Journalist and historian Charles Edward (Ted) Sayers attended primary school in Broken Hill, New South Wales. He received a scholarship to attend high school, but at 13 years of age he began work as a copyholder with the Barrier Daily Truth. He then became a cadet reporter for that newspaper. In 1919 Sayers became a reporter with the Queensland newspaper the Maryborough Chronicle, then the Brisbane Telegraph and the Daily Mail. In 1922 he joined the Melbourne Age. In 1927 Sayers joined the Sydney Sun. At different times in his career he also worked for the Melbourne Herald, and the Victorian rural newspaper the Leader.
During World War Two Sayers served with the British Foreign Office's Ministry of Economic Warfare. His later positions in journalism included editor of the Australian Associated Press Service (1947). Sayers also wrote or edited numerous historical works, including The Women's - : A Social History to Mark the 100th Anniversary of the Royal Women's Hospital, Melbourne (1956), The Life and Adventures of William Buckley (1967 edition, written by John Morgan, q.v. in 1852), By These We Flourish : A History of Warrnambool (1969), Old Gold Towns of New South Wales (1971), Historical Records of Port Phillip (1972 edition, originally edited by John J. Shillinglaw, q.v. in 1879) and Earle's Port Fairy : A History (1973 edition, written in 1896 by William Earle). Sayers died before completing a biography of Sir Keith Murdoch (q.v.).
Miller and Macartney (Australian Literature : A Bibliography to 1938, 1940) and The Oxford Companion to Australian Literature (Wilde, Hooton, Andrews, 1985) mention two novels, Green Streaked Ring (1930) and Desperate Chances (1930). The second of these has not been traced.
