Jessie Georgina Lloyd (1843–1885) was an Australian short-story writer, novelist, poet and essayist who wrote under the pseudonym Silverleaf.

Early life

Lloyd was born at Longford Farm, near Launceston. She was the daughter of Joseph William Bell, an auctioneer, and Georgiana (née Ford). The family moved to Glenorchy before she married. Lloyd married George Alfred Lloyd (1843–1921) at the Wesleyan Church, O’Brien's Bridge (now Glenorchy) on 6 September 1866. After her marriage, she moved with her husband to New South Wales. Their daughter was born in Sydney the following year. Lloyd's husband bought a share in a property, Terembone, near Coonamble and that became her home for the rest of her life. Three sons were born there.

Career

In the late 1870s Lloyd began contributing to Sydney newspapers and periodicals, using "Silverleaf" as her pen name. From the money she earned, she was able to educate her two eldest children at boarding schools in Sydney. Lloyd was known as author of "All Aboard", a Christmas story published in ''The Echo'' when her first book was published in 1880. She dedicated this novel, ''The Wheel of Life'', to Lady Robinson, wife of

Hercules Robinson Hercules George Robert Robinson, 1st Baron Rosmead, (19 December 1824 – 28 October 1897), was a British colonial administrator who became the 5th Governor of Hong Kong, then 13th Governor of Ceylon, and subsequently, the 14th Governor of ...

, then Governor of New South Wales. ''

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, Australia, and owned by Nine Entertainment. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuous ...

'' critic reviewed it favourably, but chastised the proofreader for the number of printer's errors. In 1881 the ''Illustrated Sydney News and New South Wales Agriculturalist and Grazier'' published Lloyd's "Silverleaf Papers", a series of essays on topics such as "New Chums", "Glimpses of Station Life", "Seasons of Drought", "Squatters versus Selectors", "Natives" and two articles on housekeeping. The series continued under the monthly's new name, ''

Illustrated Sydney News ''The Illustrated Sydney News'' was a monthly English language newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. History First published on 8 October 1853 by Walter George Mason (1820 – 12 March 1866), William Edward Vernon and Ludolf ...

'', with the publication of "A Merry Christmas!" and ran through 1882, including two essays on land legislation, which drew a response from Colin Macdonald in the ''

Australian Town and Country Journal ''Australian Town and Country Journal'' was a weekly English language broadsheet newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, from 1870 to 1919. The paper was founded by Samuel Bennett with his intention for it to be "valuable to everybody ...

.'' Simultaneously, she wrote two serialised short stories, "The Willoughbys" and "The Legend of the Red Bluff" published by ''

The Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser ''The Sydney Mail'' was an Australian magazine published weekly in Sydney. It was the weekly edition of ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' newspaper and ran from 1860 to 1938. History ''The Sydney Mail'' was first published on 17 July 1860 by ...

''. In 1884 she began writing for ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...

''.

Works

Novels

* ''The Wheel of Life: A Domestic Tale of Life in Australia'', George Robertson, 1880 * * "Retribution", serialised in the ''Illustrated Sydney News'', four or five chapters per month, over 13 months

Short stories

* "The Willoughbys" * "The Legend of the Red Bluff"

Personal

Lloyd died on 30 July 1885 at her home, Terembone, Coonamble after a long illness.