Lesbia Harford
Encyclopedia
Lesbia Harford was an Australian poet.
Lesbia Venner Harford, daughter of E. J. and Helen Keogh, was born at Brighton, Victoria
, on 9 April 1891. She was educated at the Sacré Coeur school at Malvern, Victoria
, Mary's Mount school at Ballarat, Victoria
, and at the University of Melbourne
, where she graduated LL.B. in 1916.
Becoming interested in social questions, she obtained work in a clothing factory to obtain first hand knowledge of the conditions under which women worked. She campaigned strongly against forced conscription
in World War I
. In 1916 she campaigned for the release of the Sydney Twelve
, members of the Industrial Workers of the World
arrested and charged with treason, arson, sedition and forgery
She had begun writing verse, and in May 1921 Birth, a small poetry magazine published at Melbourne, gave the whole of one number to a selection from her poems. A severe attack of rheumatic fever while a young child led to a life of delicate health, and her death on 5 July 1927. She married P. Harford in 1919 but had no children.
In 1927 three examples of her work were included in Serle's An Australasian Anthology, and in 1941 a small volume The Poems of Lesbia Harford, sponsored by the Commonwealth Literary Fund and published by the Melbourne University Press, revealed a poet of originality and charm.
In Melbourne, the biennial Lesbia Harford Oration is named in her honour. The Lesbia Harford oration is a speech by an eminent speaker on an issue of importance for women.
The political rock band Redgum
recorded part of her poem "Periodicity" set to music as "Women in Change" on their 1980 album Virgin Ground
.
Lesbia Venner Harford, daughter of E. J. and Helen Keogh, was born at Brighton, Victoria
Brighton, Victoria
Brighton is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 11 km south-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Bayside. At the 2006 Census, Brighton had a population of 20,651...
, on 9 April 1891. She was educated at the Sacré Coeur school at Malvern, Victoria
Malvern, Victoria
Malvern is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 8 km south-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Stonnington. At the 2006 Census, Malvern had a population of 9,422.-History:...
, Mary's Mount school at Ballarat, Victoria
Ballarat, Victoria
Ballarat is a city in the state of Victoria, Australia, approximately west-north-west of the state capital Melbourne situated on the lower plains of the Great Dividing Range and the Yarrowee River catchment. It is the largest inland centre and third most populous city in the state and the fifth...
, and at the University of Melbourne
University of Melbourne
The University of Melbourne is a public university located in Melbourne, Victoria. Founded in 1853, it is the second oldest university in Australia and the oldest in Victoria...
, where she graduated LL.B. in 1916.
Becoming interested in social questions, she obtained work in a clothing factory to obtain first hand knowledge of the conditions under which women worked. She campaigned strongly against forced conscription
Conscription
Conscription is the compulsory enlistment of people in some sort of national service, most often military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and continues in some countries to the present day under various names...
in World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. In 1916 she campaigned for the release of the Sydney Twelve
Sydney Twelve
The Sydney Twelve were members of the Industrial Workers of the World arrested on 23 September 1916 in Sydney, Australia, and charged with treason under the Treason Felony Act , arson, sedition and forgery....
, members of the Industrial Workers of the World
Industrial Workers of the World
The Industrial Workers of the World is an international union. At its peak in 1923, the organization claimed some 100,000 members in good standing, and could marshal the support of perhaps 300,000 workers. Its membership declined dramatically after a 1924 split brought on by internal conflict...
arrested and charged with treason, arson, sedition and forgery
She had begun writing verse, and in May 1921 Birth, a small poetry magazine published at Melbourne, gave the whole of one number to a selection from her poems. A severe attack of rheumatic fever while a young child led to a life of delicate health, and her death on 5 July 1927. She married P. Harford in 1919 but had no children.
In 1927 three examples of her work were included in Serle's An Australasian Anthology, and in 1941 a small volume The Poems of Lesbia Harford, sponsored by the Commonwealth Literary Fund and published by the Melbourne University Press, revealed a poet of originality and charm.
In Melbourne, the biennial Lesbia Harford Oration is named in her honour. The Lesbia Harford oration is a speech by an eminent speaker on an issue of importance for women.
The political rock band Redgum
Redgum
Redgum were an Australian folk and political music group formed in Adelaide in 1975 by singer-songwriter John Schumann, Michael Atkinson on guitars/vocals and Verity Truman on flute/vocals; they were soon joined by Chris Timms on violin. All four had been students at Flinders University and...
recorded part of her poem "Periodicity" set to music as "Women in Change" on their 1980 album Virgin Ground
Virgin Ground
Virgin Ground is the second album by Redgum. The title is taken from the first track.It was originally released as on vinyl and cassette...
.
See also
- Free loveFree loveThe term free love has been used to describe a social movement that rejects marriage, which is seen as a form of social bondage. The Free Love movement’s initial goal was to separate the state from sexual matters such as marriage, birth control, and adultery...
- Bill Keogh (Esmond Venner Keogh), her brother, was a noted pathologist.
External links
- The Poems of Lesbia Harford, reproduced by SETIS, University of SydneyUniversity of SydneyThe 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...
in Portable Document FormatPortable Document FormatPortable Document Format is an open standard for document exchange. This file format, created by Adobe Systems in 1993, is used for representing documents in a manner independent of application software, hardware, and operating systems....
. - Lesley Lamb, 'Harford, Lesbia Venner (1891 - 1927)', Australian Dictionary of BiographyAustralian Dictionary of BiographyThe Australian Dictionary of Biography is a national, co-operative enterprise, founded and maintained by the Australian National University to produce authoritative biographical articles on eminent people in Australia's history....
, Volume 9, Melbourne University Press, 1983, pp 195–196. - Lesbia Harford- The Rebel Girl