The Mystery of Big Oakey single work   novel   mystery  
Note: Author of 'The Early Fifties' etc.
Issue Details: First known date: 1893... 1893 The Mystery of Big Oakey
The material on this page is available to AustLit subscribers. If you are a subscriber or are from a subscribing organisation, please log in to gain full access. To explore options for subscribing to this unique teaching, research, and publishing resource for Australian culture and storytelling, please contact us or find out more.

AbstractHistoryArchive Description

Murder on the Turon diggings in the early 1850s. The narrator, Tom Brown alias Maynick was an English emigrant and NSW police-runner (early form of detective) in Sydney in the late 1840s, turned digger in the 1850s. He discovers a murdered miner, a 'hatter' (loner), and with a digging mate resolves to investigate the crime. The victim, 'The Count', spoke very little but was known to have some gold - but disappeared during the visit of an English cousin, Reginald Dollington. The inquest when his body is discovered in a mine some months later misses the murder verdict but the narrator and friend discover it while burying the body ... He tells the Commissioner of the victim's unhappy life in England when he discovers a letter from the Count's wife, Aimee. Tom goes to Sydney to track her down in The Rocks - a rough area. Tom investigates Reginald Dollington's plans to prove the Count's death and claim the inheritance. Tom tracks down the murder weapon to Dollington, and a pair of boots. When Aimee sees Dollington to identify him she is terrorised - and eventually Tom realises it is the Count who has taken Dollington' place. Includes an excursion into Norman times and the gaining of an estate by Dollington, William the Conqueror's Cook! Also the progression to nobility of the name through English history and their financial fall. Detective work uncovers the rest ... Suicide and a confession complete the tale, along with a marriage in England. (PB)

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

First known date: 1893
Serialised by: The Australian Journal 1865 periodical (900 issues)
Notes:
Serialised in eight monthly instalments in the Australian Journal between February 1893 September 1893.

Works about this Work

Charles Edward Augustus de Boos, 1819-1900 : His Life, Work, and Writing Peter Crabb , 2014 single work biography
— Appears in: JASAL , vol. 14 no. 3 2014;

'Charles de Boos was one of a number of mid-nineteenth century writers who helped to lay the foundations of Australian literature. His early life experiences of Huguenot ancestry and participation in the Carlist wars in Spain, followed by his initial years in Australia, made essential contributions to the person he was. So did his extremely varied working life, particularly as a reporter for the 'Argus and the 'Sydney Morning Herald', and later as a mining warden and police magistrate in New South Wales. His reporting on the goldfields in Victoria and especially New South Wales, added to his experiences of significant social and legal issues, and his concerns for the 'under-dogs', women, children, the diggers, the Chinese, and the Aborigines. It was his knowledge of the goldfields and gold mining that led to his appointment as a mining warden and other official roles in a number of locations over a period of fifteen years, work to which his social view contributed much and for whch he was highly respected, in marked contrast to what some have written.

'His life experiencess, work and travels provided the basis for his many and varied writings, to which the second half of the essay is devoted. From his parliamentary reporting came his satirical writing. From this and his travels came his social commentary. His first two novels were set in early nineteenth century rural New South Wales, 'Fifty Years Ago' being his most well-known work, "one of the best books written in the infancy of Australian literature". His subsequent fiction, notably 'Mark Brown's Wife', was set in the goldfields of New South Wales and Victoria.

'He made an as yet unacknowledged contribution to the foundations of Australian literature. He was a man who was ahead of his times in so many ways, one who gave voice to a different way in colonial New South Wales.' (Publication abstract)

Charles Edward Augustus de Boos, 1819-1900 : His Life, Work, and Writing Peter Crabb , 2014 single work biography
— Appears in: JASAL , vol. 14 no. 3 2014;

'Charles de Boos was one of a number of mid-nineteenth century writers who helped to lay the foundations of Australian literature. His early life experiences of Huguenot ancestry and participation in the Carlist wars in Spain, followed by his initial years in Australia, made essential contributions to the person he was. So did his extremely varied working life, particularly as a reporter for the 'Argus and the 'Sydney Morning Herald', and later as a mining warden and police magistrate in New South Wales. His reporting on the goldfields in Victoria and especially New South Wales, added to his experiences of significant social and legal issues, and his concerns for the 'under-dogs', women, children, the diggers, the Chinese, and the Aborigines. It was his knowledge of the goldfields and gold mining that led to his appointment as a mining warden and other official roles in a number of locations over a period of fifteen years, work to which his social view contributed much and for whch he was highly respected, in marked contrast to what some have written.

'His life experiencess, work and travels provided the basis for his many and varied writings, to which the second half of the essay is devoted. From his parliamentary reporting came his satirical writing. From this and his travels came his social commentary. His first two novels were set in early nineteenth century rural New South Wales, 'Fifty Years Ago' being his most well-known work, "one of the best books written in the infancy of Australian literature". His subsequent fiction, notably 'Mark Brown's Wife', was set in the goldfields of New South Wales and Victoria.

'He made an as yet unacknowledged contribution to the foundations of Australian literature. He was a man who was ahead of his times in so many ways, one who gave voice to a different way in colonial New South Wales.' (Publication abstract)

Last amended 29 Oct 2008 11:44:29
X