What was Australia’s first novel?
A riches to rags tale written by a convict was published in Hobart in 1830. On mainland Australia, an Irish widow published a gothic melodrama in 1838.
The inaugural novel penned and released in Australia bears a treasure trove of autobiographical and historical value, serving as a convict narrative and, perhaps, the nation's inaugural work of crime fiction. This narrative imparts a cautionary lesson regarding the merits of moderation, discipline, prudence, humility, as well as the perils of ambition and self-centered selfishness.
Additionally, it presents readers from England—a demographic for which it was intended—an inverted world where social hierarchies are reversed and the boundaries between crime and corruption, not to mention the justice system, become indistinct. Renowned as "Quintus Servinton: A Tale Founded upon Incidents of Real Occurrence," this novel was printed in Hobart Town, the penal colony of Van Diemen's Land, between 1830 and 1831.
The novel claims to be an imaginative biography, authored by an anonymous narrator who encounters the 60-year-old subject, Quintus, while he is recuperating at the Serviton family home in Devonshire. Quintus Servinton imparts this third-person narrator a manuscript chronicling the eponymous hero's odyssey from birth in 1772 through childhood, education, marriage, transgression, and eventual demise.
Although storytelling in Australia boasts a far more extensive history, the novel form, characterized by its realism and psychological depth, was comparatively novel when the colonisation took place in the 18th century. Originating in Britain alongside the growth of the middle class, burgeoning literacy, and advancements in printing technology, Quintus Servinton has been republished multiple times and has been the subject of numerous scholarly analyses.
However, less recognized is that the first novel published on the Australian mainland was authored and published in Sydney by an Irish-born woman in 1838, titled "The Guardian: A Tale by an Australian." The true authorship of this novel remained concealed until the 1960s, when it was disclosed to be Anna Maria Bunn (1808-1889), a youthful Irish widow.
A note within the library of the Bunns' estate, authored by her son William, stated: "Mother was the author of The Guardian."
Written by urgent.news from The Conversation AU's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
