A.J. Hordern - Letters from E.J. Banfield, 1910-1923

MLMSS 6195/Box 1X

fonds

1910-1923

133524

0.16 metres of textual material (1 outsize box)
Textual Records
Textual Records - (typescript)

E.J. Banfield was born in Liverpool, England in 1852 and came to Australia as a child. He became a journalist and from 1882 to 1897 worked on the Townsville Daily Bulletin. After a nervous collapse he settled with his wife Bertha on Dunk Island, off the Queensland coast, where he remained until his death in 1923. He wrote several books about his island experiences - Confessions of a Beachcomber (1908), My Tropic Isle (1911), Tropic Days 1913), and Last Leaves from Dunk Island (1925).

34 letters which provide insights into Banfield's relatively primitive life on Dunk Island as well as providing information on his financial situation with which A.J. Hordern, the Sydney businessman, appears to have helped him. Also includes two letters written to Hordern by Townsville businessman, Spenser Hopkins, shortly after Banfield's death.