George Lewis Becke (or Louis Becke; 18 June 1855 – 18 February 1913) was at the turn of the nineteenth century, the most prolific, significant, and internationally renowned Australian-born writer of the South Pacific region. Having lived and worked among Pacific Islands and Islanders as a trader, ship's supercargo, and villager for some two decades, learning languages and observing natural and cultural life, Becke was prompted by J F Archibald of The Bulletin to write down his experiences, eventually becoming a popular and respected author of short stories, novellas, novels, as well as historic and ethnographic works.
Becke was born at Port Macquarie, New South Wales, son of Frederick Becke, Clerk of Petty Sessions and his wife Caroline Matilda, née Beilby.[1] Both parents were born in England. The ninth of twelve children, the young Becke found walking the coastal headlands and beaches of his region, often in the company of local Australian Aboriginal people, along with sailing the local waters, much more interesting than formal schooling. However, the family moved to Hunters Hill, Sydney in 1867 and Becke was further educated at Fort Street High School, although he still preferred to go fishing.[1]
In 1869, Becke travelled to San Francisco with his brother William Vernon and was away for nineteen months.[1] At 16 years of age, Becke was a stowaway on a ship bound for Samoa.[1] In Apia he took a job as a book-keeper in the store of Mrs Mary Mcfarlane which he held until some time after December 1872.[2] Under orders of Mrs Mcfarlane, Becke sailed a ketch, the E.A. Williams to Mili Atoll to deliver it to William "Bully" Hayes, the notorious blackbirder. Beck arrived at Mili Atoll on 17 January 1874. Becke remained as a passenger on the Leonora, until the ship was wrecked on 15 March 1874 during a storm while in Lele harbour at Kosrae.[3] It was seven months until HMS Rosario rescued Becke and the others. Becke was later arrested for piracy, but was acquitted in Brisbane at age 19.[2] Then he tried his luck at the Palmer River goldrush, was employed at Ravenswood station and from 1878–79 worked as a bank clerk in Townsville, Queensland.[3] The story Nell of Mulliner's Camp is set in a mining camp in North Queensland.
From about April 1880 Becke was in the Ellice Islands (now Tuvalu) working with the Liverpool firm of John S. de Wolf and Co.[2] on Nanumanga,[4] until the trading-station was destroyed later that year in a cyclone.[1][3] In February 1881 he opened his own store in Nukufetau, where he married Nelea Tikena.[1] The stories that Louis Becke set in the Ellice Islands are: The Fisher Folk of Nukufetau that describes a fishing expedition, The Rangers of the Tia Kau that describes a shark attack at the Tia Kau reef between Nanumea and Nanumanga, and Kennedy the Boatsteerer that describes an attempt by a trader on Niutao to escape with a woman betrothed to a Niutaon chief, which ends in tragedy.
Becke wrote about Bully Hayes in The Strange Adventures of James Shervinton[5] and other stories: Captain "Bully" Hayes; Concerning "Bully" Hayes; The Wreck Of The Leonora: A Memory Of "Bully" Hayes. However these stories must be read with caution as the line between fact and fiction-writing is unclear.[2][3][6] Becke's experiences in the Pacific provided most of the material for Becke's stories.
Becke's earliest writing on Hayes was published, without attribution to Becke, in the novel A Modern Buccaneer (1894), which was published by Thomas Alexander Browne under the pseudonym 'Rolf Boldrewood'.[7] Browne was the author of Robbery Under Arms and paid Becke for his recollections of "Bully" Hayes. Following publication of A Modern Buccaneer, Becke wrote to Browne protesting at the use of his manuscript without any significant change, and without attribution of Becke's contribution of the manuscript.[7]
Becke returned to New South Wales late in 1885 and on 10 February 1886 married Mary Elizabeth (Bessie) Maunsell, the daughter of Colonel Maunsell, of Port Macquarie.[1] On 9 November 1888 his daughter, Nora Lois, was born.[1]
On 9 June 1896 he left Sydney for London with Nora Lois and Miss Fanny Sabrina Long.[1] Becke and Fanny Long had 2 daughters, Alrema (born 30 October 1897) and Niya (born 27 September 1898).[1] Bessie obtained a divorce on the grounds of desertion on 29 October 1903.[1]
In 1908 he and his family went to Auckland, New Zealand, via Fiji; then in 1909 the family travelled to Sydney, Australia.[1]
In January 1892 Becke returned to Sydney and persuaded by Ernest Favenc and J. F. Archibald began to contribute stories to The Bulletin, the first of which was 'Tis in the Blood appearing in the edition of 6 May 1893.[8][9] A collection of these stories, By Reef and Palm, was published in England in 1894; His Native Wife, a novelette, was published in Australia in 1895; followed by a further collection of stories, The Ebbing of the Tide, which was published in 1896.
Becke went to London about the beginning of 1896, helped by Archibald and William Macleod of The Bulletin who advanced him the sum of £200, and he remained in Europe for around 15 years, during which time a large number of collections of short stories and a few novels and stories for boys were published.
Becke was fairly paid by the magazines for his stories, but his books were always sold outright and never on a royalty basis, he was not a wealthy man.[1]
Becke was in Sydney again in the middle of 1909 and died of cancer there on 18 February 1913, working up until his death. About 30 of Becke's books are listed in E. Morris Miller's Australian Literature with six other volumes written in collaboration with Walter J. Jeffrey. He was survived by his wife and a daughter.
Becke had said that any literary success he had achieved was due entirely to the training received from the editor of The Bulletin, J. F. Archibald, "who taught me the secrets of condensation and simplicity of language"[11][8] Once having learned this, Becke had a wealth of experience to draw upon and, though there was inevitably some monotony of theme, he wrote a very large number of stories that can still be read with interest, and show him to have been a writer of considerable ability.[12]
By Reef and Palm and Ebbing of the Tide received both good reviews and strong sales; with By Reef and Palm going through seven reprints between 1894 and 1924.[13] Almost all of Becke's works were published in America by J. B. Lippincott of Philadelphia. Becke was criticised by some reviewers for lapses in grammar and taste.[14]His Native Wife was unfavourably received in America because of its subject matter; J. B. Lippincott also refused to publish The Mutineer: A Romance of Pitcairn Island.[14]
His life was the subject of a 1958 ABC radio feature Becke Of The South Seas where the author was played by Bob Moore.[15]
Bibliography
Novels
The Mystery of the Laughlin Islands (1896)
A First Fleet Family with Walter James Jeffrey (1896)
The Mutineer: A Romance of Pitcairn Island with Walter James Jeffrey (1898)
By Rock and Pool, On an Austral Shore, and Other Stories (1901)
Yorke the Adventurer, and Other Stories (1901)
Tessa and the Trader's Wife (1901)
The Tapu of Banderah with Walter James Jeffrey (1901)
The Strange Adventure of James Shervinton and Other Stories (1902)
Chinkie's Flat and Other Stories (1904)
Under Tropic Skies (1904)
The Settlers of Karossa Creek and Other Stories of Australian Bush Life (1906)
Sketches from Normandy (1906)
The Pearl Divers of Roncador Reef and Other Stories (1908)
'Neath Austral Skies (1909)
Bully Hayes: Buccaneer, and Other Stories (1914)
Tales from the South Seas (1929)
South Sea Supercargo (1967)
Prose collections
Old Convict Days with William Derrincourt (1891)
Wild Life in Southern Seas (1897)
Autobiography
Notes From My South Sea Log (1905)
The Call of the South (1908)
Non-fiction
Admiral Phillip: The Founding of New South Wales with Walter James Jeffrey (1899)
The Naval Pioneers of Australia with Walter James Jeffrey (1899)
Related Research Articles
George Bass was a British naval surgeon and explorer of Australia.
Kosrae, formerly known as Kusaie or Strong's Island, is an island in the Federated States of Micronesia. The State of Kosrae is one of the four states of the Federated States of Micronesia, and includes the main island of Kosrae and a few nearby islands and islets, the most significant of which is inhabited by 1,500 people.
Lord Howe Island is an irregularly crescent-shaped volcanic remnant in the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand, part of the Australian state of New South Wales. It lies 600 km (320 nmi) directly east of mainland Port Macquarie, 780 km (420 nmi) northeast of Sydney, and about 900 km (490 nmi) southwest of Norfolk Island. It is about 10 km (6.2 mi) long and between 0.3 and 2.0 km wide with an area of 14.55 km2, though just 3.98 km2 of that comprise the low-lying developed part of the island.
Nanumanga or Nanumaga is a reef island and a district of the Oceanian island nation of Tuvalu. It has a surface area of about 3 km2 with a population of 491.
Niutao is a reef island in the northern part of Tuvalu. It is one of the nine districts (islands) of Tuvalu. It is also one of the three districts that consist of only one island - not counting the three islets inside the closed lagoon. Niutao has a population of 582.
Nukufetau is an atoll that is part of the nation of Tuvalu. The atoll was claimed by the US under the Guano Islands Act some time in the 19th century and was ceded in a treaty of friendship concluded in 1979 and coming into force in 1983. It has a population of 597 who live on Savave islet. In 1951 the school that was located on Motumua islet was transferred to Savave and became the government primary school for Nukufetau. It was named the Tutasi Memorial School in honour of its predecessor.
William Henry "Bully" Hayes was a notorious American ship's captain who engaged in blackbirding in the 1860s and 1870s.
Cecilia May Gibbs MBE was an Australian children's author, illustrator, and cartoonist. She is best known for her gumnut babies, and the book Snugglepot and Cuddlepie.
Ernest Francis "Kodak" O'Ferrall was an Australian journalist and writer, known for his comic sketches, short-stories and verse published under the pseudonym 'Kodak'. He was on the staff of The Bulletin magazine as a sub-editor and writer from about late 1907 to August 1920, after which he worked for Smith's Weekly until his death of tuberculosis in March 1925. He was widely-known for his humorous stories and verse published in the aforementioned journals and The Lone Hand, as well as collections in book form, often illustrated by artist colleagues. His verses were used in a series of advertisements for Cobra Boot Polish featuring the character of 'Chunder Loo', illustrated by Lionel Lindsay. The advertisements appeared in The Bulletin for over a decade and were published as a popular children's book in 1915.
Francis Patrick Clune, OBE, was a best-selling Australian writer, travel writer and popular historian.
Rascals in Paradise is a 1957 collection of ten nonfiction short stories co-written by James A. Michener (1907-1997) and University of Hawaii professor Arthur Grove Day (1904-1994). The collection comprises ten historical adventure stories about historical people and events in the Pacific islands.
Ben Pease or Benjamin Pease, was a notorious blackbirder, engaged in recruiting and kidnapping Pacific Islanders to provide labor for the plantations of Fiji.
George Michell Farwell was an English-born Australian novelist, freelance journalist, broadcaster and travel writer.
Alfred Restieaux (1832–1911) was born in Paris, France, and came from a family of French descent. His grandfather was a French nobleman who escaped the guillotine during the French Revolution. At the age of 16 he migrated to Australia and later he travelled to South America and North America. He later became an island trader in the central Pacific. From 1867 to 1872 he had dealings with Ben Pease and Bully Hayes, two of the more notorious captains of ships and blackbirders that operated in the Pacific at that time.
This article presents a list of the historical events and publications of Australian literature during 1902.
This article presents a list of the historical events and publications of Australian literature during 1898.
This article presents a list of the historical events and publications of Australian literature during 1913.
This article presents a list of the historical events and publications of Australian literature during 1894.
Albert Dorrington was an English writer, active in Australia, who was born in Fulham, London, England.
Calder was a brig launched in 1821 at Calcutta. A new owner in 1822 sailed her to Australia and she then traded in the Pacific until in 1825 she sailed to Chile and was wrecked at Valparaiso. There a new owner salvaged her and returned her to sailing under the name Indefatigable. On Indefatigable's first voyage the Chilean members of her crew mutinied, killing her captain. The mutineers sailed to Guam where the authorities took Indefatigable in prize. She was later lost in a typhoon in the China Sea.
↑ A. Grove Day (1967). Louis Becke. Melbourne: Hill of Content. pp.16 & 146.
↑ A. Grove Day (1967). "Adventures in Assessment". Louis Becke. Melbourne: Hill of Content. pp.132–136.
1 2 A. Grove Day (1967). "Adventures in Assessment". Louis Becke. Melbourne: Hill of Content. pp.138–139.
↑ "No title", ABC weekly, 20 (36 (3 September 1958)), Sydney: ABC, nla.obj-1447170477, retrieved 16 March 2024– via Trove
Further reading
Day, A. Grove (1967). Louis Becke. Melbourne: Hill of Content. The pioneering biography, including the first complete bibliography of his writings and criticism of his works.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
