'Austin South' 'Austin South' i(A34336 works by) (birth name: William Edward Graham)
Also writes as: W. E. Graham
Born: Established: 1867 Queensland, ; Died: Ceased: 18 Feb 1947 Brisbane, Queensland,
Gender: Male
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BiographyHistory

'Austin South' (W. Edward Graham), was the son of Darling Downs grazier and Queensland politician William Graham (1836-1892), and the elder brother of A. Douglas Graham. He was educated at the Brisbane Grammar School, and then the University of Melbourne, where he attended Trinity College. He was admitted to the Queensland Bar in 1904, but the following year took up a teaching appointment at Tamworth Grammar School. He subsequently returned to Brisbane, where he practiced as a barrister.

In 1891, he published two chapters of a futuristic novel involving a 'Utopian Brisbane', which espoused the single tax theories of Henry George, under the title The Land and the People. A version of this work also appeared as a serial in the South Australian labour newspaper the Voice in 1893, with the title In Those Days, or, Life in the Twentieth Century, however the serial was never concluded, and it remains unclear as to whether a complete version of the work was ever finished.

As 'Austin South', Graham also wrote a number of poems, short stories and essays; these appeared at intervals in the Queenslander, Centennial Magazine, the Boomerang, the Bulletin, Steele Rudd's Magazine, and the Brisbane Courier. His other known works include The Great Illusion: Capitalism, Socialism and the Workers (1926) and The Senior Partner: A Study of Capital and the Capitalistic System (1927), both of which were published under his actual name. During the 1920s and 1930s, Graham was active within the Brisbane Charity Organisation Society.


Most Referenced Works

Notes

  • In their "Introduction" to Utopian Brisbane, and All Other Known Writings of 'Austin South,' Bill Metcalf and Darryll Bellingham present a section titled 'Who is Austin South.' Published before the arrival of Trove (National Library of Australia), the compilers faced the almost impossible task of trying to establish the identity of the person behind the nom de plume. They raise the possibility that 'South could have been Medway Day, editor of the onscure Adelaide newspaper The Voice,' which published In Those Days in 1893. They also point to two issues which counter that suggestion, however - the fact that the writing styles of both men were vastly different and that Day was unlikely to have used a pseudonym given that 'he was seeking to become better recognised as a writer.' In the end Metcalf and Bellingham conclude that it was impossible for them to therefore establish without doubt the identity of the person behind the pen-name (p.11).

    In 2010 AustLit researcher Robert Thomson was able to track down a number of sources using Trove. These provide a convincing case for ascerting that 'South's' real identiy was William Edward Graham. A 1905 'Gossip from Women's Clubland' column, published in Queensland Figaro, records for example: 'Congratulations to Mr W. G. Graham, Loch Nell, on his clever poem in Saturday's Courier on the Russian question as "Austin South." Mr Graham has many admirers in the literary world' (2 February 1905, p.6). In reporting on Graham's appointment as master at the Tamworth Grammar School that same year, the Queenslander also notes: '[Graham] is well-known in Brisbane, and his literary work under the nom de plume of "Austin South" has attracted attention' (1 April 1905, p.9).
Last amended 23 Jun 2017 11:30:37
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