John Le Gay Brereton papers, 1851-1933

fonds

1851-1933

Textual Records, Graphic Materials, Drawings, Watercolours, Photographs, Architectural and Technical Drawings, Ephemera, Clippings

422704

15 volumes and 1 folder of textual material, 1 volume contains clippings and ephemera - manuscript, typescript, carbon typescript, and printed
8 drawings
16 photographic prints

John Le Gay Brereton was born in Sydney on 2 September 1871. He was the fifth son of Dr. John Le Gay Brereton (1827-1886), physician, author and leader of the Swedenborgian community of Sydney, and his wife, Mary Tongue, who had arrived in the colony in 1859. The family lived at Richmond Terrace, Macquarie Street and later at “Osgathorpe”, Gladesville.

Brereton began his literary career as a student of Sydney Grammar School which he attended from 1881. He distinguished himself in English and in 1887 became a member of the editorial committee of the school’s magazine, the Sydneian. From 1891 to 1894 he was an undergraduate in the Faculty of Arts at the University of Sydney, where he was especially influenced by Mungo MacCallum, Challis Professor of Modern Literature. Brereton was an editor of the student magazine, Hermes, to which he contributed poetry and critical articles.

On leaving university, Brereton attempted several jobs - school teacher, tea-merchant and clerk in the Government Statistician’s Office, and part- time lecturer for the University Extension Board. During this time he was also establishing himself in Sydney’s literary community. Special friends were Henry Lawson and Christopher Brennan.

Brereton’s first book, The Song of brotherhood and other verses, was published in 1896 and this was followed in 1899 by the prose volume Landlopers. Both works show a commitment to the egalitarian and mateship ideals of the 1890s and reveal Brereton’s almost mystical relationship with the bush. As a young man, he made many walking tours to the south coast and in Tasmania, and even in later years would often escape to a bush camp near the Nepean Gorge, west of Sydney.

On 21 December 1900 Brereton married Laura Winifred Odd. The couple were to have one daughter and four sons.

Brereton was appointed assistant librarian at the University of Sydney in 1902 and became librarian in 1915. A further volume of poetry, Sea and sky was published in 1908. During this period, Brereton began to establish himself as an Elizabethan scholar of international note, especially in the field of Shakespearean textual research. In 1909 he published Elizabethan drama: notes and studies; in 1914 he sent a critical edition of Lust’s dominion to Louvain University to be published, but the war intervened and it did not appear until 1931. He was a frequent contributor to British and European literary journals.

In 1921 Brereton was appointed first Challis Professor of English Literature at the University of Sydney, a position he occupied until his death in 1933. Tall, gangling and bespectacled, he was often lampooned in undergraduate publications. However, his students found in him a competent teacher, gentle in manner and showing a patient interest in their ideas and aspirations. Many of these students, including A.D. Hope and R.G. Howarth, were to become noted authors themselves.

Brereton combined university life with the continuing of his own creative writing. Swags up!, a volume of poetry, was published in 1928; the prose sketches, Knocking round in 1930; and the tribute to his friend Henry Lawson, by his mates in 1931. He was also active in literary organizations - the English Association, the Fellowship of Australian Writers and Sydney P.E.N. Club. Perhaps Brereton’s greatest contribution to Australian literature was in his role as confidant of authors.

Brereton died on 2 February 1933 whilst on a caravan tour in the New England region.

Papers, 1851-1933, with related papers, 1902-1933.
Pictorial material including drawings ca. 1894-1933, plans 1921 and photographs 1898-1931.

SERIES 01
Correspondence of John Le Gay Brereton, 1889-1933

SERIES 02
Various papers collected by John Le Gay Brereton, 1851-1931

SERIES 03-04
John Le Gay Brereton, miscellaneous papers 1900-1930 and related papers, 1902-1933

SERIES 05
John Le Gay Brereton, printed material, 1902-1932

SERIES 06
Drawings, ca. 1894-1933, theatre plans, 1921 and bookplate design / from the papers of John Le Gay Brereton

SERIES 07
Photographs, 1898-1931 / from the papers of John Le Gay Brereton

Guide to the papers of John Le Gay Brereton in the Mitchell Library, State Library of NSW. Sydney : Library Council of New South Wales, 1981. Mitchell Library Manuscripts guides ; no. 5.