George Ernest “Bartlett” Adamson (22 December 1884 – 4 November 1951) was an Australian journalist, poet, author and political activist.

Life and work

Adamson was born at Cascade,

Ringarooma, Tasmania Ringarooma is a small town in north-eastern Tasmania. It is located just east of the Ringarooma River and is about south-west from Derby and east-northeast from Launceston. The area around Ringarooma is known for dairy farming and timber harv ...

, Australia, on 22 December 1884 to a Scottish-born miner, George Adamson, and his English wife, Jane, née Bartlett. He was educated at

Zeehan Zeehan is a town on the west coast of Tasmania, Australia south-west of Burnie. It is part of the West Coast Council, along with the seaport Strahan and neighbouring mining towns of Rosebery and Queenstown. History The greater Zeehan a ...

and Dundas and then worked as a clerk at a mine. The family moved to

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

where he worked as a clerk with publishers Whitcomb and Tombs in

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

. He was rejected for military service during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

on medical grounds. He married Scottish-born Mary Anne McLachlan in November 1917 and they went on to have four sons. Always interested in literature, he published a volume of verse, ''Twelve Sonnets'' in 1918. This was well received and prompted his departure for

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. In

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

he took a position as a journalist with ''

Smith's Weekly ''Smith's Weekly'' was an Australian tabloid newspaper published from 1919 to 1950. It was an independent weekly published in Sydney, but read all over Australia. History The publication took its name from its founder and chief financer Sir ...

'', writing feature articles, verse and light fiction. He left the paper in 1923 and began work as a freelance writer, especially for the ''Sunday Times''. He worked on the side as an orchardist and helped to establish a

cooperative A cooperative (also known as co-operative, coöperative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomy, autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned a ...

for local orchardists. He established the periodical ''Sydneysider'', but it closed down during the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

. This forced a return, in 1935, to ''

'', where he remained till its closure, in 1950. He was active on the executive of the

Fellowship of Australian Writers The Fellowship of Australian Writers (FAW) is a collection or federation of state-based organizations aiming to support and promote the interests of Australian writers. It was established in Sydney in 1928, with the aim of bringing writers togethe ...

, and served a term as its president. In that capacity he was successful in persuading the

federal government A federation (also called a federal state) is an entity characterized by a political union, union of partially federated state, self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a #Federal governments, federal government (federalism) ...

to increase funding for the

Commonwealth Literary Fund The Commonwealth Literary Fund (CLF) was an Australian Government initiative founded in 1908 to assist needy Australian writers and their families. It was Federal Australia's first systematic support for the arts. Its scope was later broadened to e ...

in 1938. He also lobbied for more liberal changes to the Obscene and Indecent Publications (Amendment) Act of 1946. His left wing sympathies and the rise of fascism in Europe during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

saw him join the

Australian Communist Party The Communist Party of Australia (CPA), known as the Australian Communist Party (ACP) from 1944 to 1951, was an Australian communist party founded in 1920. The party existed until roughly 1991, with its membership and influence having been ...

in 1943. The subjects of his books varied widely and ranged from children's books to collections of leftist political verse. He was a campaigner for civil liberties and often used his writing to try and improve the condition of ordinary people. He died suddenly, on 4 November 1951, while addressing a crowd in the Domain, Sydney.

Publications

The following is a selection of his publications.E. Morris Miller & Frederick T. Macartney, ''Australian Literature'', Angus & Robertson, Sydney, 1956, p.32.

Non-fiction

* ''Frank Clune; Author and Ethnological Anachronism''. (1944)

Fiction

* ''Mystery Gold''. (1925) * ''Nice day for a murder and other stories''. (1944)

Poetry

* ''Twelve Sonnets'' (1918) * ''These beautiful women'' (1932) * ''Beyond the sun'' (1942) * ''Bringer of Light: An allegorical fantasy'' (1945) * ''Comrades all and other poems for the people'' (1945)

References

Sources

* Robert Darby
Adamson, George Ernest “Bartlett” (1884-1951)", ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'' Vol 13, (1993)
accessed online 18 August 2018.
Len Fox, Bartlett Adamson (1963), Sydney, Fellowship of Australian Writers.

Archival Resources

* Bartlett Adamson papers and pictorial material, 1914–1951, State Library of New South Wales
MLMSS 1258 , PXA 1473
* Bartlett Adamson, papers and 3 volumes of newscuttings, State Library of New South Wales
MLMSS 406
* Bartlett Adamson's Henry Lawson papers 1946–1954, State Library of New South Wales
A 4102
{{DEFAULTSORT:Adamson, Bartlett 20th-century Australian journalists 20th-century Australian poets Australian activists 20th-century Australian male writers 1884 births 1951 deaths Writers from Tasmania Ringarooma Communist Party of Australia members