' Children's Hour, a monthly paper for second to fifth-year primary pupils. Begun in 1889 by John Hartley the paper enriched children's diet of Royal Readers ... it was a cheap already a significant contributor, with his series on Australian explorers, begun in 1899. He extended his articles to include Australian literature, geography and Nature study, showing children it was a mistake to "think that to be a hero, and to do deeds which poets may write about, or artists make pictures of, you must live in other lands". Children and their parents, especially in "back country farmhouses", eagerly awaited each issue.' The series was an inspiration and model for the Victorian School Paper.
Source: Elizabeth Kwan, 'Roach, Bertie Smith (1864 - 1944)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 11, Melbourne University press, 1988, pp 403-404.
