Hilary Lofting

Hilary Joseph Francis Lofting (23 May 1881 – 3 May 1939) was an Australian novelist, travel writer, journalist and editor.

Hilary Joseph Francis Lofting
Born(1881-05-23)23 May 1881
London, England
Died3 May 1939(1939-05-03) (aged 57)
Manly, New South Wales, Australia
Pen nameFrancis Brien
OccupationNovelist, travel writer, journalist, editor
LanguageEnglish
NationalityAustralia (immigrant from England, in 1915)
EducationSt Edmund's College, Cambridge
GenreShort story, Travel writing
Notable worksThe Happy Vagabond (1928, Co-author of Margaret Fane)
Bail Up! (1939)
SpouseMay Wheatcroft (1915–1917)
Margaret Fane (1918–1939; his death)
RelativesHugh Lofting (brother)

He was the eldest brother of Hugh Lofting (1886–1947, Doctor Dolittle's author).

Early life and education

Hilary Lofting was born in London, England, to English and Irish parents. He was the eldest of five boys and one girl.

He studied Architectural Engineering at St Edmund's College, Cambridge. After graduating, he was involved in railway construction around Ireland, continental Europe and Argentina as a civil engineer. He returned to England after finishing the work, and volunteered for military service, but was twice rejected.[1]

Marriage

In 1915, Lofting married May Wheatcroft in London, and the couple moved to Australia in 1917. He was encouraged by friends to write about his experiences in Buenos Aires, under the pseudonym of "Francis Brien". His travel writing was well received and caught the eye of David McKee Wright who was editor of The Bulletin, and published Lofting's writing. Lofting decided to be a full-time writer and quit civil engineering, but May was opposed to his career change.

The following year, Lofting was remarried to Margaret Fane, who was Wright's ex-wife. Lofting and Fane collaborated on short stories published in The Sydney Mail, The Sydney Morning Herald and other magazines. Lofting was friends with Christopher Brennan who spent more than a year in Lofting's house until 1926.[2]

Death

In 1939, Lofting died in the Sydney suburb of Manly.[3] He was listed alongside Edward J. O'Brien, Henry Handel Richardson and Alan Marshall as one of the excellent short story writers in Australia.[4]

Works
  • The Happy Vagabond (1928, co-author with Margaret Fane)
  • Bail Up!: Ned Kelly, Bushranger (1939)

Introduction
  • For the Term of his Natural Life (by Marcus Clarke, 1929 edition)
gollark: Says someone who rotates faster than osmarks.net's rotational cryoapioforms.
gollark: The elegant way would be to use Template Haskell or type level hax to generate some O(1)-runtime code.
gollark: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/apiformis
gollark: How coincidental, I have 163287 messages in public things.
gollark: Excellent, training phase is 20% complete.

See also

Notes
  1. Sharkey (2012), p2.
  2. "Brennan, Christopher John (1870–1932)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Australian National University. Retrieved 11 October 2013.
  3. "MR. HILARY LOFTING". NLA Trove. The Sydney Morning Herald. 4 May 1939. Retrieved 11 October 2013.
  4. "Hilary Lofting". AustLit. Retrieved 11 October 2013.

References
  • Michael Sharkey / Romantic and modern: country and city in the short stories of Margaret Fane and Hilary Lofting, Journal of the Association for the Study of Australian Literature, Vol 12, No 3 (2012)
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