Barron Field (author)
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Barron Field | |
|---|---|
| Born | 23 October 1786 |
| Died | 11 April 1846 (aged 59) |
| Occupation | Judge, writer |
| Language | English |
| Notable works | First Fruits of Australian Poetry |
Barron Field (23 October 1786 – 11 April 1846) was an English-born Australian judge and poet.[1]
Barron Field was born in Torquay, Devon, England on 23 October 1786; he was the second son of London surgeon Henry Field and his wife Esther née Barron.[1] He was educated as a barrister and in 1811 he published an analysis for students of Blackstone's Commentaries (with a second edition in 1817).[2] Field worked for a time as theatrical critic for The Times,[3] and by the mid 1810s he was friends with Charles Lamb and Leigh Hunt, and the author of the play Antiquity: A Farce (1808), though this appears to have been unperformed.[4]
Judge in New South Wales
In 1816 Field accepted a commission as judge of the Supreme Court of Civil Jurisdiction of NSW, and arrived in Sydney on 24 February 1817, on board the female convict ship Lord Melville. Governor Lachlan Macquarie was, at first, impressed with Field, though he later had cause to amend that impression.[1]
Writing life
In 1819 he published First Fruits of Australian Poetry, the first volume of verse printed and issued in Australia. The volume consisted of only nine pages and two long poems: "Botany-Bay Flowers" and "The Kangaroo".[5] The work was re-issued in 1823 with three added poems.[6]
After he had returned to England, Field edited Geographical Memoirs on New South Wales (1825)[7] which, among other things, introduced new species of plants, such as Boronia anemonifolia A.Cunn.[8]
