honour and loyalty motif also appeared in British school stories in which a schoolboy changes schools and faces dilemmas over conflicting loyalties.³ Jack’s friendship with Smith inspires Smith to ‘play the game’, and he agrees to play sport. But in a football match against Mervale, he appears to throw a pass to a Mervale player and is accused of disloyalty. Later he is cleared of any unsporting play. Smith learns that to be faithful to his loyalty to Mervale, he must play his hardest for his new school, and in the end he feels a strong sense of pride in St. Virgil’s traditions and achievements. Jack wins the Wentworth Scholarship, despite almost missing out when he shields his younger cousin. The title of the story is taken from Henry Newbolt’s poem of the same name.

³ See for example, Hylton Cleaver Captain of Two Schools

Sheila the Prefect. London: Ward, Lock & Co., Limited, 1923. 255 pages. Illustrated 'J. Dewar Mills', b/w frontis. & 3 b/w illus.

A schoolgirl camp
'Lala, whose frame was not so hardy as the others, sat down suddenly. ‘I can’t go another step,’ she announced.'
Lillian Pyke Sheila the Prefect p 64. Illus. J. Dewar Mills Sheila the Prefect continues the schooldays of best friends, Sheila Chester, and Beryl Lindsay, who were introduced in Sheila at Happy Hills (1922) where the death of Sheila’s mother led to an impostor pretending to be a friend of her stepfather in an attempt to obtain her inheritance. In Sheila the Prefect Beryl is now Head Girl of Riverview and Sheila is a Probationer Prefect. It is the end of term and the pair are preparing to attend a Christian Union Camp with other schoolgirls in the school holidays. In British girls’ school stories, guide camps in the holidays were often described, but Christian camps were used more in evangelistic school stories. During the camp the girls discover one of their classmates, Dorothy Grant, had an older sister who died in a train accident, though no body was ever found. Beryl thinks that there may be some mystery behind it and soon the girls have an opportunity to investigate some startling coincidences. They find an older girl, ‘Fairy’, working at a nearby Children’s Home, who has lost her memory. They also learn that one of the Riverview mistresses was meant to be accompanying Dorothy’s sister, but forgot to give her the train ticket. A thrilling hockey match 'Rallying all her strength and science Sheila swung her stick, and... the ball sailed past the goal-keeper.'
Lillian Pyke Sheila at Happy Hills p 11. Illus. J. MacFarlane. The mystery is solved when one of the Children’s Home workers mistakes Dorothy for Fairy. Beryl and Sheila share their suspicions with Sheila’s guardian, Elizabeth, that Fairy and Dorothy’s sister are one and the same. Elizabeth is a doctor, and operates on Fairy, restoring her memory and she is later reunited with her family. This identity motif and use of lost memory was a favoured device to embellish school story plots. Despite the strong mystery plot, Pyke still describes activities of the Riverview girls, including sports matches, prefect duties, plays and scholarship exams. Pyke uses characters from her other series. One of Sheila’s friends, Lola, is engaged to Andi from A Prince at School, while the Riverview girls play tennis against Theo Cranville from The Best School of All.

Sheila and her schoolmates’ adventures after school are continued in Three Bachelor Girls (1926).

Squirmy and Bubbles: A School Story for Girls. Melbourne: Whitcombe & Tombs Limited, [1924]. 164 pages. Illustrated 'Perce Clark', b/w frontis. & 2 b/w illus.

Squirmy and Bubbles cover 1924 Squirmy and Bubbles concerns thirteen-year-old twins, Theodora, known as Bubbles, and Dorothea ‘Squirmy’ Bonney, who are being educated on the family property by a series of unsuccessful governesses. Squirmy is a bit of a ‘madcap’, while Bubbles is sweet and quiet. Their Aunt Lizzie decides that she would like to have one twin, the good quiet one, with her as a companion, and send the other twin, the incorrigible one, to Riverside College as a boarder where she will have to learn discipline and restraint. However she mixes up the personalities of the twins, sending Bubbles to school whilst keeping naughty Squirmy as her companion. The use of twins was a popular motif in British school stories, which allowed plots involving mistaken identities, rags, jokes, punishments and other amusing incidents, and Pyke places this in an Australian setting. The girls face plenty of challenges and difficulties in adjusting to their roles. Bubbles must deal with the reputation of being a mischievous and troublesome child and finds herself in many scrapes as a result. Squirmy, on the other hand, has to learn to be a dutiful and considerate companion to her aunt, for whom she gains a real affection in the end. Pyke uses a school house motif. A new house has been established at Riverside, and there are tensions between the modern and up-to-date Raymond House, and Frensham, the original house with its traditions and customs, though this issue is not explored to the level of complexity present in some British school stories.⁴ The mistaken identity is discovered in the end by the aunt, just in time for Bubbles to be able to take her place in the Junior tennis team, which she had forfeited as a punishment for one of Squirmy’s pranks, and Riverside wins the match. Pyke’s girls’ school stories, for the most part, do no match their male counterpart’s enthusiasm and interest in sport and competition, yet Squirmy and Bubbles is an exception. Pyke portrays basketball and tennis house and school matches, and the annual sports days, in great detail.

⁴ See for example, Gunby Hadath The New House at Oldborough.

The Lone Guide of Merfield. London: Ward, Lock & Co., Limited, 1925. 256 pages. Illustrated 'J. Dewar Mills', b/w frontis. & 3 b/w illus.

Despite its title, The Lone Guide of Merfield, bears little resemblance to British girl guiding school stories of the period.⁵ The heroine is fifteen-year-old Mary Gaunt, a pupil teacher at Merfield College, a small private venture school of about 40 boarders and day girls, run by the three Maynard sisters. Mary used to be a boarder but became a pupil teacher when she was abandoned by her relatives, which leaves some of the pupils, including the wealthy Enid Hayfield, to look down on her as a charity pupil. Pupil teachers were a feature in private schools, though this is their only appearance in an Australian school story. Mary becomes a lone guide when there is not enough interest to form a company at Merfield. Pyke moves the story to the school holidays, as the Misses Maynard arrange for Mary to act as a companion to one of the younger pupils, Linda Sterne, when Linda’s family travel to Vilatonga aboard the ‘Palmetto’. Enid and her father are also travelling aboard the ship and Enid is often rude to Mary. The ‘Palmetto’ is caught in a tropical cyclone and sinks. Mr Hayfield, Mary, and one of the Sterne children, Bobby, manage to make it to an island, where they discover Enid. The value of guiding is illustrated through Mary’s use of her training to help the others survive, and gradually Enid overcomes her dislike of Mary. This classic storyline of how a schoolgirl heroine is looked down upon by an enemy, whom she later wins over, is used by Pyke with a guiding and adventure background. The group are rescued by a Natural History professor and his son, and taken back to Vilatonga where they meet Prince Tui Andi and his wife Lala, characters from A Prince at School, and Sheila the Prefect. The story concludes with a romantic identity motif. Mr Hayfield discovers he is Mary’s father, and adopts her. The girls of Merfield are inspired by Mary’s courage, and a company of Guides is established.

⁵ Eg. Dorothea Moore: Judy Patrol Leader, Brenda of Beechhouse.

Robert Richardson

Robert Richardson was born in 1850 in Armidale, New South Wales. He was educated at Sydney Grammar School before graduating in Arts from the University of Sydney in 1870. He became a journalist and moved to England in the 1870s working in London and Edinburgh, writing for publications including The Boys’ Own Paper, Chums, and Punch (1871-1875) (Gibbney and Smith 212). He wrote a number of children’s books, including 18 boys’ novels. In addition to his Australian school stories, Richardson also wrote two British school stories. He died in 1901.

The Boys of Springdale, or, The Strength of Patience. Edinburgh: William Oliphant & Co., [1875]. 64 pages. Not Illus.

The Boys of Springdale was the first Australian school story published. The story is set at Springdale, a small school with about forty pupils including twelve boarders, run by Mr Blaxland. This small private venture boarding school owned and run by the Headmaster was typical of the era, and all of Richardson’s stories are set in this type of school. The Boys of Springdale centres on a conflict that arises between the boarders when they are collecting a subscription for a new cricket ball, and one of them, Steven Kent, refuses to contribute. The boarders send him to Coventry, not realising that he has been saving money to buy a pet for Philip, an invalided boy he visits. Steven is teased and has tricks played on him. When the Head discovers the boys’ ill treatment of Steven he tells them at the School Prize Giving about Steven’s kindness to the sick boy. The boys realise their wrongdoing, and at Mr Blaxland’s encouragement, plan to give Philip a seaside convalescent holiday. Steven is given a special conduct prize, voted for by the boys, because of his good character. The Boys of Springdale features moral themes and motifs which were common in British school stories from this period, started in Tom Brown’s Schooldays. Richardson stresses noble character, moral purity, kindness and good deeds.

Our Junior Mathematical Master, and, A Perilous Errand. Edinburgh: William Oliphant and Co., 1876. 95 pages. Not illus.
This title contains two stories, Our Junior Mathematical Master, and A Perilous Errand.⁶

Our Junior Mathematical Master follows the arrival of a new junior mathematical master, Mr Pottle, at Astor House. For many of the boys he is a poor replacement for his predecessor. One of the Sixth Formers, Fred, believes that Mr Pottle sneaked to the Head, and he begins a campaign of ragging against Mr Pottle which results in the teacher being asked to leave at the end of the half-year. When Fred and his friends discover that Mr Pottle gave up his plans to become a doctor when his parents died, instead starting teaching to look after a younger brother, they realise that they have behaved shabbily and resolve to make amends. Fred confesses to the Head and Mr Pottle is allowed to remain at Astor House, in time becoming senior Mathematical Master.

The second story, A Perilous Errand, contains a similar moral message. A new boy, fourteen-year-old ‘Watty’, comes to Grange House, a small boarding school near Sydney run by Mr Craig. Most of the boys like Watty, though one boy, Will, constantly teases him, thinking it will toughen him up. Watty angers Will by ticking him off for swearing. Both boys remain at school for the holidays and Will becomes very ill with scarlet fever. Watty makes a difficult journey to town to get medicine for Will, and goes missing. He is discovered the next day unconscious and when Will realises that Watty risked his life to help him, he thanks him.

⁶ Some sources state they were published separately (e.g. Saxby Offered to Children 285 and Crotty 278), however Muir and bibliographic records from the National Library of Scotland, and the British Library confirm they were published in the one volume.

The Cold Shoulder; or, A Half-Year at Craiglea. Edinburgh: William Oliphant & Co., 1876. 128 pages. Illustrated, 2 b/w illus.

The Cold Shoulder centres on the arrival of an impoverished new boy, Philip Freeling, at Craiglea, a small Sydney bay-side school. Philip’s mother is a widow, struggling to make ends meet. The School Captain, Frank, quickly realises that clever Philip could prove to be a future rival. Some of the boys tease Philip and when he refuses to participate in cribbing, he is further disliked. Philip accidentally damages one of the boy’s maps and he is sent to Coventry by the school. During a holiday boating trip, Philip shows his courage when he helps one of the boys, George, who has been bitten by a snake. When they return to school the boys think Philip has been very heroic and stop mistreating him. Frank and George feel guilty about their treatment of Philip and tell the Head, who urges Frank to make amends by helping Philip get a job after school. Philip, Frank and George remain lifelong friends.

Reprinted as The Craiglea Boys, Oliphant, Anderson & Ferrier, 189?.

The Boys of Willoughby School. Edinburgh: Nimmo, 1877. 143 pages. Not illus.

The Boys of Willoughby School contains a moral message of a teacher being persecuted similar to that which appeared in Our Junior Mathematical Master. A new French master, Monsieur Flavelle, arrives at Willoughby School, a private boarding school on the bank of the Parramatta River, run by Mr Cubitt who is assisted by two masters. A trio of friends, Tom, Fred and Jack are in the top form, the fourth form, and Tom is Captain. The boys quickly discover Monsieur Flavelle’s weakness for gossiping and boasting and learn to distract him to miss out on lessons. A new boy, ‘Sandy’, is shunned by the boys when he refuses to pay a cricket sub, a motif Richardson also used in The Boys of Springdale. A trick played by some of the boys on Monsieur Flavelle backfires when he becomes angry and tells the Head, who punishes the form. The class decide to retaliate by snubbing the teacher whenever they can. Sandy is against the idea, as he learns that Monsieur Flavelle is very poor and supports two daughters, one of whom is an invalid. During a Cadet Corps camp, Monsieur Flavelle rescues Tom from drowning and the boys realise they have behaved badly to the Frenchman and with Sandy’s help they decide to show their gratitude by helping to obtain a governess’ post for his eldest daughter to help the family finances. This idea of schoolboys’ atoning for their misdeeds by helping the less fortunate to obtain employment is one peculiar to Richardson. The idea of social good works also appears in Richardson’s other school stories.

The Boys of Willoughby School was reprinted by Sampson, Low, Martson & Co. [1925].

Edna Roughley

Little is known about Edna Roughley. She is thought to have been married, and had at least one child, a daughter, for Ellice of Ainslie is dedicated to her daughter Julia Beales. In addition to Ellice of Ainslie, Roughley wrote a book of songs (poetry), a novel for adults and a play.

Ellice of Ainslie. Sydney: Australasian Publishing Co. Pty. Ltd., 1947. 253 pages. Illustrated, b/w frontis.

Ellice of Ainslie tells the story of motherless, hot-tempered and uncontrollable Ellice Kinnard, who is sent from her island home to attend Ainslie, her mother’s old school. There her friendship with the aloof and unpopular Madelon Herriot transforms Madelon into a popular schoolgirl. The central focus of Ellice of Ainslie is the friendship between Madelon and Ellice, emphasising loyalty and trust. Ellice is fascinated by Madelon and her beauty yet apparent coldness, and is determined to be her friend, despite overtures of friendship from three girls, Silver, Diana and Lolo, who are very popular. Two incidents occur that make Ellice question her affection for Madelon: Madelon cheats during an exam and attacks Lola. Madelon is later accused of trying to hurt Silver in an accident during the form play. Despite these events Ellice invites Madelon to spend the holidays with her and learns that Madelon’s mother died when she was a baby so she lives with an aunt as her father does not want her. After an eventful holiday during which Madelon goes missing in a canoe, Madelon returns to Ainslie, invigorated and tries to turn over a new leaf in her behaviour, but finds it hard not to slip back to her old ways of sullenness, coldness, and antagonism. Ellice and Madelon quarrel, before the story ends dramatically with Madelon and Ellice rescuing a Second Former from a crazed dog. For Madelon, school is a success, she is elected Form Prefect and Ellice’s aunt is going to adopt her. Madelon’s transformation is different to the reformation of madcaps in Mackness’ stories for example. It is unusual for a character with Madelon’s faults and failings to reform, typically they would remain the black sheep of the school, e. g. Diana in Janey of Beechlands. Roughley stresses the importance of Ellice’s love and loyalty in Madelon’s transformation.

C. F. Argyll Saxby

C. F. Argyll Saxby was born in the United Kingdom, the son of Scottish author, Jessie M. E. Saxby. She was born in June 1842 and became a prolific author, writing articles and stories for a wide number of publications including the Boys’ Own Paper and several children’s books but was best known for folklore, natural history and contemporary life on the Shetland Isles (Kirpatrick, Encyclopaedia 292). Saxby lived in Canada before teaching as a schoolmaster in places including Cyprus, Syria and India. He served in the First World War. He wrote adventure serials for the Boys’ Own Paper, several of which were published as full length novels (Doyle, Who's Who of Boys' Writers and Illustrators 62). Saxby spent some time living in Victoria. In total, Saxby wrote over ten children’s novels, mostly colonial adventures set in countries including Canada.

Kookaburra Jack: A Story of Australian School Life. London: "The Boy's Own Paper" Office, 1924. 254 pages. Illustrated 'Arthur Twidle', b/w frontis. & 5 b/w illus.

Kookaburra Jack dust jacket 1924 Kookaburra Jack is an Australian boys’ school story which utilises many British public school motifs such as sport, school politics, the role of the Head and discipline, to create a vivid portrayal of Melbourne public school life. The story follows the adventures of fifteen-year-old Jack Hosgood, otherwise known as ‘Kookaburra Jack’, at Yarra Grammar School where he is a day boy. Jack is head of a secret society called ‘The Push’ or ‘The Kookaburra Push’. Secret societies were popular motifs that featured secret meetings and disguised identities. However the Push is unique in its aims and influence. In the past the society has used its power to remove unsuitable masters from the school and is currently engaged in a state of war with Mr ‘Dingo’ Cairns. The society is placed on hold when Jack is forced to leave school after his father disappears. Jack meets a mysterious old man in the park, ‘the old digger’ who offers to become his benefactor, and Jack returns to Yarra as a boarder, on a twelve-month probation as the old man’s heir. Jack immediately makes plans for The Push. Kookaburra Jack Decorated Boards In the upcoming school elections he wants a new Captain elected instead of the incumbent Webb, whom he thinks is too much of a bookworm, and not enough of a sportsman. This view reflects the contemporary attitude of idolizing sports stars in school over academic success. The Push’s plans are successful, and Deane, a popular sportsman, is elected. However Jack’s opinion of Webb begins to change when Webb rescues Deane from the school flagpole after the traditional School Captain celebrations go horribly wrong. The Push intervene when Webb begins to mix with some of the undesirable types at Yarra. The old digger finds Jack’s father, who turns out to be his own son. Jack finally acknowledges Webb’s true sportsmanship and before he disbands the Push his last task is to see Webb elected Captain when Deane leaves.

Kookaburra Jack was reprinted.

D. Lindsay Thompson (Douglas Lindsay Thompson)

Douglas Lindsay Thompson, known as ‘Duncan’, was born on October 27, 1899, in Mosman, New South Wales, the eldest son of author, Lilian Turner, and her husband Fred Thompson (Turner & Poole 244). Thompson was educated at Sydney Grammar School, which he uses as a setting for his two boys’ school stories. As a journalist he worked for the Adelaide Advertiser, and the Melbourne Herald. At the Sydney Morning Herald, where he was a feature writer and chief of staff, his work as an investigative journalist led to an inquiry in the New South Wales Heath Service (Lees & Macintyre 414). He also wrote a history of the Smith Family organisation. It is not known whether he married or had any children.

Blue Brander: A Story of Adventure and Australian School Life. London: Ward, Lock & Co., Limited, 1927. 313 pages. Illustrated 'W. E/F? Wightman', b/w frontis. & 3 b/w illus.

A classroom rag
'He fled to the sanctity of Middle Fifth’s stronghold, leaving a wondrous confusion in his wake.'
D. Lindsay Thompson Blue Brander p 16. Illus. J. MacFarlane. Thompson’s first story in a series of two about ‘the Gang’, ‘Blue’ Brander and his friends, Johnson, Burton, Hyde and Warnecke, is part school story, part adventure story. Blue Brander neatly combines adventure with more traditional school story elements; a new master, ragging and a thrilling sporting victory, using the Easter Break for the adventure plot sandwiched between more typical scenes of school life. Blue Brander opens with Brander of the Middle Fifth leading a scrimmage against the Upper Fifth. As a result, the new master, Mr Doohan, unjustly punishes Johnson, the School rowing stroke, banning him from rowing for three weeks, meaning the school’s chances of winning the upcoming Head of the River Race are severely diminished. Brander plots revenge on Mr Doohan during the Easter holidays, even though Mr Doohan is dating his sister, Daphne. Blue Brander is similar to its contemporaries in that it sets the adventure storyline during a holiday period. The Branders, Mr Doohan and the Gang set off to the Jenolan Caves where Mr Doohan is going to search for his grandfather’s treasure hoard hidden years ago. When an old man the Gang befriended on the train trip turns out to be a bank robber, the Gang decide to foil his plans as well. They plan to find the treasure themselves, then hide a fake treasure and arrange so that the old man and Mr Doohan find it at the same time. Brander also enlists the help of a reporter to further complete Mr Doohan’s humiliation. The plan works well, with the Gang rescuing the bank robber’s stolen money too, though Brander is shot. The holidays over, the Gang return to school. Mr Doohan cancels Johnso

BONZASCHOOLDAYS.COM:Annotated Bio-Bibliography of Australian School Stories