Guide to the Papers of E. J. Brady, 1881-1952
Collection context
Summary
- Collection number:
- MS 206
- Creator:
- E. J. Brady
- Extent:
- 9.12 metres and (57 boxes + folio boxes of oversized items)
- Language:
- English
- Preferred citation:
- Items from this collection should be cited as '[Title or description of manuscript item], Papers of E. J. Brady, National Library of Australia, MS 206, [box number and series and/or file number]'.
- Availability:
- Available
- Access conditions:
- Available for research. Not for loan.
Background
- Content Summary:
-
The National Library purchased the papers of E.J. Brady from his widow in 1952, along with a large number of books, pamphlets and photographs. Most of the printed matter was absorbed into the Library's general book collection and most of the photographs were transferred to the Pictorial Collection.
Overall, this collection is relatively poor in complete manuscripts but rich in correspondence both to and from Brady, for he meticulously kept a copy of every letter he wrote, as well as providing indexes relating to them. Its great value lies in the authentic coverage it gives of the period from 1890 to about 1914, for Brady was the last surviving representative of the Bulletin school of the 1890s, as well as being one of the original members of the Australian Labor Party.
The literary correspondence throws much light on writers such as Henry Lawson and Christopher Brennan, on journalistic ventures and on the struggles of small magazines such as the Native Companion.
The political correspondence contains a great deal of discussion on Labor ideals and world events, and the letters to and from Labor leaders from about 1891 to 1935 are especially interesting.
There are also personal and family papers (though very few survive from Brady's early life), business papers, published and unpublished literary manuscripts, notebooks, photographs, pamphlets, a large quantity of press cuttings grouped into scrapbooks on various subjects, background notes for his geographical and biographical works, and material on the history and development of the Gippsland area.
- Biographical Note:
-
Edwin James Brady was born on 7 August 1869 at Carcoar, New South Wales. His mother was Hanah Jane Waldron (?) and his father, Edward John, had emigrated from Ireland to America, and in the 1950s, to Australia. During his adventurous life, which his son Edwin recounted in his biography Two frontiers, he fought against American Indians and against Confederates in the Civil War, hunted whales in the Arctic and Pacific, and, as a mounted policeman, pursued bushrangers in Australia.
Edwin Brady went to America with his parents at the age of 11. Returning in 1882 to Australia, he continued his education, achieving the level of matriculation to Sydney University at the Marist Brothers High School in Sydney. The poet Roderic Quinn was one of his school friends.
Employed as a shipping clerk in Sydney, Brady became familiar with ships and the seafaring life. These influences are evident in his first literary works.
During the Maritime Strike of 1890, which eventually cost him his job, Brady became active in the Labor Movement. He joined the Australian Socialist League, and was elected Secretary. The 1890s were an important period for Brady, for his political involvement led him to edit one of Australia's earliest trade union newspapers, the Australian Workman, while his creative efforts were accepted by the Bulletin and the Sydney Morning Herald. His friendship with Henry Lawson was also developing at this time.
On 30 October 1890, Brady married Marion Cecilia Walsh. The marriage ended in divorce in 1894, when he married Annie Creo Dooley (formerly Stanley), one of the members of the Socialist League. Shortly before Brady embarked on his travels to the north, the couple separated, and Annie Creo died in 1942.
Brady's first volume of verse, The Ways of Many Waters, was published in 1899, establishing him as an authentic writer of ballads and sea shanties. During the years 1899 to 1900, the aspiring writer drove a covered wagonette from his home near Sydney towards the Gulf of Carpentaria, in search of adventure and creative inspiration. King's Caravan (1911), his first published prose work, recorded this journey, which terminated at Townsville due to drought and limited resources. From 1901 to 1902 Brady lived in Grafton, where he was proprietor of The Grip, a critical newspaper, and met Norma Lynda Dalby, who was to remain his domestic partner for 35 years until her death in 1936.
Attracted to a business venture, which he established as the Commonwealth Press Agency, Brady re-settled in Sydney in 1903, and in 1904 was appointed editor of the Australian Worker, the journal of the Australian Workers' Union. He continued his advertising agency in Melbourne after he moved there in 1907, and in the same year became editor of the short-lived Native Companion. Another journey, this time by motor boat down the Murray River from Albury to Lake Alexandria in 1909, yielded material for River Rovers, published in 1911.
In the same year, Brady, Norma and three children arrived in Mallacoota, Victoria, on a holiday trip. They settled there in 1914, and it remained Brady's home until his death. From Mallacoota Brady carried on his literary career concurrently with his farming activities and the running of a guest house, 'Mallacoota House'. He did, however, make many journeys, particularly during the compilation of Australia Unlimited. This monumental work, published in 1918, took six years and 250,000 miles of travel to complete, but was recognised as the leading reference book of its kind and placed Brady at the forefront of non-fiction writers.
Amongst his varied output over the ensuing years were freelance contributions to many periodicals, poems, articles, political commentaries, accounts of his travels, geographical surveys, biographies, film scenarios and a series of autobiographical reminiscences entitled Life's Highway. A great number of his works remain unpublished or even uncompleted. His efforts to keep himself and his family by writing and by occasional business ventures did not always meet with success and he was often beset by debts, leading to the eventual sale of Mallacoota House and some of his land.
Brady and Norma had six children: Hugh, Moya ('Tuppy'), Anthony, Edwin (Ted), Sadie and Nancy. In 1942 Brady married Florence Bourke, who bore him a daughter, Edna June, on 4 July 1946. On 22 July 1952, at the age of 83, Brady died of a prolonged illness in Pambula Hospital, survived by his widow and seven children.
Sources: Anderson, Hugh. 'E.J. Brady and the Native Companion' in Biblionews, March 1951, p. 10-11; Brady, E.J. 'E.J. Brady: by himself' in Life Digest, June 1949, p. 20-23; Brady, E.J. 'Life's Highway' in Southerly, No. 4, 1952 to No.4, 1955; Harrington, E. 'E.J. Brady' in All About Books, August 1935, p. 141-142; Turnbull, Clive. 'The life and times of E.J. Brady' in Melbourne Argus, 26 July 1952; Obituary 'Genial giant was bush and sea balladist' in Sydney Morning Herald, 23 July 1952; Who's Who in Australia, 14th edition, Melbourne, The Herald, 1950; E.J. Brady Papers.
Indexed terms
- Names:
- E. J. Brady
Access and use
- Conditions Governing Access:
- Please refer to the collection's catalogue record for the access conditions (http://nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn2252801).
- Conditions Governing Use:
- Copying and publishing of unpublished manuscript material is subject to copyright restrictions. For such material, written permission to publish must be obtained from the copyright holder(s). Copying of unpublished material for research purposes is permissible 50 years after the death of the creator of the material.
- Preferred citation:
- Items from this collection should be cited as '[Title or description of manuscript item], Papers of E. J. Brady, National Library of Australia, MS 206, [box number and series and/or file number]'.
- Location of this collection:
-
Parkes PlaceCanberra ACT 2600, Australia
- Contact: