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Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-84055-2 - Henry Handel Richardson: A Life Michael Ackland Frontmatter More information Henry Handel Richardson Henry Handel Richardson is celebrated for her classic Australian novels The Getting of Wisdom and The Fortunes of Richard Mahony, yet her own life-story is still to be fully told. This enthralling book is the first complete biography of this enigmatic Australian literary icon. Drawing on previously unavailable records, the book sheds new light on Richard- son’s unconventional life. Beginning with her traumatic childhood, then tracing in detail the largely unknown story of the eleven formative years Richardson spent on the Continent, the book goes on to explore the personal and social forces that moved her during her long years as a London intellectual, concluding with her last ordeal as a frail spectator in the front-line of the Battle of Britain. Michael Ackland is the author of Henry Kendall: the Man and the Myths and Damaged Men: the Precarious Lives of James McAuley and Harold Stewart. He was educated in Australia and Germany, where he attended secondary school and studied German literature at the University of Cologne. Currently he is Head of the English Department at Monash University. ‘This is an important work, astute and persuasively argued.’ – Brenda Niall, award-winning biographer © Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-84055-2 - Henry Handel Richardson: A Life Michael Ackland Frontmatter More information A LIFE MICHAEL ACKLAND © Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-84055-2 - Henry Handel Richardson: A Life Michael Ackland Frontmatter More information PUBLISHED BY THE PRESS SYNDICATE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE The Pitt Building, Tr umpington Street, Cambridge, United Kingdom CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB2 2RU, UK 40 West 20th Street, New York, NY 10011–4211, USA 477 Williamstown Road, Port Melbourne, VIC 3207, Australia Ruiz de Alarcón 13, 28014 Madrid, Spain Dock House, The Waterfront, Cape Town 8001, South Africa http://www.cambridge.org © Michael Ackland 2004 This book is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First published by Cambridge University Press 2004 Printed in Australia by BPA Print Group Typeface Garamond (Adobe) 11/13 pt. System QuarkXPress® [BC] A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library National Library of Australia Cataloguing in Publication data Ackland, Michael. Henry Handel Richardson: a life. Bibliography. Includes index. ISBN 0 521 84055 4. 1. Richardson, Henry Handel, 1870–1946. 2. Novelists, Australian – 20th century – Biography. 3. Women and literature – Australia – History – 20th century. I. Title. A823.2 ISBN 0 521 84055 4 hardback © Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-84055-2 - Henry Handel Richardson: A Life Michael Ackland Frontmatter More information For Rhonda and for Pam and Tony © Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-84055-2 - Henry Handel Richardson: A Life Michael Ackland Frontmatter More information How I do hate the ordinary sleek biography! I’d have every wart & pimple emphasised, every tricky trait or petty meanness brought out. The great writers are great enough to bear it. Henry Handel Richardson © Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-84055-2 - Henry Handel Richardson: A Life Michael Ackland Frontmatter More information Contents Acknowledgements xiii Chronologyxv Prologue 1 1Blood Lines 5 2 The Whirlpool of Destiny 26 3 Trauma and its Fictions45 4Whatever Happened at PLC? 59 5Love and Music in Leipzig80 6‘A Failure All Round’ 105 7 The Continent to the Rescue 126 8 Reappraising England 154 9 A Denizen of Many Worlds 182 10 Winds of Change 206 11 Blackout 232 12 Towards the Next Room 256 Notes 275 Bibliography 308 Index 320 ix © Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-84055-2 - Henry Handel Richardson: A Life Michael Ackland Frontmatter More information Illustrations Unless otherwise stated, photographs are from the Monash University Richardson Project. Text Dr Walter Richardson 8 Ettie, Lil and Mat Main in Leipzig, 1889 97 Richardson the compulsive smoker 151 NL The Richardson sisters in Harrow, 1905 164 NL Richardson with her nephew Walter Neustätter, 1905 172 NL Henry skiing with Walter near Dresden, 1913 176 NL 90 Regent’s Park Road 186 NL ‘Westfield’, Lyme Regis, with the Cobb in the background 215 The main beach, Lyme Regis 217 Henry and George at Lyme Regis 220 NL Henry and Olga at Newquay, 1934 223 Richardson as celebrated author 230 NL ‘Green Ridges’, Fairlight 244 NL xi © Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-84055-2 - Henry Handel Richardson: A Life Michael Ackland Frontmatter More information xii ILLUSTRATIONS Lillian Neill 247 NL Richardson’s female circle 250 Richardson and her Armstrong-Siddeley 252 Plates Mary Richardson and her ‘chicks’ between pages 92 and 93 Ettie and Lil Richardson’s 1886 matriculation class at PLC NL Ettie and George Robertson in Munich NL The concert hall of the Leipzig Conservatorium Leipzig Conservatorium of Music Suffragette poster between pages 188 and 189 Mary Richardson in later life NL General Colleges Building, Kaiser Wilhelm University, Strasbourg Author’s collection George, Henry, Walter and Lil holidaying in the Dolomites, 1910 NL Richardson in her London study, 1930 NL Olga Roncoroni Henry and Olga at Lyme Regis Richardson with one of her much-loved pets Richardson’s last passport photograph NL Maps Strasbourg 134 London 184 © Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-84055-2 - Henry Handel Richardson: A Life Michael Ackland Frontmatter More information Acknowledgements My primary debt is to the dedicated Richardson scholars, past and present, who have provided so much material upon which this study necessarily draws. In particular, I would like to single out Dorothy Green, Leonie Kramer, Axel Clark, Clive and Meg Probyn and Bruce Steele. I have also been invaluably assisted at a number of libraries, both here and overseas. Graeme Powell and his staff in the Manuscripts Room at the National Library in Canberra did all they possibly could to assist me in every aspect of this project. They were unfailingly friendly, co-operative and encouraging over many years of research. Similarly, Paul Brunton and his staff in the Manuscripts section of the Mitchell Library, Sydney, were most helpful, as was the staff of the LaTrobe Library, Melbourne, and Richard Overell, Rare Books Librarian at Monash University. Overseas my experience was mainly positive. At the British Museum and local libraries in Camden, Harrow, Harrow College, Hastings and Lyme Regis, and in various colleges and sections of the University of London, staff were most generous with their time and knowledge. The same was true of Germany, where I would like to single out for special thanks the State Library of Hessen, the University Libraries of Berlin, Cologne, Göttingen, Leipzig and Munich and the Herzogin Anna Amalia Bibliothek in Weimar. They afford a stark contrast to the National and University Library of Strasbourg, which often seemed bent on impeding research efforts. Happily its negative effects were counterbalanced by quality assist- ance provided at the city archives and at Strasbourg’s municipal library, as it was at the municipal library in Bordighera. Many people aided me in diverse ways. Brenda Niall read some early sec- tions of my manuscript at a critical time and offered timely encouragement. xiii © Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-84055-2 - Henry Handel Richardson: A Life Michael Ackland Frontmatter More information xiv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My colleagues in the Richardson Project at Monash University, Clive Probyn and Bruce Steele, provided me with typed copies of Lillian Richardson’s correspondence with her sister, answered occasional questions and very generously provided the bulk of the excellent photographic material reproduced in this book. Dunya Lindsey helped me track down some last-minute references when my own patience was beginning to flag, Walter Veit assisted in deciphering German handwriting and Chris Willcocks in preparing the photographic material. Frau Piech, Librarian at the Conservatorium in Leipzig, showed genuine interest in my project and her archivist, Maren Goltz, answered numerous queries with good sense and thoroughness over a number of years. Monash University pro- vided me with financial assistance as well as occasional periods of time to concentrate on writing; and Kim Armitage has been an exemplary publisher, enthusiastic, reliable and thoroughly professional. Of the many individuals who helped me I shall mention only Penny Alexander, for her patience and understanding, Tony and Carolyn Cousins and John Fyfield for their support, as well as Hans and Leo Reiffert and Gunda and Olaf Semper for their warm hospitality in foreign climes. Without the encouragement and assistance extended by these and numerous other friends this project might well have proved crushing, and certainly far less enjoyable. © Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-84055-2 - Henry Handel Richardson: A Life Michael Ackland Frontmatter More information Chronology 1854 Uprising of miners in Ballarat, known as the Eureka Stockade, bloodily suppressed. 1855 Marriage on 27 August of Walter Lindesay Richardson (born 1826) and Mary Bailey (born 1835) in Geelong. Walter works as a storekeeper in Ballarat. 1856 Walter registers as a medical practitioner. 1857 First of Mary’s many miscarriages. 1859 Mary’s brother John Bailey widowed and elected to the Victorian Legislative Assembly. Walter and Mary look after his three children. 1863 Walter becomes an honorary medical officer at the Ballarat District Hospital.