Barcroft Henry Thomas Boake (26 March 1866 – 2 May 1892) was an Australian poet.
Background
Born in
Sydney, Boake worked as a surveyor and a boundary rider, but is best remembered for his poetry, a volume of which was published five years after his death.
Boake was eldest son of
Barcroft Capel Boake (b. Dublin, 1838) and his wife Florence Eva, née Clarke (1846–1879).
In July 1886 Boake joined E. Commins, a
surveyor, and had experience as a field-assistant, working for some time in the
Monaro (New South Wales). After spending two years in the surveying camp Boake was disinclined to return to the city, took service as a boundary rider, and worked in
New South Wales
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, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
and
Queensland
)
, nickname = Sunshine State
, image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, established_ ...
. In May 1890 Boake joined W. A. Lipscomb, a surveyor, and remained with him until the end of 1891. About this time he began to send verses to
The Bulletin
Bulletin or The Bulletin may refer to:
Periodicals (newspapers, magazines, journals)
* Bulletin (online newspaper), a Swedish online newspaper
* ''The Bulletin'' (Australian periodical), an Australian magazine (1880–2008)
** Bulletin Debate, ...
, which were published.
His poems were all published posthumously in 1897 by
A.G. Stephens in a collection titled "Where the Dead Men Lie: and Other Poems". "
Where the Dead Men Lie
"Where the Dead Men Lie" is a poem by Australian poet Barcroft Boake. It was first published in '' The Bulletin'' magazine on 19 December 1891, and later in the poet's poetry collection ''Where the Dead Men Lie, and Other Poems'' (1897).
Analysi ...
" was the most famous of his poems, which described the tragedies Australians faced during the 1891–93 depression. Scottish-Australian poet and bush balladeer
Will H. Ogilvie
Will H. Ogilvie (21 August 1869 – 30 January 1963) was a Scottish-Australian narrative poet and horseman, jackaroo, and drover, and described as a quiet-spoken handsome Scot of medium height, with a fair moustache and red complexion. He ...
(1869–1963) penned ''The land of dumb despair'' (1898) in memoriam to Boake.
Boake is believed to have committed
suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and ...
. His body was found hanging by the neck from a stockwhip at Long Bay,
North Sydney eight days after he disappeared on 2 May 1892.
One writer on Boake's life has mentioned that the suicide took place during the 1891–93
depression when the poet was unable to find work, also noting that "it has been suggested that he killed himself for the love of one of the McKeahnie girls," sisters of the
horseman
Horseman or The Horsemen or ''variation'', may refer to:
People
*Horseman, a person who practices equestrianism
Occupations
*Wrangler (profession), in the United States
*Stockman (Australia), who works with horses rather than with cattle or shee ...
Charlie McKeahnie.
[Hugh Capel]
"Maybe This is the Snowy Horseman,"
''Canberra Times,'' 25 February 2002
Notes
Bibliography
* Barcroft Boake. ''
Where the Dead Men Lie, and Other Poems
''Where the Dead Men Lie, and Other Poems'' (1897) is the first and only collection of poems by Australian poet Barcroft Boake. Edited by A. G. Stephens, it was released in hardback by Angus and Robertson in 1897, five years after the poet's deat ...
'' 1897
Individual poems
* "
Jack's Last Muster" (1890)
* "
Where the Dead Men Lie
"Where the Dead Men Lie" is a poem by Australian poet Barcroft Boake. It was first published in '' The Bulletin'' magazine on 19 December 1891, and later in the poet's poetry collection ''Where the Dead Men Lie, and Other Poems'' (1897).
Analysi ...
" (1891)
References
* Hugh Capel
"Tragic End for a Bush Poet,"''The Canberra Times'', 27 March 2002
*
* Cecil Hadgraft,
, ''
Australian Dictionary of Biography'', Volume 3,
MUP, 1969, pp 186–187.
External links
Barcroft Henry Boakeat Boake.net
at Middlemiss.org
Boake.info , Boake Family Genealogy*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Boake, Barcroft
1866 births
1892 deaths
Australian male poets
Suicides by hanging in New South Wales
19th-century Australian poets
19th-century male writers
Burials at Rookwood Cemetery
1890s suicides