Patrick Mayne
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''The Mayne Inheritance'' is a
non-fiction Non-fiction (or nonfiction) is any document or content (media), media content that attempts, in good faith, to convey information only about the real life, real world, rather than being grounded in imagination. Non-fiction typically aims to pre ...
narrative written by
Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...
author Rosamond Siemon. It was first published in 1997 by
University of Queensland Press University of Queensland Press (UQP) is an Australian publishing house based in Brisbane, Queensland. Founded in 1948 as a traditional university press, UQP now publishes books for general readers across fiction, non-fiction, poetry, children's ...
, and a new edition with updated information was issued by the same publisher in 2003. The book won the
Brisbane City Council Brisbane City Council (BCC, also known as Council) is the local government of the City of Brisbane, the capital city of the Australian state of Queensland. The largest local government in Australia by population, BCC's jurisdiction includes 2 ...
's ''One Book One Brisbane'' competition in 2003.


Plot and themes

''The Mayne Inheritance'' tells the story of Patrick Mayne, a young man who migrated to Australia from his impoverished background in
County Tyrone County Tyrone (; ) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the thirty-two traditional counties of Ireland. Its county town is Omagh. Adjoined to the south-west shore of Lough Neagh, the cou ...
, Ireland in 1841. He was born in
Cookstown Cookstown (, ) is a town in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is the fourth-largest town in the county and had a population of 12,546 in the 2021 census. It, along with Magherafelt and Dungannon, is one of the main towns in the Mid-Ulster ...
,
County Tyrone County Tyrone (; ) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the thirty-two traditional counties of Ireland. Its county town is Omagh. Adjoined to the south-west shore of Lough Neagh, the cou ...
, Ireland in 23/12/1823. He soon moved to the infant town of Brisbane where he found work as a slaughterman in an abattoir. In 1848 a sawyer, Robert Cox, was savagely murdered at Kangaroo Point and a considerable amount of money was presumed to have been stolen. The next year, Patrick Mayne married and, despite being a poorly paid labourer, bought his own butcher's shop in what is now Brisbane's
central business district A central business district (CBD) is the Commerce, commercial and business center of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides wit ...
. He then expanded his business empire through investing cleverly and soon became one of Brisbane's richest men. Patrick became one of the
aldermen An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law with similar officials existing in the Netherlands (wethouder) and Belgium (schepen). The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking membe ...
on the first Brisbane Municipal Council in 1859. He died in 1865 from an unspecified illness. According to the book, it was widely believed that, during his dying days, he confessed to the murder of Robert Cox. He left behind a widow and five children who had to survive in a hostile colonial environment which ostracised them for being the children of a supposedly confessed murderer. The second half of the book deals mainly with the lives of these children, none of whom married, and in particular
James O'Neil Mayne Mary Emelia Mayne (31 December 1858 – 12 August 1940), was an Australian philanthropist. Early life Mayne was born in Brisbane, Colony of New South Wales in 1858. The area would become part of the Colony of Queensland in 1859. Mary Emelia May ...
who used the wealth inherited from his father to become a
philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives for the public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private good, focusing on material ...
. His most notable deed was funding the purchase of of land at
St Lucia Saint Lucia is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean. Part of the Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles, it is located north/northeast of the island of Saint Vincent (Saint Vincent and the Grenadines), Saint Vincent ...
for the
University of Queensland The University of Queensland is a Public university, public research university located primarily in Brisbane, the capital city of the Australian state of Queensland. Founded in 1909 by the Queensland parliament, UQ is one of the six sandstone ...
. This spacious riverside site is still the main campus of the university. The Pinjarra Hills campus was also a component of the philanthropy. The story of ''The Mayne Inheritance'' spans nearly a century, from Patrick's arrival in Australia in the 1840s to the death of his last surviving child, Mary Emelia Mayne, in 1940, at the age of 81. The narrative takes place within the context of Brisbane's history, and the reader is also taken on the journey of Brisbane's transformation from an isolated colonial hamlet to a major Australian city.


Adaptations

The book was adapted for the stage by Errol O'Neill and premiered at Brisbane's La Boite Theatre in 2004.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mayne Inheritance, The 1997 non-fiction books 20th-century history books History of Brisbane University of Queensland Press books