Reginald Charles (Rex) Ingamells (19 January 191330 December 1955) was an Australian poet, generally credited with being the leading light of the

Jindyworobak Movement The Jindyworobak Movement was an Australian literary movement of the 1930s and 1940s whose white members, mostly poets, sought to contribute to a uniquely Australian culture through the integration of Indigenous Australian subjects, language an ...

.Ingamells, Reginald Charles (Rex) (1913–1955)
(

Australian Dictionary of Biography The ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'' (ADB or AuDB) is a national co-operative enterprise founded and maintained by the Australian National University (ANU) to produce authoritative biographical articles on eminent people in Australia's ...

) Accessed: 29 January 2007. Rex Ingamells was born in Orroroo,

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

to a

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

minister, and attended Port Lincoln High School, where he became interested in poetry. He later attended

Prince Alfred College Prince Alfred College is a private, independent, day school, day and boarding school for boys, located on Dequetteville Terrace, Kent Town, South Australia, Kent Town, near the Adelaide city centre, centre of Adelaide, South Australia. One of th ...

and the

University of Adelaide The University of Adelaide is a public university, public research university based in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. Its main campus in the Adelaide city centre includes many Sa ...

. After a trip at the turn of the thirties, Ingamells became fascinated with

Indigenous Australian Indigenous Australians are people with familial heritage from, or recognised membership of, the various ethnic groups living within the territory of contemporary Australia prior to History of Australia (1788–1850), British colonisation. The ...

culture, and became inspired to found the Jindyworobaks a few years later. In 1935, his first book ''Gum Tops'' was published. He died near Dimboola,

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

in a car-crash in 1955.

Early life

Ingamells was born on 19 January 1913 in

Orroroo, South Australia Orroroo is a town in the Yorke and Mid North region of South Australia. At the 2016 Australian census, 2016 census, the locality of Orroroo had a population of 610 while its urban centre had a population of 537. The Wilmington-Ucolta Road passes ...

. He was the oldest of four children born to Mabel Gwendolen (née Fraser) and Eric Marfleet Ingamells. His father was a Methodist minister and the family moved frequently around country South Australia during his childhood. Ingamells attended schools in

Meadows A meadow ( ) is an open habitat or field, vegetated by grasses, herbs, and other non-woody plants. Trees or shrubs may sparsely populate meadows, as long as they maintain an open character. Meadows can occur naturally under favourable condition ...

, Burra and

Port Lincoln Port Lincoln is a city on the Lower Eyre Peninsula in the Australian states and territories of Australia, state of South Australia. Known as Galinyala by the traditional owners, the Barngarla people, it is situated on the shore of Boston Bay, ...

, before being sent to

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

to board at

from 1927 to 1930. He attended the

and graduated Bachelor of Arts in 1934, majoring in history.

Bibliography

Novel

* ''Of Us Living Now'' (1952) * ''Aranda boy'' (1952)

Poetry

* ''Gumtops'' (1935) * ''Forgotten People'' (1936) * ''Sun-Freedom'' (1938) * ''Memory of Hills'' (1940) * ''Content are the Quiet Ranges'' (1943) * ''Unknown Land'' (1943) * ''Selected Poems'' (1944) * ''Come Walkabout'' (1948) * '' The Great South Land : An Epic Poem'' (1951) * ''Shifting Camp'' * ''The Golden Bird''

Criticism

* ''Conditional Culture'' (1938)

Awards and honours

* 1951 winner

Grace Leven Prize for Poetry The Grace Leven Prize for Poetry was an annual poetry award in Australia, given in the name of Grace Leven who died in 1922. It was established by William Baylebridge who "made a provision for an annual poetry prize in memory of 'my benefactress ...

for '' The Great South Land : An Epic Poem''Austlit - ''The Great South Land'' by Rex Ingamells
/ref> * 1951 winner

ALS Gold Medal The Australian Literature Society Gold Medal (ALS Gold Medal) is awarded annually by the Association for the Study of Australian Literature for "an outstanding literary work in the preceding calendar year." From 1928 to 1974 it was awarded by the ...

for '' The Great South Land : An Epic Poem''"Crouch Prize for Literature to R. Ingamells" ''The Age'', 7 April 1952, p5
/ref>

External links

5 poems

References

1913 births 1955 deaths University of Adelaide alumni Road incident deaths in Victoria (state) 20th-century Australian poets Australian male poets ALS Gold Medal winners People from Orroroo, South Australia 20th-century Australian male writers People educated at Prince Alfred College {{Australia-poet-stub