George Lewis Becke
George Lewis Becke | |
---|---|
Born | Port Macquarie, New South Wales, Australia | 18 June 1855
Died | 18 February 1913 Sydney, New South Wales, Australia | (aged 57)
Known for | short story writer and novelist |
Spouse | Fanny Sabina Long |
Children | Nora, Niya, Alrema |
George Lewis Becke (or Louis Becke; 18 June 1855 – 18 February 1913) was at the turn of the nineteenth century, the most prolific, significant, and internationally renowned Australian-born writer of the South Pacific region. Having lived and worked among Pacific Islands and Islanders as a trader, ship's supercargo, and villager for some two decades, learning languages and observing natural and cultural life, Becke was prompted by J F Archibald of The Bulletin to write down his experiences, eventually becoming a popular and respected author of short stories, novellas, novels, as well as historic and ethnographic works.
Early life
Becke was born at
In 1869, Becke travelled to San Francisco with his brother William Vernon and was away for nineteen months.
From about April 1880 Becke was in the
Later in 1881 a shipwreck on
Becke wrote about Bully Hayes in The Strange Adventures of James Shervinton[5] and other stories: Captain "Bully" Hayes; Concerning "Bully" Hayes; The Wreck Of The Leonora: A Memory Of "Bully" Hayes. However these stories must be read with caution as the line between fact and fiction-writing is unclear.[2][3][6] Becke's experiences in the Pacific provided most of the material for Becke's stories.
Becke's earliest writing on Hayes was published, without attribution to Becke, in the novel A Modern Buccaneer (1894), which was published by Thomas Alexander Browne under the pseudonym 'Rolf Boldrewood'.[7] Browne was the author of Robbery Under Arms and paid Becke for his recollections of "Bully" Hayes. Following publication of A Modern Buccaneer, Becke wrote to Browne protesting at the use of his manuscript without any significant change, and without attribution of Becke's contribution of the manuscript.[7]
Becke returned to New South Wales late in 1885 and on 10 February 1886 married Mary Elizabeth (Bessie) Maunsell, the daughter of Colonel Maunsell, of Port Macquarie.[1] On 9 November 1888 his daughter, Nora Lois, was born.[1]
On 9 June 1896 he left Sydney for London with Nora Lois and Miss Fanny Sabrina Long.[1] Becke and Fanny Long had 2 daughters, Alrema (born 30 October 1897) and Niya (born 27 September 1898).[1] Bessie obtained a divorce on the grounds of desertion on 29 October 1903.[1]
In 1908 he and his family went to Auckland, New Zealand, via Fiji; then in 1909 the family travelled to Sydney, Australia.[1]
On 7 September 1910 he was elected a member of the Royal Society of New South Wales.[1]
He died on 18 February 1913 at the Hotel York in Sydney and was buried in the Waverley Cemetery near to the graves of Henry Lawson and Henry Kendall.[1]
Literary career
In January 1892 Becke returned to Sydney and persuaded by Ernest Favenc and J. F. Archibald began to contribute stories to The Bulletin, the first of which was 'Tis in the Blood appearing in the edition of 6 May 1893.[8][9] A collection of these stories, By Reef and Palm, was published in England in 1894; His Native Wife, a novelette, was published in Australia in 1895; followed by a further collection of stories, The Ebbing of the Tide, which was published in 1896.
Becke went to London about the beginning of 1896, helped by Archibald and William Macleod of The Bulletin who advanced him the sum of £200, and he remained in Europe for around 15 years, during which time a large number of collections of short stories and a few novels and stories for boys were published.
Becke was fairly paid by the magazines for his stories, but his books were always sold outright and never on a royalty basis, he was not a wealthy man.[1]
His writings were of variable quality, but have been compared to Rudyard Kipling, Herman Melville, Joseph Conrad and Robert Louis Stevenson.[10]
Late life and legacy
Becke was in Sydney again in the middle of 1909 and died of cancer there on 18 February 1913, working up until his death. About 30 of Becke's books are listed in E. Morris Miller's Australian Literature with six other volumes written in collaboration with Walter J. Jeffrey. He was survived by his wife and a daughter.
Becke had said that any literary success he had achieved was due entirely to the training received from the editor of The Bulletin, J. F. Archibald, "who taught me the secrets of condensation and simplicity of language"[11][8] Once having learned this, Becke had a wealth of experience to draw upon and, though there was inevitably some monotony of theme, he wrote a very large number of stories that can still be read with interest, and show him to have been a writer of considerable ability.[12]
By Reef and Palm and Ebbing of the Tide received both good reviews and strong sales; with By Reef and Palm going through seven reprints between 1894 and 1924.[13] Almost all of Becke's works were published in America by J. B. Lippincott of Philadelphia. Becke was criticised by some reviewers for lapses in grammar and taste.[14] His Native Wife was unfavourably received in America because of its subject matter; J. B. Lippincott also refused to publish The Mutineer: A Romance of Pitcairn Island.[14]
His life was the subject of a 1958 ABC radio feature Becke Of The South Seas where the author was played by Bob Moore.[15]
Bibliography
Novels
- The Mystery of the Laughlin Islands (1896)
- A First Fleet Family with Walter James Jeffrey (1896)
- The Mutineer: A Romance of Pitcairn Island with Walter James Jeffrey (1898)
- Tom Wallis : A Tale of the South Seas (1900)
- Edward Barry: South Sea Pearler (1900)
- Breachley, Black Sheep (1902)
- Helen Adair (1903)
- Tom Gerrard (1904)
- The Adventures of a Supercargo (1905)
- The Adventures of Louis Blake (1909)
Short story collections
- By Reef and Palm (1894)
- The Ebbing of the Tide : South Sea Stories (1895)
- Pacific Tales (1897)
- Rodman the Boatsteerer and Other Stories (1898)
- Ridan the Devil and Other Stories (1899)
- By Rock and Pool, On an Austral Shore, and Other Stories (1901)
- Yorke the Adventurer, and Other Stories (1901)
- Tessa and the Trader's Wife (1901)
- The Tapu of Banderah with Walter James Jeffrey (1901)
- The Strange Adventure of James Shervinton and Other Stories (1902)
- Chinkie's Flat and Other Stories (1904)
- Under Tropic Skies (1904)
- The Settlers of Karossa Creek and Other Stories of Australian Bush Life (1906)
- Sketches from Normandy (1906)
- The Pearl Divers of Roncador Reef and Other Stories (1908)
- 'Neath Austral Skies (1909)
- Bully Hayes : Buccaneer, and Other Stories (1914)
- Tales from the South Seas (1929)
- South Sea Supercargo (1967)
Prose collections
- Old Convict Days with William Derrincourt (1891)
- Wild Life in Southern Seas (1897)
Autobiography
- Notes From My South Sea Log (1905)
- The Call of the South (1908)
Non-fiction
- Admiral Phillip : The Founding of New South Wales with Walter James Jeffrey (1899)
- The Naval Pioneers of Australia with Walter James Jeffrey (1899)
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r A. Grove Day (1967). Louis Becke. Melbourne: Hill of Content.
- ^ a b c d Restieaux, Alfred. Reminiscences - Alfred Restieaux Part 2 (Pacific Islands). National Library of New Zealand, MS-Papers-0061-079A.
- ^ a b c d e f g James A. Mitchener & A. Grove Day (1957). "Louis Beck, Adventurer and writer". Rascals in Paradise. Secker & Warburg.
- ^ Doug Munro, The Lives and Times of Resident Traders in Tuvalu: An Exercise in History from Below, (1987) 10(2) Pacific Studies 73
- ^ "The Strange Adventures of James Shervinton: And Other Stories". T. F. Unwin. 1902.
- ^ Miller, Simon (12 September 2013). "Bully Hayes - Pacific pirate : truth or fiction?". State Library Of Queensland. Retrieved 18 September 2023.
- ^ a b A. Grove Day (1967). "Bully Hayes and His Supercargo". Louis Becke. Melbourne: Hill of Content. pp. 100–103.
- ^ a b A. Grove Day (1967). Louis Becke. Melbourne: Hill of Content. p. 40.
- ^ Tiffin, Chris (2012). "Louis Becke, the bulletin and by reef and palm". Kunapipi. 34 (2): 163–169.
- ^ A. Grove Day (1967). Louis Becke. Melbourne: Hill of Content. pp. 15 & 132–146.
- ^ Bulletin, 27 Feb 1913.
- ^ A. Grove Day (1967). Louis Becke. Melbourne: Hill of Content. pp. 16 & 146.
- ^ A. Grove Day (1967). "Adventures in Assessment". Louis Becke. Melbourne: Hill of Content. pp. 132–136.
- ^ a b A. Grove Day (1967). "Adventures in Assessment". Louis Becke. Melbourne: Hill of Content. pp. 138–139.
- ^ "No title", ABC weekly, 20 (36 (3 September 1958)), Sydney: ABC, nla.obj-1447170477, retrieved 16 March 2024 – via Trove
Further reading
- Day, A. Grove (1967). Louis Becke. Melbourne: Hill of Content. The pioneering biography, including the first complete bibliography of his writings and criticism of his works.
- Sally O'Neill, 'Becke, George Lewis (Louis) (1855–1913)', Melbourne University Press, 1979, pp 238–239.
- Serle, Percival (1949). "Becke, George Lewis". Dictionary of Australian Biography. Sydney: Angus & Robertson.
- New International Encyclopedia. 1905.
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- Encyclopedia Americana. 1920. .
External links
- The full text of By Reef and Palm at Wikisource
- Dirk HR Spennemann (2000). Louis Becke (1859–1913). A biography.
- Works by Louis Becke at Project Gutenberg
- Works by Louis Becke at Faded Page (Canada)
- Works by Louis Becke at Project Gutenberg Australia
- Works by or about George Lewis Becke at Internet Archive
- Works by George Lewis Becke at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
- Bibliographic details of Becke's works.
Archival holdings
- Louis Becke (George Louis Becke), Papers 1880-1905, State Library of New South Wales, A 1372/vols. 1-2 , A 1373 , A 1374 , A 1391 , A 1807
- Louis Becke (George Louis Becke), Papers 1880-1913, State Library of New South Wales, MLMSS 248
- Louis Becke (George Louis Becke), Papers 1881-1912, State Library of New South Wales, Safe 1/8