Pauline Eedy was born in 1884 in Nelson Bay, and raised in Sydney. She was the child of John William Ferguson Eedy (1849-1919) and Elizabeth Jane Ling (1852-1920). The fifth daughter of six, she also had two brothers, both younger.
Details of her early life are included in her letters to the children's pages of the Australian Town and Country Journal; she was a regular correspondent from the age of 14 (in 1900) and regular contributor to their competitions.
Eedy's letters note that she was one of eight children (with five sisters and two brothers) (4 Aug. 1900) and that the family moved from Strathfield to Woollahra sometime around 1899 (27 Oct. 1900, 1 June 1901). She also makes frequent reference to her uncle and aunt in China: Captain G.W. Eedy, who died in 1921, was a naval officer and worked with the China Navigation Company. His Chinese 'curios' still form part of the Art Gallery of New South Wales's collection. One of Pauline Eedy's late stories, 'His Hobby', is likely drawn from her uncle's collecting proclivities.
In 1900 and 1901, her letters and stories were repeatedly noted in prize columns. Her first story, 'True to His Trust' was published in 'Princess Spinaway's Department' (children's pages of the Australian Town & Country Journal) in June 1901; she was then 15 years old.
In 1912, Eedy married William Gordon Henderson, of Aberdeen ('Marriages'). They setted in Roseville, and had three children: daughter Valda (later Mrs Geoffrey Bowyer) and sons [John] Brian and William Gordon ('Bill'). The latter was killed in an aircraft crash in Scotland in 1943, while serving in the Air Force.
Eedy did not write prolifically, but published a handful of short stories between 1901 and 1920; most of the works were short morality tales, published in the children's pages of newspapers. No further works have been traced by Pauline Eedy, and no works have been traced under her married name.
Eedy died in 1977.
Sources:
'Births', Sydney Morning Herald, 24 September 1884, p.1.
'Births', Sydney Morning Herald, 28 November 1925, p.16.
'Dame Durden's Post Office', Australian Town and Country Journal, 4 August 1900.
'Dame Durden's Post Office', Australian Town and Country Journal, 27 October 1900.
'Dame Durden's Post Office', Australian Town and Country Journal, 1 June 1901.
'Marriages', Sydney Morning Herald, 28 December 1912, p.12.
'Miss Valda Henderson' , Sydney Mail, 11 October 1933, p.21. (Includes portrait.)
'Roll of Honour', Sydney Morning Herald, 5 April 1943, p.8.
