Gavin Geoffrey Souter AO (born 2 May 1929) is an Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

n journalist and historian.

He was born in Sydney

Sydney

Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...

 and educated at Kempsey High School, and Scots College

The Scots PGC College

The Scots PGC College is an independent, co-educational, Uniting Church, day and boarding school, located in Warwick, Queensland, Australia.The College currently caters for approximately 450 international and Australian students from Prep to year 12, including 180 boarders.Located on two campuses,...

 in Warwick, Queensland

Warwick, Queensland

Warwick is a town in Queensland, Australia, lying south-west of Brisbane. It is the administrative centre of the Southern Downs Local Government Area. In 2006 the town of Warwick had a population of 12,562....

 and then graduated BA from the University of Sydney

University of Sydney

The University of Sydney is a public university located in Sydney, New South Wales. The main campus spreads across the suburbs of Camperdown and Darlington on the southwestern outskirts of the Sydney CBD. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and Oceania...

. He joined The Sydney Morning Herald

The Sydney Morning Herald

The Sydney Morning Herald is a daily broadsheet newspaper published by Fairfax Media in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1831 as the Sydney Herald, the SMH is the oldest continuously published newspaper in Australia. The newspaper is published six days a week. The newspaper's Sunday counterpart, The...

as a journalist in 1947 and worked there for the next 40 years, serving as a correspondent in New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

 and London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

  and later as an Assistant Editor of The Herald.

In 1960 Gavin Souter was awarded the W.G. Walkley National Award for Australian Journalism.

His books have included New Guinea: The Last Unknown (1963); A Peculiar People (1968), an account of the New Australia

New Australia

New Australia was a utopian socialist settlement in Paraguay founded by the Australian New Australian Movement. The colony was officially founded on 28 September 1893 as Colonia Nueva Australia and comprised 238 adults and children.-History:...

 settlement in Paraguay

Paraguay

Paraguay , officially the Republic of Paraguay , is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to the east and northeast, and Bolivia to the northwest. Paraguay lies on both banks of the Paraguay River, which runs through the center of the...

; The Idle Hill of Summer: an Australian Childhood (1972); Lion & Kangaroo: The Initiation of Australia 1901-1919 (1976).

In 1983 he was commissioned to write a narrative history of the Parliament of Australia

Parliament of Australia

The Parliament of Australia, also known as the Commonwealth Parliament or Federal Parliament, is the legislative branch of the government of Australia. It is bicameral, largely modelled in the Westminster tradition, but with some influences from the United States Congress...

 to commemorate the Bicentenary of European occupation of Australia in 1988. This was entitled Acts of Parliament.

He also wrote two histories of John Fairfax Limited - Company of Heralds (1981), which won the Foundation for Australian Literary Studies award; and Heralds and Angels: the House of Fairfax 1841-1990 (1992), which won the Victorian Premier's Literary Award

Victorian Premier's Literary Award

The Victorian Premier's Literary Awards were created by the Victorian Governmentwith the aim of raising the profile of contemporary creative writing and Australia's publishing industry....

.

He was Vice President of the Australian Society of Authors

Australian Society of Authors

The Australian Society of Authors is the peak body representing Australia's literary creators and is the major advocate for the rights and remuneration of authors in Australia...

 1975-78 and Deputy Chairman of the Commonwealth Films Board of Review 1981-84.

Gavin Souter was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia

Order of Australia

The Order of Australia is an order of chivalry established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, "for the purpose of according recognition to Australian citizens and other persons for achievement or for meritorious service"...

 (AM) in 1988, and raised to Officer level (AO) in 1995. He was awarded the Centenary Medal

Centenary Medal

The Centenary Medal is an award created by the Australian Government in 2001. It was established to commemorate the Centenary of Federation of Australia and to honour people who have made a contribution to Australian society or government...

in 2001.

List of works

• New Guinea: the Last Unknown. Sydney. Angus and Robertson, 1963. ISBN 0207946272
• "Sydney Observed, Sydney, Angus & Robertson, 1968 Cat. Card No. 62-25528 Registry No. 68-1817
• A Peculiar People: the Australians in Paraguay. Sydney, Angus and Robertson, 1968. ISBN 0207950377
• The Idle Hill of Summer: an Australian Childhood, 1939-1945. Sydney, Angus and Robertson, 1972. ISBN 0207123705
• Lion and Kangaroo: the Initiation of Australia, 1901-1919. Sydney, Collins, 1976. ISBN 0002114453
• Company of Heralds: a Century and a Half of Australian Publishing by John Fairfax Limited and its Predecessors, 1831-1981. Carlton, Vic. Melbourne University Press, 1981. ISBN 0522842186
• Acts of Parliament: a Narrative History of the Senate and House of Representatives, Commonwealth of Australia. Carlton, Vic., Melbourne University Press, 1988. ISBN 0522844081
• Heralds and Angels: the House of Fairfax 1841-1990. Carlton, Vic. Melbourne University Press, 1991. ISBN 0522844499
• Mosman: a History. Carlton, Vic., Melbourne University Press, 1994. ISBN 0522845916
• A Torrent of Words: Leon Gellert: a Writer's Life. Canberra, Brindabella Press, 1996. ISBN 0909422265
• Times & Tides: a Middle Harbour Memoir. Pymble, N.S.W. Simon & Schuster, 2004. ISBN 0731812247
• (Unpublished MS, held by the National Library of Australia: Cocos. A History of the Clunies-Ross Family. Commissioned by John Clunies-Ross)