Ethel Richardson by Rupert Bunny, 1920s nla.pic-an8136809

The Australian author, Ethel Florence Lindesay Richardson – better known by her pen-name, Henry Handel Richardson – was born on this day, 3 January, in 1870.

In 1988 the Australian Dictionary of Biography published a piece on Richardson’s life by Dorothy Green, a version of which is now available online here. The piece is strangely dated in both language and values, with its references (emphasis?) on the achievements of the men in Richardson’s life and the defensive (dismissive?) references to speculation of ‘deviance’ in Richardson’s relationships with women. It does, however, mention the key events of her life, including her expatriate stays in Germany and England, her novels and her interest in music, so it still works as an introduction to the novelist.

Richardson died in 1945 and her novels, now out of copyright, have been made available free online as part of Project Gutenberg Australia.

• The Fortunes of Richard Mahony (trilogy)
• Two Hanged Women
• The End of Childhood (Complete stories)
• Maurice Guest and
• The Getting of Wisdom

Some have also been recorded and are available as Mp3s through Librivox.

Ethel would be 145 if she were still alive today.