Ada A. Holman Ada A. Holman i(A11589 works by) (birth name: Ada Augusta Kidgell) (a.k.a. Ada Augusta Holman; A. A. Holman; Mrs W. A. Holman)
Also writes as: Myee ; Marcus Malcolm ; Literoctopus ; Augusta ; Nardoo
Born: Established: 3 Oct 1869 Ballarat, Ballarat area, Ballarat - Bendigo area, Victoria, ; Died: Ceased: 3 Apr 1949
Gender: Female
Heritage: Irish ; English
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BiographyHistory

Ada A. Holman was the daughter of an English journalist, Ebenezer Kidgell, and his Irish wife Agness Martin. Her father worked for several newspapers and the family probably relocated frequently for the sake of his work. In 1902 Ebenezer Kidgell died, leaving the family in financial difficulties. The Australian Dictionary of Biography states that as a result Holman 'later recalled' many years of 'doing nothing but work'.

She became a journalist in the 1890s, writing a regular letter from Sydney to Melbourne Punch under the pseudonym 'Myee'. She also used her own name, as well as 'Marcus Malcolm' and 'Nardoo' for her contributions to the Sydney Mail.

In 1901, she married William Holman (q.v.), an English lawyer who arrived in Australia and became a Labor MP. He later became Premier of New South Wales, and led the Labor Party from 1913-1916, and the Nationalist Party from 1916-1920.

An active feminist with a keen interest in politics, Ada Holman wrote travel and political pieces, fiction, children's literature and drama. Two of her novels, 'Eve in the Desert' (1934) and 'Good Courage' (1936) were serialised in the Sydney Morning Herald, but not published as novels. She edited the Sydney-based feminist paper The Shadow during the early 1900s.

Most Referenced Works

Notes

  • Won literary prize of 100 pounds from De Garis Publishing Company in early 1920s. (Source: The Bookfellow Vol 6 No. 1 February 15 1921, p 5)
  • See also the full Australian Dictionary of Biography Online entry for Ada Augusta Holman, (1869-1949).

Awards for Works

y separately published work icon Sport of the Gods 1921 single work novel
1920 third place De Garis Prize

Known archival holdings

Barr Smith Library (SA)
Last amended 3 Jul 2024 11:50:29
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