Ernestine Hill
Encyclopedia
Ernestine Hill was an Australia
n journalist, travel writer and novelist.
, Hill attended All Hallows' School
in Brisbane, and then Stott & Hoare's Business College, Brisbane. On completing her studies, she worked briefly in the public service, and then for Smith's Weekly, Sydney, first as the secretary to the literary editor, J. F. Archibald
, and later as a journalist and sub-editor.
She loved to travel, and travelled more actively after her husband's death in 1933. During the 1930s she travelled extensively around Australia, writing as she went. Hill then worked for the ABC from 1940-1944, on the A.B.C. Weekly and as a commissioner.
After resigning from the ABC, she resumed her travels, but published little from her work during this period. She was awarded a Commonwealth Literary Fund fellowship in 1959. However, while this provided her with a small pension, her final years were characterised by financial and health problems. She died in Brisbane
in 1972.
sold well overseas as well as in Australia. During the 1930s she formed a friendship with Daisy Bates
and later claimed to be mostly responsible for Daisy Bates
' The Passing of Aboriginesthough this is a contentious issue. AustLit: The Australian Literature Resource
claims that Bates eventually confirmed that Hill did ghost-write the book.
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n journalist, travel writer and novelist.
Life
Born in Rockhampton, QueenslandRockhampton, Queensland
Rockhampton is a city and local government area in Queensland, Australia. The city lies on the Fitzroy River, approximately from the river mouth, and some north of the state capital, Brisbane....
, Hill attended All Hallows' School
All Hallows' School
All Hallows' School is a Catholic day school for girls, located close to the central business district of Brisbane, Queensland.Founded in 1861, the school follows in the tradition of the Irish Sisters of Mercy, and caters for over 1,300 girls from years five to 12...
in Brisbane, and then Stott & Hoare's Business College, Brisbane. On completing her studies, she worked briefly in the public service, and then for Smith's Weekly, Sydney, first as the secretary to the literary editor, J. F. Archibald
J. F. Archibald
Jules François Archibald, known as J. F. Archibald, , Australian journalist and publisher, was co-owner and editor of The Bulletin during the days of its greatest influence in Australian politics and literary life...
, and later as a journalist and sub-editor.
She loved to travel, and travelled more actively after her husband's death in 1933. During the 1930s she travelled extensively around Australia, writing as she went. Hill then worked for the ABC from 1940-1944, on the A.B.C. Weekly and as a commissioner.
After resigning from the ABC, she resumed her travels, but published little from her work during this period. She was awarded a Commonwealth Literary Fund fellowship in 1959. However, while this provided her with a small pension, her final years were characterised by financial and health problems. She died in Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
in 1972.
Writing career
The majority of her writing, which comprised books, and articles for newspapers and journals such as Walkabout, resulted from her wide travels across Australia. They recorded her adventures and focus on the Australian landscape. She could also be controversial. For example, her reporting of a gold strike at the Granites in the Northern Territory in 1931 contributed to financial ruin for some and was branded irresponsible. She is best known for The Territory. However, her only novel, My Love Must Wait, a fictionalised biography of sailor/navigator Matthew FlindersMatthew Flinders
Captain Matthew Flinders RN was one of the most successful navigators and cartographers of his age. In a career that spanned just over twenty years, he sailed with Captain William Bligh, circumnavigated Australia and encouraged the use of that name for the continent, which had previously been...
sold well overseas as well as in Australia. During the 1930s she formed a friendship with Daisy Bates
Daisy Bates (Australia)
Daisy May Bates, CBE was an Irish Australian journalist, welfare worker and lifelong student of Australian Aboriginal culture and society. She was known among the native people as 'Kabbarli' .-Early life:...
and later claimed to be mostly responsible for Daisy Bates
Daisy Bates (Australia)
Daisy May Bates, CBE was an Irish Australian journalist, welfare worker and lifelong student of Australian Aboriginal culture and society. She was known among the native people as 'Kabbarli' .-Early life:...
' The Passing of Aboriginesthough this is a contentious issue. AustLit: The Australian Literature Resource
AustLit: The Australian Literature Resource
AustLit: The Australian Literature ResourceAustLit is an internet-based collaboration between researchers and librarians from Australian universities designed to comprehensively record the history of Australian literary and story making cultures...
claims that Bates eventually confirmed that Hill did ghost-write the book.
Non-fiction
- The Great Australian Loneliness (London: 1937; Australia:1940)
- Water into Gold (1937)
- Australia: Land of Contrasts (1943)
- Flying Doctor Calling (1947)
- The Territory (1951)
- Kabbarli: A Personal Memoir of Daisy Bates (1973)