Willem Siebenhaar
Encyclopedia
Willem Siebenhaar was a social activist and writer
in Western Australia
from the 1890s until he left Australia in 1924. His literary contributions and opposition to policies such as conscription
were his most notable contributions to the history of the state.
on 28 July 1863, beginning a life-long interest in chess
at the age of fifteen. His early life saw him exposed to the Christian anarchist, Ferdinand Domela Nieuwenhuis
. In 1882 he graduated from Delft University, Holland, and two years later, he emigrated to England
to become a teacher.
He sailed to Western Australia
in 1891, taking up a position on the staff of Perth High School (now Hale School
). The following year he defeated the South Australian chess player Ernest Hack, becoming unofficial Western Australian Chess Champion, and taking over Hack's chess column in The Western Mail
. In 1895 he joined the public service, initially as sub-editor of the Western Australian Yearbook. Later he would rise to become Government Statistician and Registrar-General.
In 1895, Siebenhaar began a translation of the first edition of Ongeluckige voyagie van't schip Batavia ("Unlucky voyage of the ship Batavia"), a third person transposition of Francisco Pelsaert
's journal of the 1629 shipwreck
of the Batavia
off the west coast of Australia, and subsequent mutiny
and massacre amongst the survivors. Printed in the Western Mail in 1897 under the title "The Abrolhos Tragedy", this remains the only English translation of Ongeluckige voyagie. According to Henrietta Drake-Brockman
, it "excited an interest that eventually spread across Australia and has never completely faded".
In 1910, Siebenhaar founded the literary magazine Leeuwin, which was co-edited by Alfred Chandler (Spinifex) and A. G Plate. It ran for only six issues, but featured four contributions by A. G. Stephens on 'The Manly Poetry of Western Australia'. The same year saw the London
publication of his Dorothea: A Lyrical Romance in Verse, which would later be scrutinised for sedition.
Shortly afterwards, apparently suffering from poor health, he visited Britain. During this time he married Lydia Bruce Dixon, and may have had contact with the Russia
n Peter Kropotkin
. His health having improved, he returned to Western Australia, apparently in late 1913.
He became heavily involved in a number of social movements, including the advancement of women's suffrage
, and the anti-conscription
movement. Siebenhaar's participating in the latter movement saw him removed from his position in the public service in 1916, with the press release condemning him as a "German" in league with the notorious Industrial Workers of the World
(IWW). Siebenhaar freely admitted campaigning for the release of Monty Miller, who had toured for the IWW. Later, an inquiry into his politics and character exonerated him of disloyalty and reinstated his position with restitution.
In 1919, Siebenhaar published his Sentinel Sonnets (with Alfred Chandler), a eulogy for the anarchist Monty Miller
. Other contributions to the literature of the state include his work in collecting and editing material for James Sykes Battye's Western Australia: a history from its discovery to the inauguration of the Commonwealth. His various contributions to newspapers and magazines also reflected the views promulgated by the esoteric society, the Theosophical Society
, of which he was a member. He continued to write and critique poetry, entering into debates with early poets such as Edwin Murphy, whose style contrasted his own romantic approach.
Siebenhaar returned to England in 1924, living in Findon, West Sussex
. There, in 1927, he translated Eduard Douwes Dekker's Max Havelaar
. The preface was supplied by his friend D. H. Lawrence
, whose left-wing activist Willie Struthers in the novel Kangaroo
was based on Siebenhaar. He was struck by a motor car and died from injuries on 29 December 1936 at Littlehampton
, West Sussex
.
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
in Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
from the 1890s until he left Australia in 1924. His literary contributions and opposition to policies such as conscription
Conscription
Conscription is the compulsory enlistment of people in some sort of national service, most often military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and continues in some countries to the present day under various names...
were his most notable contributions to the history of the state.
Biography
Siebenhaar was born in The HagueThe Hague
The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...
on 28 July 1863, beginning a life-long interest in chess
Chess
Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...
at the age of fifteen. His early life saw him exposed to the Christian anarchist, Ferdinand Domela Nieuwenhuis
Ferdinand Domela Nieuwenhuis
Ferdinand Jacobus Domela Nieuwenhuis was the Netherlands' first prominent socialist. He was a Lutheran preacher who, after he lost his faith, started a political fight for workers. He was the first socialist in the Dutch parliament.Nieuwenhuis was born in Amsterdam. His family added the second...
. In 1882 he graduated from Delft University, Holland, and two years later, he emigrated to England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
to become a teacher.
He sailed to Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
in 1891, taking up a position on the staff of Perth High School (now Hale School
Hale School
Hale School is a selective, independent, Anglican day and boarding school for boys, located in Wembley Downs, a coastal suburb of Perth, Western Australia....
). The following year he defeated the South Australian chess player Ernest Hack, becoming unofficial Western Australian Chess Champion, and taking over Hack's chess column in The Western Mail
Western Mail (Western Australia)
The Western Mail, or Western Mail, was the name of two weekly newspapers published in Perth, Western Australia.-West Australian newspapers:...
. In 1895 he joined the public service, initially as sub-editor of the Western Australian Yearbook. Later he would rise to become Government Statistician and Registrar-General.
In 1895, Siebenhaar began a translation of the first edition of Ongeluckige voyagie van't schip Batavia ("Unlucky voyage of the ship Batavia"), a third person transposition of Francisco Pelsaert
Francisco Pelsaert
Francisco Pelsaert was a Dutch merchant who worked for the Dutch East India Company, who became most famous as the commander of the ship Batavia, which ran aground in the Houtman Abrolhos off the coast of Western Australia in June...
's journal of the 1629 shipwreck
Shipwreck
A shipwreck is what remains of a ship that has wrecked, either sunk or beached. Whatever the cause, a sunken ship or a wrecked ship is a physical example of the event: this explains why the two concepts are often overlapping in English....
of the Batavia
Batavia (ship)
Batavia was a ship of the Dutch East India Company . It was built in Amsterdam in 1628, and armed with 24 cast iron cannons and a number of bronze guns. Batavia was shipwrecked on her maiden voyage, and was made famous by the subsequent mutiny and massacre that took place among the survivors...
off the west coast of Australia, and subsequent mutiny
Mutiny
Mutiny is a conspiracy among members of a group of similarly situated individuals to openly oppose, change or overthrow an authority to which they are subject...
and massacre amongst the survivors. Printed in the Western Mail in 1897 under the title "The Abrolhos Tragedy", this remains the only English translation of Ongeluckige voyagie. According to Henrietta Drake-Brockman
Henrietta Drake-Brockman
-Early life:Henrietta Frances York Drake-Brockman was born in Perth, Western Australia in 1901. She was educated in Scotland, the land of her mother, and at Frensham School]Frensham school for girls in Mittagong. She studied literature at the University of Western Australia and art in Henri Van...
, it "excited an interest that eventually spread across Australia and has never completely faded".
In 1910, Siebenhaar founded the literary magazine Leeuwin, which was co-edited by Alfred Chandler (Spinifex) and A. G Plate. It ran for only six issues, but featured four contributions by A. G. Stephens on 'The Manly Poetry of Western Australia'. The same year saw the London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
publication of his Dorothea: A Lyrical Romance in Verse, which would later be scrutinised for sedition.
Shortly afterwards, apparently suffering from poor health, he visited Britain. During this time he married Lydia Bruce Dixon, and may have had contact with the Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n Peter Kropotkin
Peter Kropotkin
Prince Pyotr Alexeyevich Kropotkin was a Russian zoologist, evolutionary theorist, philosopher, economist, geographer, author and one of the world's foremost anarcho-communists. Kropotkin advocated a communist society free from central government and based on voluntary associations between...
. His health having improved, he returned to Western Australia, apparently in late 1913.
He became heavily involved in a number of social movements, including the advancement of women's suffrage
Women's suffrage
Women's suffrage or woman suffrage is the right of women to vote and to run for office. The expression is also used for the economic and political reform movement aimed at extending these rights to women and without any restrictions or qualifications such as property ownership, payment of tax, or...
, and the anti-conscription
Conscription
Conscription is the compulsory enlistment of people in some sort of national service, most often military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and continues in some countries to the present day under various names...
movement. Siebenhaar's participating in the latter movement saw him removed from his position in the public service in 1916, with the press release condemning him as a "German" in league with the notorious Industrial Workers of the World
Industrial Workers of the World
The Industrial Workers of the World is an international union. At its peak in 1923, the organization claimed some 100,000 members in good standing, and could marshal the support of perhaps 300,000 workers. Its membership declined dramatically after a 1924 split brought on by internal conflict...
(IWW). Siebenhaar freely admitted campaigning for the release of Monty Miller, who had toured for the IWW. Later, an inquiry into his politics and character exonerated him of disloyalty and reinstated his position with restitution.
In 1919, Siebenhaar published his Sentinel Sonnets (with Alfred Chandler), a eulogy for the anarchist Monty Miller
Montague Miller
Montague David "Monty" Miller, born 7 July 1839 at in Van Diemen's Land , was an Australian unionist, secularist and revolutionary socialist chiefly active in the states of Victoria and, in his most productive period, in Western Australia...
. Other contributions to the literature of the state include his work in collecting and editing material for James Sykes Battye's Western Australia: a history from its discovery to the inauguration of the Commonwealth. His various contributions to newspapers and magazines also reflected the views promulgated by the esoteric society, the Theosophical Society
Theosophical Society
The Theosophical Society is an organization formed in 1875 to advance the spiritual principles and search for Truth known as Theosophy. The original organization, after splits and realignments has several successors...
, of which he was a member. He continued to write and critique poetry, entering into debates with early poets such as Edwin Murphy, whose style contrasted his own romantic approach.
Siebenhaar returned to England in 1924, living in Findon, West Sussex
Findon, West Sussex
Findon is a village and civil parish in the Arun District of West Sussex, England, four miles north of Worthing. The parish has an area of 16.41 km² and a population of 1848 persons ....
. There, in 1927, he translated Eduard Douwes Dekker's Max Havelaar
Max Havelaar
Max Havelaar: Or the Coffee Auctions of the Dutch Trading Company is a culturally and socially significant 1860 novel by Multatuli which was to play a key role in shaping and modifying Dutch colonial policy in the Dutch East Indies in the nineteenth and early twentieth century...
. The preface was supplied by his friend D. H. Lawrence
D. H. Lawrence
David Herbert Richards Lawrence was an English novelist, poet, playwright, essayist, literary critic and painter who published as D. H. Lawrence. His collected works represent an extended reflection upon the dehumanising effects of modernity and industrialisation...
, whose left-wing activist Willie Struthers in the novel Kangaroo
Kangaroo (novel)
Kangaroo is a novel by D. H. Lawrence, first published in 1923. It is set in Australia.-Description:Kangaroo is an account of a visit to New South Wales by an English writer named Richard Lovat Somers, and his German wife Harriet, in the early 1920s...
was based on Siebenhaar. He was struck by a motor car and died from injuries on 29 December 1936 at Littlehampton
Littlehampton
Littlehampton is a seaside resort town and civil parish in the Arun District of West Sussex, England, on the east bank at the mouth of the River Arun. It lies south southwest of London, west of Brighton and east of the county town of Chichester....
, West Sussex
West Sussex
West Sussex is a county in the south of England, bordering onto East Sussex , Hampshire and Surrey. The county of Sussex has been divided into East and West since the 12th century, and obtained separate county councils in 1888, but it remained a single ceremonial county until 1974 and the coming...
.
Further reading
- J. S. Battye, The Cyclopedia of Western Australia, vol 1 (Perth, 1912)
- Matters, Leonard W., (Mrs.), Australasians Who Count in London and Who Counts in Western Australia, London, J. Truscott, 1913. Held at the J S Battye LibraryJ S Battye LibraryThe J S Battye Library is an arm of the State Library of Western Australia...
, Perth - N. Segal, Who and What Was Siebenhaar (Perth, 1988); Bromley Record (London), Apr 1899, May 1899; Who and what was Siebenhaar: A note on the life of a Western Australian anarchist (Studies in Western Australian history occasional papers) ISBN 0864220774
- Australian Chess Lore, vol 1, 1981, p 38, vol 3, 1984, p 55; Australian Literary Studies, 21, no 1, 2003, p 3
- W Siebenhaar personal file, Colonial Secretary's Office, 2033 1919, Cons 752 AN24/2 and Premier's Dept, 865/30 AN2/10 Acc 1704 (State Records Office of Western Australia).
- Paul Eggert. The Dutch-Australian connection: Willem Siebenhaar, D.H. Lawrence, Max Havelaar and Kangaroo. Australian Literary Studies, May, 2003