Marion Knowles

Marion Miller Knowles MBE (1865–1949) was an Australian journalist, poet, writer and Catholic charity worker.

Marion Knowles

MBE
BornMarion Miller
(1865-08-08)8 August 1865
Woods Point, Victoria, Australia
Died16 September 1949(1949-09-16) (aged 84)
Camberwell, Victoria, Australia
Resting placeBrighton Cemetery
Pen nameJohn Desmond, Aunt Patsy
OccupationNovelist, poet, journalist
NationalityAustralian
Children2 sons

Early life and education

Born on 8 August 1865 in the Victorian gold-mining town of Woods Point, Knowles was the daughter of James and Anne (née Bowen) Miller. Her father was a storekeeper.[1][2]

Career

She was a journalist for the Melbourne Advocate for 30 years and conducted the Women’s and Children’s pages until her retirement in 1927. She also was a charity worker for the Melbourne Catholic Orphanage and the Wattle Day appeals.[3]

In 1893 her first poems appeared in The Australasian under the name "John Desmond".

In 1931 she received a pension from the Commonwealth Literary Fund.[4]

Knowles was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire in the 1938 Birthday Honours, being recognised as "a well-known Australian writer of books for girls".[5]

Works

Novels
  • Barbara Halliday: A story of the hill country of Victoria (1896)
  • Corinne of Corall's Bluff (1912)
  • The Little Doctor (1919)
  • The House of Garden of Roses (1923)
  • Meg of Minadong (1926)
  • Pierce O'Grady's Daughter (1928)
  • Pretty Nan Hartigan (1928)

Poetry
  • Songs from the Hills (1898)
  • Fronds from the Black's Spur (1911)
  • Roses on the Window Sill (1913)
  • A Christmas Bouquet (1915)
  • Shamrock Sprays (1916)
  • Songs from the Land of the Wattle (1916)
  • Love, Luck and Lavender (1919)
  • Christmas Bells (1919)
  • Ferns and Fancies (1923)
  • Selected Poems (1935), republished in two volumes:
    • The Harp of the Hills (1937)
    • Lyrics of Wind and Wave (1937)

Short stories
  • Shamrock and Wattle Bloom: A series of short tales and sketches (1900)

Personal

Knowles married Joseph Knowles at St Patrick’s Cathedral on 19 September 1901.[6] Her husband died on 18 June 1918 at a private hospital in Melbourne, aged 60.[7]

Knowles died on 16 September 1949 and was survived by her two sons, Adrian and William. Following a requiem mass at the Sacred Heart Church in Kew, she was buried in Brighton Cemetery.[8]

References
  1. "Women's World". The Herald (Melbourne) (10, 803). Victoria, Australia. 14 June 1910. p. 3. Retrieved 26 August 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
  2. Close, Cecily, "Knowles, Marion (1865–1949)", Australian Dictionary of Biography, Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, retrieved 26 August 2020
  3. "Mrs. Marion Miller Knowles". Southern Cross (Adelaide, SA : 1889 - 1954). 15 July 1927. p. 8. Retrieved 17 January 2020.
  4. "Commonwealth Literary Fund". Commonwealth of Australia Gazette (National : 1901 - 1973). 6 August 1931. p. 1292. Retrieved 17 January 2020.
  5. The London Gazette. 1938. p. 3703.
  6. "Family Notices". The Argus (Melbourne) (17, 240). Victoria, Australia. 12 October 1901. p. 9. Retrieved 26 August 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
  7. "Family Notices". Advocate. L (2388). Victoria, Australia. 29 June 1918. p. 18. Retrieved 26 August 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
  8. "Family Notices". The Argus (Melbourne) (32, 150). Victoria, Australia. 17 September 1949. p. 41. Retrieved 26 August 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
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