Edmund Piers Barclay

Edmund Piers Barclay (2 May 1898 – 26 August 1961) was an English-Australian writer known for his work in radio drama. Radio historian Richard Lane called him "Australian radio's first great writer and, many would say, Australian radio's greatest playwright ever."[1] Frank Clelow, director of ABC Drama, called him " one of the outstanding radio dramatists of the world, with a remarkable technical skill and ability to use the fade-back without confusing the audience."[2]

Biography

Early life

Barclay claimed to have been born on 2 May 1898 at Dinapore, India, the son of Major Edmund Compston-Buckleigh, from Middlesex, England. He also maintained that he was educated at Stonyhurst College, joined the Middlesex Regiment on 11 August 1914, and won the Military Cross and Croix de Guerre while serving with the Royal Flying Corps. However, there is no record of anyone with the surname Barclay or Compston-Buckleigh having attended Stonyhurst or served with the Royal Flying Corps.

He claimed that after WWI he worked as a journalist in Fleet Street, London, until sacked for costing his employers £2000 in a libel suit; he then reputedly ran his own short-lived, weekly newspaper.[3][4]

Australia

Arriving in Australia in August 1926, he was determined to show the world that "he was the world's greatest novelist". He worked as a journalist, wrote film scripts (The Silence of Dean Maitland, 1934), short stories, plays, newspaper articles and verse.

In a 1933 interview he said revues were the hardest to write.[5]

On 17 December 1933 he was employed by the Australian Broadcasting Commission as a dramatist. The first radio play Barclay wrote was An Antarctic Epic.

Barclay wrote very little for the stage. In 1934 he collaborated with Varney Monk as composer to write The Cedar Tree, a musical romance produced by F. W. Thring in Melbourne. Barclay's wife Helene was the lyricist.[3]

Barclay had a big success with the serial As Ye Sow which he turned into a novel.[6] As Ye Sow was "regarded by many critics as the greatest contribution to Australian historical drama."[7] Also hugely popular was Khyber[8] which led to a string of similar adventure serials from Barclay such as Shanghai and Singapore Spy.

By 1940 Barclay was established as the leading radio writer in the country.[9]

Family

His relationship with his wife Helene, who wrote plays for the ABC, was desperately unhappy. Survived by his daughter and son, Barclay died of a coronary occlusion on 26 August 1961 at Gosford, New South Wales. He was interred in Point Clare cemetery with Catholic rites.

Selected credits

Films

Stage

Novels
  • Khyber (1936) - novel, based on his 1935 radio play
  • Shanghai (1937) - novel, based on his radio play

Radio revues
  • New Moon (1933) - radio adaptation
  • Back to School (1933) - radio revue
  • Sydney Goes Bush (1933) - radio revue
  • Down for the Show (1933) - radio revue
  • Revels in Arcady (1933) - radio revue
  • The Magic Carpet (1933) - radio revue
  • Pierrot-Etchings (1933) - radio revue
  • The Road to Mandalay (1933) - radio revue
  • Pastorale (1933) - radio revue
  • Tour the Bush (1933) - radio revue
  • A Rustic Roundelay (1933)- radio revue
  • Historical Nightmare (1933) - radio revue
  • Samples (1933) - radio revue
  • The Shalimar (1933) - radio revue
  • Meadow Srreet (1933)- radio revue
  • Homeward Bound (1934)- radio revue
  • Dad's Windfall (1934) - radio revue
  • Hot News (1934) - radio revue
  • The Surprise Party (1934) - radio revue
  • A Cherokee Maid (1934) - radio revue
  • The Spirit of the Albatross (1934) - radio revue
  • Hallo London (1934) - radio revue
  • Mutchee Catchee (1934) - radio review
  • So Wags the World (1935) - radio revue

Radio plays

Radio serials

References
  1. Richard Lane, The Golden Age of Australian Radio Drama 1923-1960, Melbourne University Press, 1994, p. 27
  2. Australian Broadcasting Commission. (1939), "EIGHTEEN YEARS OF australian RADIO DRAMA", ABC weekly, Sydney: ABC (Vol. 12 No. 42 (21 October 1950)), nla.obj-1524026282, retrieved 23 October 2023 – via Trove
  3. Edmund Piers Barclay profile at the Australian Dictionary of Biography
  4. Australasian Radio Relay League., "EDNND BARCLAY A.B.C. Playwright and Revue Writer Ambition: "The Perfect Radio Play"", The wireless weekly : the hundred per cent Australian radio journal, Sydney: Wireless Press (Vol. 29 No. 3 (January 15, 1937)), nla.obj-712956569, retrieved 9 September 2023 – via Trove
  5. Australasian Radio Relay League., "He Has Written 14 RADIO REVUES SINCE MARCH Edmund Barclay Sits At Typewriter 8.0 a.m. to 1.0 a.m.", The wireless weekly : the hundred per cent Australian radio journal, Sydney: Wireless Press (Vol. 22 No. 10 (September 8. 1933)), nla.obj-720193820, retrieved 3 September 2023 – via Trove
  6. Australasian Radio Relay League., "A.B.C.PLAYWAIGHT Edmund BARCLAY AT HOME", The wireless weekly : the hundred per cent Australian radio journal, Sydney: Wireless Press (Vol. 31 No. 20 (May 20, 1938)), nla.obj-714416621, retrieved 3 September 2023 – via Trove
  7. Australasian Radio Relay League., The wireless weekly : the hundred per cent Australian radio journal, Sydney: Wireless Press, nla.obj-715934473, retrieved 3 September 2023 – via Trove
  8. Australasian Radio Relay League., The wireless weekly : the hundred per cent Australian radio journal, Sydney: Wireless Press, nla.obj-676306058, retrieved 3 September 2023 – via Trove
  9. Australasian Radio Relay League., "National Playwright Offers Advice To Aspiring Writers", The wireless weekly : the hundred per cent Australian radio journal, Sydney: Wireless Press (Vol. 35 No. 22 (June 1, 1940)), nla.obj-718468142, retrieved 3 September 2023 – via Trove
  10. Australian Broadcasting Commission. (1939), "RADIO PLAYS for NEXT WEEK A.B.C.", ABC weekly, Sydney: ABC (Vol. 16 No. 13 (27 March 1954)), nla.obj-1671005357, retrieved 2 October 2023 – via Trove
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