Who was Henry Lawson?
Henry Lawson was an Australian writer and poet, born in 1867, famous for short stories and poems about bush life, such as The Drover's Wife. He is regarded as one of Australia's greatest storytellers.
Lawson grew up on the goldfields near Grenfell and Gulgong in New South Wales. He became partially deaf as a child. His mother, Louisa Lawson, was a writer and early campaigner for women's rights.
His stories, published in The Bulletin, showed the hardship, loneliness and humour of life in the outback. The Drover's Wife describes a woman alone in the bush protecting her children from a snake.
Realism and mateship
Unlike Banjo Paterson's romantic bush, Lawson portrayed it as harsh and unforgiving. Their verse debate in The Bulletin in the 1890s became famous.
Lawson struggled with alcoholism and poverty, and spent time in jail and hospitals. He died in 1922 and was given a state funeral, the first for an Australian writer.
His face appeared on the first Australian ten-dollar note when decimal currency was introduced in 1966, and statues of him stand in Sydney's Domain and in Gulgong.
Collections such as While the Billy Boils and Joe Wilson and His Mates remain classics of Australian literature, and The Drover's Wife has been reimagined in modern works, including a 2021 film by Leah Purcell from an Aboriginal perspective.
Did You Know?
Lawson's poem Freedom on the Wallaby reflected support for striking shearers in the 1890s.