Thomas Heney was a journalist, poet and novelist. In 1903 he was the first native-born Australian to become editor of the Sydney Morning Herald. From 1920 to 1923 he edited the Brisbane Telegraph and, from 1924 to 1925, Sydney's Daily Telegraph. He was foundation president of the Institute of Journalists of New South Wales from 1913 to 1920. The Australian Dictionary of Biography asserts that Heney's verse is 'carefully crafted, distinctive, at times Whitmanesque in form, but lacks sharp poetic edge'.
Thomas and Amy Heney had three children who also published literary works: Helen, Lucy and John.
