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Was born at Stirling,
Scotland, on 8 August 1849. At 16 years of age he came to Australia and
stayed about seven years, during which he travelled widely. On returning
to Scotland he was for eight years art master in the Watt College and the
old school of arts. He travelled in Australia and New Guinea again during
1886, and paid another visit to Australia in 1895. He had studied painting
under Sam Bough, R.S.A., but does not appear to have had any success; in a
volume called Where Art Begins, published by him in 1892, he speaks
with bitterness on the chances of success in painting. He gave most of his
time to writing and published many volumes of verse, books on art and
fiction. Several of his novels are coloured by his Australian experiences
and appear to have had some success. Miller in his Australian
Literature lists about 40 novels published between 1888 and 1905.
During the next 10 years he published a few more books including Hathor
and Other Poems, which appeared as the first volume of his poetic and
dramatic works in 1905. There was another edition in 1908. He seems to
have died in 1921. His name appears in the list of artists in The
Year's Art for 1921 but not in any subsequent volume. |
