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C. J. M. Robertson C. J. M. Robertson i(A74754 works by)
Gender: Unknown
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1 Harry's Horse : A Christmas Story C. J. M. Robertson , 1888 single work short story
— Appears in: The Australian Journal , December vol. 24 no. 283 1888; (p. 186-189) A mechanic grown rich through his inventions recalls a happy Christmas of his first marriage and his humble gift of a rocking horse to his infant son. His son died the next morning and his wife followed within a year. His second marriage was of convenience only. Tender tale with warmly intimate description of the child and the games played with his young parents. (PB)
1 Baby Bertie. A Nurse's Story C. J. M. Robertson , 1887 single work novel Colloquial first-hand narrative, cheery and amusing character. Opens with 'A Prefactory Note By Mrs Glubbins. Unrevised By Her Son' in which she describes her son's offer of revising her manuscript, and her insistence he not spoil her style. Then follows 'The Story'. A midwife and nurse Mrs Glubbins loses her savings and those of her son-in-law in a bank collapse and the baby born to her daughter and son-in-law is so sickly in consequence that it dies. A mysterious well-to-do woman comes to her home to give birth and she and her husband abandon the child with Mrs Glubbins who agrees to replace what she had lost ... A chance meeting reintroduces Mrs Glubbins and the child's true mother of the 'prematrue' birth of her next child. Jealousy at the prospect of her lover's marriage to another causes the mother to goad her husband to kill him in a duel, hoping he would also kill her - but he dies making the will to disinherit her. The plot thickens even further. (PB)
1 The Jacksons C. J. M. Robertson , 1887 single work short story Partly satirical account from the narrator's fanciful youth of the poor JAckson family and their struggles to survive illness, starvation and the constant incursion of new family members. The narrator's romantic illusions and those of her 'blighted' maid are removed by the end of the tale ... (PB)
1 Searching for Santa Claus : A Christmas Story C. J. M. Robertson , 1887 single work short story Domestic tale set in Melbourne, principally around a poor dwelling in Collingwood. A widow struggles to feed her 5 children by sewing and with the help of her oldest, a 10 year old. She falls ill on Christmas Eve and her son having decided to seek work to help, one of her daughters resolves to find Santa Claus while he is away. Wandering the streets of Melbourne she finds - unknowingly - her uncle who had recently arrived from England - and he indeed plays Santa to the family left fatherless by his brother who lost his property in speculation.
1 Mrs Glubbins on Tennyson's 'May Queen' C. J. M. Robertson (editor), 1887 single work prose
— Appears in: The Australian Journal , April vol. 22 no. 263 1887; (p. 450-451) Narrative version of the 'May Queen' - with commentary - by sensible Mrs G. Humour. Concludes with passing comment on lectures on women's rights. (PB)
1 A Tale of the Deep C. J. M. Robertson , 1886-1887 single work short story Tale of the sea including a sinking ship, and long days adrift in an open boat with near escapes from cannibalism. The narrator is on his one trip at sea as steward, and the lady involved - the captain's wife - is the archetype of the heartless woman: marrying the captain for his money; refusing to feed her baby once adrift; eager to accept the self-sacrifice of the officer who loved her - she drinks his blood before the killing is halted. (There was even a suggestion she would have eaten her own dead baby). The cause of the ship sinking is even attributable to her as a jilted Frenchman determines to do it as revenge on her. Mixture of commonplace realism and romantic melodrama. (PB)
1 The Album Nuisance C. J. M. Robertson , 1886 single work prose satire
— Appears in: The Australian Journal , July vol. 21 no. 254 1886; (p. 600-601) Satirical description of the horrors of inspecting family photo albums at the first social call on a new acquaintance. (PB)
1 My Greatest Temptation : A Nurse's Story C. J. M. Robertson , 1886 single work short story
— Appears in: The Australian Journal , June vol. 21 no. 253 1886; (p. 548-551) A widowed London cockney nurse recalls the temptation she received from an idle scheming 'gentleman' to let his wife - his sister's governess - and her newborn baby die so that he can marry his rich cousin. She refuses and on the husband's death restores his wife and child to a loving grandfather - and is herself rewarded along with her six children and alcoholic mother ... Amusing melodrama from pragmatic point of view. (PB)
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