William Thomas Goodge (28 September 1862 – 28 November 1909) was an English writer and journalist, who arrived in Australia in 1882, after jumping ship in Sydney. He worked in various jobs in New South Wales, including as a coal-miner,[1] until he was engaged to write for The Tribune in North Sydney,[1] a small weekly associated with the Daily Telegraph. From there he was chosen by Harry Newman (Member of Parliament and newspaper proprietor) to edit The Leader newspaper in Orange, New South Wales.[2] Goodge remained in Orange, becoming part-owner of The Leader at some point, until in the early 1900s he returned to Sydney and began writing for that city's newspapers, especially The Sunday Times.
W. T. Goodge | |
|---|---|
| Born | William Thomas Goodge 28 September 1862 Middlesex, England |
| Died | 28 November 1909 (aged 47) North Sydney, New South Wales, Australia |
| Nationality | British |
| Occupation(s) | novelist, short story writer, poet, and journalist |
Goodge was first married on 21 January 1892. His wife died 3 January 1895 of typhoid, leaving behind two children.[3] Sometime later he remarried and had another child. Goodge died on 28 November 1909 in North Sydney.
During his writing career, Goodge wrote mainly light-verse poems and short stories. Although he did have one novel, The Fortunes of Fenchurch, serialised in the pages of The Sunday Times, the book was never published separately. His best known works were "The Great Australian Adjective", and "The Oozlum Bird".[4]
Norman Lindsay, who illustrated the reprint volume of Goodge's only poetry collection, considered the poet better than C. J. Dennis. "Goodge, with his Hits! Skits! and Jingles!, is a much better light-verse writer than Dennis, and his book should be reprinted."[5]
Novels edit
- The Fortunes of Fenchurch, 1906
Collections edit
Individual poems edit
- "The Great Australian Adjective" (1897)
- "The Oozlum Bird" (1897)
- "Daley's Dorg Wattle" (1898)
- "Mulligan's Shanty" (1898)
External links edit
Obituary: A. G. Stephens[6]
References edit
- ^ a b "Books and Bookmen: Lights that Failed". The Catholic Press. Sydney: National Library of Australia. 12 August 1915. p. 12. Retrieved 21 November 2014.
- ^ "The Insect". The Newsletter: an Australian Paper for Australian People. Sydney: National Library of Australia. 16 December 1905. p. 13. Retrieved 21 November 2014.
- ^ "Orange (Advocate)". Bathurst Free Press and Mining Journal. Sydney: National Library of Australia. 19 January 1895. p. 3. Retrieved 21 November 2014.
- ^ "The Oozlum Bird" by W.T. Goodge
- ^ Letter to Alec C. Chisholm, from Letters of Norman Lindsay edited by R. G. Howarth and A. W. Barker, 1979, p609
- ^ "W. T. Goodge". The Register. Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 11 December 1909. p. 4. Retrieved 21 November 2014.