Gwen Meredith
Encyclopedia
Gwenyth Valmai Meredith OBE
(18 November 1907 – 3 October 2006) was an Australia
n author
, playwright
, and radio
writer
. She is best known as the writer of the long-running radio serial, Blue Hills
.
to George and Florence Meredith, and was their only child. She was educated in Sydney
, first at Sydney Girls High School
then the University of Sydney
from which she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts
in 1929. Her father believed that, with the Depression
, there were too many people needing jobs and that she should stay at home. She therefore managed the housekeeping
and, from 1932 to 1939, owned and operated a bookshop.
Meredith married Sydney engineer
, Ainsworth Harrison, on 24 December 1938. He proved to be "a devoted and supportive husband" and travelled around Australia with her as she researched her serials. They also travelled overseas several times. In an interview, she told Arrow that, with the support of her father and then her husband, she never had to make a living from her writing, though believed she could have if she had needed to.
She retired in 1976 when the last episode of her most famous serial, Blue Hills, went to air, and she and her husband moved to the Southern Highlands of New South Wales, where she took up watercolour painting. Her other interests were gardening, bushwalking and flyfishing. She died at her home at Bowral
on 3 October 2006, aged 98.
club "Chelsea Theatre Group" that performed her earliest play
s, including her "witty and sophisticated Wives have their uses" at St James' Hall, Sydney
. Other plays were Murders Are Messy, Ask No Questions and Shout at the Thunder (these last two performed at the Independent Theatre).
From 1939 to 1943, she worked as a freelance writer, before commencing a 33-year career
with the Australian Broadcasting Commission
for which she wrote radio plays, serials and documentaries.
According to Arrow, Meredith entered a play competition in 1940 but was not selected as a winner by the judges. She did, however, win the listeners' poll. As a result of this, she was chosen to create the ABC's new radio serial in 1944, The Lawsons, a highly successful drama that ran for 1,299 episodes from 1 February 1944 to 5 February 1949. It chronicle
d a family living on a rural property, and their battle to survive and to cope with sons being away at war. When the final episode was announced, the Sydney Morning Herald
remarked that "to many people throughout the Commonwealth this will be almost a national day of mourning
. The complicated affairs of the Lawson family, their friends and their enemies have made the serial the most popular in the history of Australian radio". A stage version of The Lawsons premiered in the Masonic Hall, Bathurst, New South Wales
, on Saturday 28 January 1950. None of the radio cast appeared in the stage version, but it did include a young Ed Devereaux
.
The Lawsons serial was replaced by the even more popular Blue Hills
which comprised 5,795 episodes, all written by Meredith, and which ran for over 27 years from 1949 to 1976. Her method of writing Blue Hills was unusual. She dictated the words for the script into a tape recorder
and this was transcribed by ABC typists for the actors to read. Blue Hills made her a household name in Australia.
Several novels based on the serials, and a comic strip
version of The Lawsons which appeared in The ABC Weekly during the mid to late 1940s.
Besides these two long-running serials, Meredith wrote several plays, three of which (Ask No Questions (1940), Shout at the Thunder (1942) and These Positions Vacant (1945)) were performed by the Independent Theatre
, Sydney.
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(18 November 1907 – 3 October 2006) was 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 author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
, playwright
Playwright
A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...
, and radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
. She is best known as the writer of the long-running radio serial, Blue Hills
Blue Hills (radio serial)
.Blue Hills, written by Gwen Meredith, was an Australian radio serial about the lives of families in a typical Australian country town called Tanimbla. "Blue Hills" itself was the residence of the town’s doctor....
.
Life
Meredith was born in Orange, New South WalesOrange, New South Wales
Orange is a city in the Central West region of New South Wales, Australia. It is west of the state capital, Sydney, at an altitude of . Orange has an estimated population of 39,329 and the city is a major provincial centre....
to George and Florence Meredith, and was their only child. She was educated 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...
, first at Sydney Girls High School
Sydney Girls High School
Sydney Girls High School is an academically selective, Public high school for girls, located at Moore Park, in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia....
then 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...
from which she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
in 1929. Her father believed that, with the Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
, there were too many people needing jobs and that she should stay at home. She therefore managed the housekeeping
Housekeeping
Housekeeping is the act of cleaning the rooms and furnishings of a home. It is one of the many chores included in the term housework. Housecleaning includes activities such as disposing of rubbish, cleaning dirty surfaces, dusting and vacuuming. It may also involve some outdoor chores, such as...
and, from 1932 to 1939, owned and operated a bookshop.
Meredith married Sydney engineer
Engineer
An engineer is a professional practitioner of engineering, concerned with applying scientific knowledge, mathematics and ingenuity to develop solutions for technical problems. Engineers design materials, structures, machines and systems while considering the limitations imposed by practicality,...
, Ainsworth Harrison, on 24 December 1938. He proved to be "a devoted and supportive husband" and travelled around Australia with her as she researched her serials. They also travelled overseas several times. In an interview, she told Arrow that, with the support of her father and then her husband, she never had to make a living from her writing, though believed she could have if she had needed to.
She retired in 1976 when the last episode of her most famous serial, Blue Hills, went to air, and she and her husband moved to the Southern Highlands of New South Wales, where she took up watercolour painting. Her other interests were gardening, bushwalking and flyfishing. She died at her home at Bowral
Bowral, New South Wales
-Attractions:Bowral is perhaps the best known of the towns and villages of the Southern Highlands, and in recent years has become the commercial centre of the Wingecarribee Shire. Bowral is known for its boutiques, antique stores, gourmet restaurants, and rich coffee culture.Bowral is home to the...
on 3 October 2006, aged 98.
Career
From 1932 to 1939, with her father's financial backing, she was the owner of the Chelsea Book Club, which she soon expanded to include a dramaDrama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...
club "Chelsea Theatre Group" that performed her earliest play
Play (theatre)
A play is a form of literature written by a playwright, usually consisting of scripted dialogue between characters, intended for theatrical performance rather than just reading. There are rare dramatists, notably George Bernard Shaw, who have had little preference whether their plays were performed...
s, including her "witty and sophisticated Wives have their uses" at St James' Hall, Sydney
St James' Hall, Sydney
St James' Hall, sometimes written as St James's Hall, was a building which stood at 171 Phillip Street, Sydney, near King Street. It figured prominently in the history of small theatre in Australia...
. Other plays were Murders Are Messy, Ask No Questions and Shout at the Thunder (these last two performed at the Independent Theatre).
From 1939 to 1943, she worked as a freelance writer, before commencing a 33-year career
Career
Career is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as a person's "course or progress through life ". It is usually considered to pertain to remunerative work ....
with the Australian Broadcasting Commission
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...
for which she wrote radio plays, serials and documentaries.
According to Arrow, Meredith entered a play competition in 1940 but was not selected as a winner by the judges. She did, however, win the listeners' poll. As a result of this, she was chosen to create the ABC's new radio serial in 1944, The Lawsons, a highly successful drama that ran for 1,299 episodes from 1 February 1944 to 5 February 1949. It chronicle
Chronicle
Generally a chronicle is a historical account of facts and events ranged in chronological order, as in a time line. Typically, equal weight is given for historically important events and local events, the purpose being the recording of events that occurred, seen from the perspective of the...
d a family living on a rural property, and their battle to survive and to cope with sons being away at war. When the final episode was announced, 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...
remarked that "to many people throughout the Commonwealth this will be almost a national day of mourning
Day of Mourning
The Day of Mourning was a day of protest held by Aboriginal Australians on 26 January 1938, the sesquicentenary of British colonisation of Australia...
. The complicated affairs of the Lawson family, their friends and their enemies have made the serial the most popular in the history of Australian radio". A stage version of The Lawsons premiered in the Masonic Hall, Bathurst, New South Wales
Bathurst, New South Wales
-CBD and suburbs:Bathurst's CBD is located on William, George, Howick, Russell, and Durham Streets. The CBD is approximately 25 hectares and surrounds two city blocks. Within this block layout is banking, government services, shopping centres, retail shops, a park* and monuments...
, on Saturday 28 January 1950. None of the radio cast appeared in the stage version, but it did include a young Ed Devereaux
Ed Devereaux
Ed Devereaux was an Australian actor, who lived in the UK for many years. He was best known for playing the part of "Matt Hammond" in the Australian children's television series Skippy. He was also involved in the series behind the scenes: Devereaux directed The Veteran , for which he received...
.
The Lawsons serial was replaced by the even more popular Blue Hills
Blue Hills (radio serial)
.Blue Hills, written by Gwen Meredith, was an Australian radio serial about the lives of families in a typical Australian country town called Tanimbla. "Blue Hills" itself was the residence of the town’s doctor....
which comprised 5,795 episodes, all written by Meredith, and which ran for over 27 years from 1949 to 1976. Her method of writing Blue Hills was unusual. She dictated the words for the script into a tape recorder
Tape recorder
An audio tape recorder, tape deck, reel-to-reel tape deck, cassette deck or tape machine is an audio storage device that records and plays back sounds, including articulated voices, usually using magnetic tape, either wound on a reel or in a cassette, for storage...
and this was transcribed by ABC typists for the actors to read. Blue Hills made her a household name in Australia.
Several novels based on the serials, and a comic strip
Comic strip
A comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions....
version of The Lawsons which appeared in The ABC Weekly during the mid to late 1940s.
Besides these two long-running serials, Meredith wrote several plays, three of which (Ask No Questions (1940), Shout at the Thunder (1942) and These Positions Vacant (1945)) were performed by the Independent Theatre
Independent Theatre
The Independent Theatre was a dramatic society founded in 1930 by Doris Fitton , and was also the name given to the building it occupied from 1938. It was named for London's Independent Theatre Society founded by J. T...
, Sydney.
Awards
- 1967: Appointed a Member (MBE) of the Order of the British EmpireOrder of the British EmpireThe Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
for her services to radio entertainment - 1977: Elevated to Officer (OBE) of the order for her services to the arts.
External links
- Obituary
- Obituary
- Obituary
- http://colsearch.nfsa.afc.gov.au/nfsa/search/display/display.w3p;adv=yes;group=;groupequals=;holdingType=;page=0;parentid=;query=Number%3A638211;querytype=;rec=0;resCount=10Gwen Meredith at the National Film and Sound ArchiveNational Film and Sound ArchiveThe National Film and Sound Archive is Australia’s audiovisual archive, responsible for developing, preserving, maintaining, promoting and providing access to a national collection of audiovisual materials and related items...
] - Search for The Lawsons, and other Gwen Meredith Plays Accessed: 2007-09-20