Agnes Littlejohn

Agnes Littlejohn (25 September 1865 – 27 December 1944) was an Australian writer.

Agnes Littlejohn
Born(1865-09-25)25 September 1865
Paddington, New South Wales, Australia
Died27 December 1944(1944-12-27) (aged 79)
Epping, New South Wales, Australia
OccupationPoet, short story writer, children's author

Life

Agnes Littlejohn was born in Paddington, New South Wales on 25 September 1865.[1] Her Scottish father, Thomas Littlejohn (d.1906) and his wife Ann Austin Littlejohn (née Orsmond in Tahiti) had migrated to Australia in 1864.[2]

Littlejohn had paintings in the Australian Academy of Arts Exhibition in 1892.[3]

Her first collection of short stories was published in 1907, the year following her father's death, and was reviewed favourably by The Sydney Morning Herald.[4] It contained both new stories and others which had previously been published in the Presbyterian.[5] From November 1907 her stories appeared in the "Young Folks" and "Australian Stories" columns of The Sydney Mail.[6][7]

Following the outbreak of World War I, Littlejohn began writing patriotic poetry which was published in The Sydney Mail.[8][9][10] It was collected and re-published in a series of volumes during the war years. She also donated earnings from her writing to patriotic funds.[11][12]

Her first book of fairy stories for children, Star Dust and Sea Spray, appeared in 1918 and was illustrated by Sydney Ure Smith and Percy Leason,[13] while Pixie O'Harris illustrated her 1924 book, The Lost Emerald and other Stories.[14]

She also wrote the lyrics for the song, "To a Butterfly", composed by Raimund Pechotsch in 1925.[15] It was dedicated to and sung by Elsa Stralia.[16]

In 1931 she began to write poetry for The Sydney Morning Herald.[17]

Works

Prose
  • The Daughter of a Sailor and other stories (1907)[18]
  • A Lapse of Memory and other stories (1909)
  • Mirage of the Desert (1910)
  • The Breath of India (1914)
  • The Silver Road and other stories (1915)
  • Star Dust and Sea Spray (1918)
  • Rainbow Dreams (1919)
  • The Lost Emerald and other Stories (1924)
  • The Pipes O' Pan and other short stories (1939)

Poetry
  • Verses (1914)
  • Patriotic Poems (1915)
  • Verses (1915)
  • War Poems, dedicated to Australian soldiers (1916)
  • The Lady of the Doves and other poems (1929)
  • The Guardian of the Gate and other poems (1933)
  • The Unforgotten Watch and other poems (1935)
  • Drowsy Hours and other poems (1936)
  • Lighthouse Keepers and other poems (1938)

Prose and poetry
  • The Sleeping Sea-Nymph (1921)
  • Lyrics and Lyrical Prose (1927)
  • Lyrics and Mystic Sketches (1928)

Later life and death

Littlejohn died on 27 December 1944 at a private hospital in Epping, New South Wales.[19] She never married.[20]

References
  1. "Family Notices". The Sydney Morning Herald. Vol. LII, no. 8537. New South Wales, Australia. 30 September 1865. p. 1. Retrieved 17 August 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
  2. "Topics for the Block". The Australasian. Vol. LXXX, no. 2078. Victoria, Australia. 27 January 1906. p. 46. Retrieved 17 August 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
  3. "Academy of Arts". The Sydney Morning Herald. No. 16, 936. New South Wales, Australia. 2 July 1892. p. 5. Retrieved 17 August 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
  4. "Notes". The Sydney Morning Herald. No. 21, 686. New South Wales, Australia. 20 July 1907. p. 4. Retrieved 17 August 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
  5. "Literature". The Australian Star. No. 6143. New South Wales, Australia. 20 July 1907. p. 9. Retrieved 17 August 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
  6. "Young Folks". The Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser. Vol. LXXXIV, no. 2403. New South Wales, Australia. 27 November 1907. p. 1406. Retrieved 17 August 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
  7. "Critics". The Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser. Vol. LXXXVI, no. 2438. New South Wales, Australia. 29 July 1908. p. 301. Retrieved 17 August 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
  8. "Unrest". Sydney Mail. Vol. VI, no. 148. New South Wales, Australia. 27 January 1915. p. 30. Retrieved 17 August 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
  9. "For the Cause". Sydney Mail. Vol. VI, no. 149. New South Wales, Australia. 3 February 1915. p. 27. Retrieved 17 August 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
  10. "Goodbye!". Sydney Mail. Vol. VI, no. 151. New South Wales, Australia. 17 February 1915. p. 34. Retrieved 17 August 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
  11. "An Appeal From Rabaul". Sunday Times. No. 1504. New South Wales, Australia. 15 November 1914. p. 5. Retrieved 17 August 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
  12. "For Our Wounded Soldiers". Sydney Mail. Vol. VII, no. 170. New South Wales, Australia. 30 June 1915. p. 32. Retrieved 17 August 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
  13. "Miscellaneous". The Sydney Morning Herald. No. 25, 057. New South Wales, Australia. 27 April 1918. p. 8. Retrieved 17 August 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
  14. "Recent Publications". The Advertiser. South Australia. 25 October 1924. p. 20. Retrieved 17 August 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
  15. "To A Butterfly: Song". AustLit: Discover Australian Stories. Archived from the original on 17 August 2021. Retrieved 17 August 2021.
  16. ""To a Butterfly"". Freeman's Journal. Vol. LXXV. New South Wales, Australia. 21 May 1925. p. 15. Retrieved 17 August 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
  17. "Sleep, Little Babe". The Sydney Morning Herald. No. 29, 058. New South Wales, Australia. 21 February 1931. p. 9. Retrieved 17 August 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
  18. "The Bookworm's Corner". Freeman's Journal. Vol. LVIII, no. 3573. New South Wales, Australia. 18 July 1907. p. 19. Retrieved 17 August 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
  19. "Family Notices". The Sydney Morning Herald. No. 33, 390. New South Wales, Australia. 29 December 1944. p. 8. Retrieved 17 August 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
  20. "RE will of Agnes Littlejohn, late of Epping, spinster". Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales. No. 131. New South Wales, Australia. 7 December 1945. p. 2306. Retrieved 17 August 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
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