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Notes
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This work is a substantially expanded version of the short story 'A Night in a Custom House', which appeared in Harriet Patchett Martin's anthology Under the Gum Tree (1890).
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This story appears to contain autobiographical elements, and to some extent might be drawn from Harriet Patchett Martin's experiences in Queensland - it involves Aline Beaumont, 'the only daughter of a long-widowed parent', who came to Australia with her husband, Captain Beaumont, 'one of those gentlemanly and agreeable ne'er do wells whom other men characterise as "no man's enemy but his own" ', who took up a Customs appointment at the northern town of Stony Hollow. The setting appears to be Queensland - the capital Bristowe (Brisbane), the northern ports of Ellenborough (Maryborough) and Stony Hollow (possibly Rockhampton), whilst the character the Hon. William Thornhill, the Collector of Customs at Bristowe, might be based on William Thornton, Queensland Collector of Customs from 1859 to 1882, and also a Queensland M. L. C., who was the step-father of Margaret Ellen Day (probably Mrs. Henry Day (q.v.), the dedicatee of Martin's Under the Gum Tree).
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
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Tropical Flowers : Romancing North Queensland in Early Female Fiction and Poetry
2009
single work
criticism
— Appears in: LiNQ , vol. 36 no. 2009; (p. 135-160) Cheryl Taylor discusses seven female writers who were inspired by and wrote about North Queensland. She concludes, in part, that 'the flower authors see tropical Queensland as a place of liberation for women.... where young female characters assert an identity freed from parental or marital restrictions'. -
Out Back Adventures
2007
single work
review
— Appears in: Magpies : Talking About Books for Children , November vol. 22 no. 5 2007; (p. 8-10)
— Review of Croc on the Loose 2004 single work children's fiction ; The Giant Scrub Python 2003 single work children's fiction ; Cross Currents 1899 single work short story ; Bushfire Rescue 2005 single work children's fiction ; Crocodile Attack! 2005 single work children's fiction ; Scorpion Sting 2006 single work children's fiction ; Spider Bite 2007 single work children's fiction ; Secrets of Eromanga 2006 single work novel ; Blind Trek 2007 single work children's fiction ; 68 Teeth 2004 single work children's fiction ; Croc Bait 2003 single work children's fiction ; The Barrumbi Kids 2002 single work children's fiction ; The Spirit of Barrumbi 2003 single work children's fiction ; Leaving Barrumbi 2007 single work children's fiction ; The Last Muster 2004 single work children's fiction ; Crocodile Attack 2004 single work picture book ; Brumby Plains 2006 series - author children's fiction ; Castaway 2007 single work children's fiction Arguing that 'the elemental adventure story is making a comeback' (8), Steinberger gives a brief overview of a number of Australian children's fictions which he sees as representing a 'new wave of outback adventures' (10). -
Writing from the Contact Zone : Fiction by Early Queensland Women
2004
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Hecate , vol. 30 no. 2 2004; (p. 53-70) Hibiscus and Ti-Tree : Women in Queensland 2009; (p. 30-45) This paper examines 'some of the ways in which white women novelists also contributed powerfully to shaping the literary imaginative landscape through which Australian readers came to "know" Indigenous people, and the nature of inter-racial contact, in the period before the publication of writing by Indigenous women began to disrupt the textual terrain' (54). The focus is on the writing of women who grew up in rural Queensland and/or used Queensland as settings. The paper concludes that women writers, though presenting themselves as sympathetic and knowledgeable observers and spokespersons for Indigenous people, were 'active participants in the ongoing colonial projects of subjugating Indigenous people and managing perceptions of that process' (68).
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Out Back Adventures
2007
single work
review
— Appears in: Magpies : Talking About Books for Children , November vol. 22 no. 5 2007; (p. 8-10)
— Review of Croc on the Loose 2004 single work children's fiction ; The Giant Scrub Python 2003 single work children's fiction ; Cross Currents 1899 single work short story ; Bushfire Rescue 2005 single work children's fiction ; Crocodile Attack! 2005 single work children's fiction ; Scorpion Sting 2006 single work children's fiction ; Spider Bite 2007 single work children's fiction ; Secrets of Eromanga 2006 single work novel ; Blind Trek 2007 single work children's fiction ; 68 Teeth 2004 single work children's fiction ; Croc Bait 2003 single work children's fiction ; The Barrumbi Kids 2002 single work children's fiction ; The Spirit of Barrumbi 2003 single work children's fiction ; Leaving Barrumbi 2007 single work children's fiction ; The Last Muster 2004 single work children's fiction ; Crocodile Attack 2004 single work picture book ; Brumby Plains 2006 series - author children's fiction ; Castaway 2007 single work children's fiction Arguing that 'the elemental adventure story is making a comeback' (8), Steinberger gives a brief overview of a number of Australian children's fictions which he sees as representing a 'new wave of outback adventures' (10). -
Writing from the Contact Zone : Fiction by Early Queensland Women
2004
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Hecate , vol. 30 no. 2 2004; (p. 53-70) Hibiscus and Ti-Tree : Women in Queensland 2009; (p. 30-45) This paper examines 'some of the ways in which white women novelists also contributed powerfully to shaping the literary imaginative landscape through which Australian readers came to "know" Indigenous people, and the nature of inter-racial contact, in the period before the publication of writing by Indigenous women began to disrupt the textual terrain' (54). The focus is on the writing of women who grew up in rural Queensland and/or used Queensland as settings. The paper concludes that women writers, though presenting themselves as sympathetic and knowledgeable observers and spokespersons for Indigenous people, were 'active participants in the ongoing colonial projects of subjugating Indigenous people and managing perceptions of that process' (68). -
Tropical Flowers : Romancing North Queensland in Early Female Fiction and Poetry
2009
single work
criticism
— Appears in: LiNQ , vol. 36 no. 2009; (p. 135-160) Cheryl Taylor discusses seven female writers who were inspired by and wrote about North Queensland. She concludes, in part, that 'the flower authors see tropical Queensland as a place of liberation for women.... where young female characters assert an identity freed from parental or marital restrictions'.
Last amended 21 May 2010 11:24:06
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