The Death of Ben Hall

"The Death of Ben Hall"
by Will H. Ogilvie
Written	1924
First published in	Smith's Weekly
Illustrator	Stan Cross
Country	Australia
Language	English
Subject	Ben Hall
Lines	95

"The Death of Ben Hall" (1924) is a poem by Scottish poet Will H. Ogilvie. It is also known under the title "The Betrayal of Ben Hall". ^[1]

It was originally published in Smith's Weekly on 27 September 1924 ^[2] and subsequently reprinted in a number of Australian poetry anthologies. ^[1]

The poem relates the story of how the bushranger Ben Hall was killed by eight well-armed policemen on 5 May 1865. ^[3]

Publication history

After the poem's initial publication in Smith's Weekly it was reprinted as follows:

• Wild Colonial Boys edited by Frank Clune, Angus and Robertson, 1948 ^[4]
• Favourite Australian Poems edited by Ian Mudie, Rigby, 1963 ^[5]
• From the Ballads to Brennan edited by T. Inglis Moore, Angus & Robertson, 1964 ^[6]
• Old Australian Ballads edited by W. N. Walker, School Projects, 1967 ^[7]
• This Land : An Anthology of Australian Poetry for Young People edited by M. M. Flynn and J. Groom, Pergamon Press, 1968 ^[8]
• Complete Book of Australian Folk Lore edited by Bill Scott, 1976 ^[9]
• The Illustrated Treasury of Australian Verse edited by Beatrice Davis, Nelson, 1984 ^[10]
• My Country : Australian Poetry and Short Stories, Two Hundred Years edited by Leonie Kramer, Lansdowne, 1985 ^[11]
• Old Ballads from the Bush edited by Bill Scott, Angus and Robertson, 1987 ^[12]
• On the Track with Bill Bowyang edited by Hugh Anderson and Dawn Anderson, Red Rooster Press, 1992 ^[13]
• Breaker's Mate: Will Ogilvie in Australia edited by John Meredith, Kangaroo Press, 1996 ^[14]
• Classic Australian Verse edited by Maggie Pinkney, Five Mile Press, 2001 ^[15]
• Two Centuries of Australian Poetry edited by Kathrine Bell, Gary Allen, 2007 ^[16]
• 100 Australian Poems You Need to Know edited by Jamie Grant, Hardie Grant, 2008 ^[17]
• Australian Poetry Since 1788 edited by Geoffrey Lehmann and Robert Gray, University of NSW Press, 2011 ^[18]

See also

• 1924 in Australian literature
• 1924 in poetry

References

1. "Austlit - "The Death of Ben Hall" by Will H. Ogilvie". Austlit. Retrieved 19 November 2025.
2. ""The Death of Ben Hall"". Smith's Weekly, 27 September 1924, p23. Retrieved 19 November 2025.
3. "Hall, Ben (1837–1865)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Archived from the original on 5 August 2024. Retrieved 25 November 2025.
4. "Wild Colonial Boys edited by Frank Clune". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 19 November 2025.
5. "Favourite Australian Poems edited by Ian Mudie". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 19 November 2025.
6. "From the Ballads to Brennan (A&R)". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 19 November 2025.
7. "Old Australian Ballads edited by W. N. Walker". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 19 November 2025.
8. "This Land : An Anthology of Australian Poetry for Young People (Pergamon Press)". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 19 November 2025.
9. "Complete Book of Australian Folk Lore (Ure Smith)". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 19 November 2025.
10. "The Illustrated Treasury of Australian Verse edited by Beatrice Davis". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 19 November 2025.
11. "My Country : Australian Poetry and Short Stories, Two Hundred Years edited by Leonie Kramer". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 19 November 2025.
12. "Old Ballads from the Bush edited by Bill Scott". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 19 November 2025.
13. "On the Track with Bill Bowyang edited by Hugh Anderson and Dawn Anderson". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 19 November 2025.
14. "Breaker's Mate: Will Ogilvie in Australia edited by John Meredith". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 19 November 2025.
15. "Classic Australian Verse edited by Maggie Pinkney". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 19 November 2025.
16. "Two Centuries of Australian Poetry edited by Kathrine Bell". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 19 November 2025.
17. "100 Australian Poems You Need to Know edited by Jamie Grant". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 19 November 2025.
18. "Australian Poetry Since 1788 edited by Geoffrey Lehmann and Robert Gray". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 19 November 2025.