John Farrell (poet)

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John Farrell (18 December 1851 – 8 January 1904) was an Australian poet and journalist.

Contents

[edit] Early life

Farrell was born at Buenos Aires, Argentina, the son of Andrew Farrell who left Ireland about 1847 and settled in Buenos Aires as a chemist. Towards the end of 1852 Andrew Farrell went to Victoria (Australia), with his wife, Mary[1], and children, and engaged first in gold-digging, and then in carrying, before finally settling down as a farmer. John Farrell was at first educated by his parents and then at a private school. His mother died before he was 12 years old, and he had little formal education although his father encouraged his taste for reading. The boy worked on farms, and when he was 19 obtained a position in a brewery at Bendigo, Victoria. He spent some time in Darwin, Northern Territory, gold-digging[1] and then wandered about Australia for some time, went into brewing again, and alternated this occupation with farming for some years.

[edit] Literary career

In 1878 he published, under the name of John O'Farrell, Ephemera: An Iliad of Albury, a small pamphlet of verse, and a rare Australian publication. In 1882 Two Stories, a Fragmentary Poem was published in Melbourne, and about this period he began to be a regular contributor to The Bulletin. He was then working in a brewery at Albury, New South Wales and in 1883 was a partner in a brewery at Goulburn. He became much interested in the tenets of Henry George after reading Progress and Poverty. In January 1887 a collection of Farrell's verses was published in Sydney entitled How He Died and Other Poems which was favourably reviewed. Also in 1887 he sold his brewery interests and went to Sydney hoping to obtain employment as a journalist. He bought a paper, the Lithgow, New South Wales Enterprise, but was unable to make it a financial success, and in 1889 returned to Sydney to edit the Australian Standard, a single tax paper for which Farrell did much writing. In October 1889 he began a series of articles on George's theories for the Sydney Daily Telegraph, and in the following year joined its staff. When Henry George arrived in Sydney in March he was met by Farrell who accompanied him on his inland tour, they became great friends. In June 1890 Farrell was appointed editor of the Sydney Daily Telegraph, but found the responsibility too great and resigned three months later.

[edit] Late life and legacy

Farrell continued to be a regular contributor to the Telegraph until shortly before his death on 8 January 1904. He had married in November 1876 Eliza Watts, who survived him with seven children. A memorial edition of Farrell's poems was published in 1904 with a memoir by Bertram Stevens under the title of My Sundowner and other Poems. This was re-issued in 1905 as How He Died and other Poems. The contents differ substantially from the 1887 volume of the same name. Farrell's gravestone is inscribed with:

Sleep Heart of Gold! 'Twas not in vain
You loved the struggling and the poor,
And taught, in sweet and strenuous strain
To battle and endure.
The lust of wealth, the pride of place,
Were not a light to guide thy feet,
But larger hopes and wider space
For hearts to beat.[1]


[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c B. G. Andrews (1972). Farrell, John (1851 - 1904). Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 4 pp 156-157. MUP. Retrieved on 2007-08-29.

[edit] External links

Persondata
NAME Farrell, John
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION Australian poet
DATE OF BIRTH 18 December 1851
PLACE OF BIRTH Buenos Aires, Argentina
DATE OF DEATH 8 January 1904
PLACE OF DEATH Sydney, New South Wales, Australia