Steele Rudd

Davis was born at Drayton near Toowoomba, Queensland, the son of Thomas Davis (1828–1904), a blacksmith from Abernant in south Wales who arrived to Australia in 1847 due to a five-year conviction for petty theft, and Mary, née Green (1835–1893) an Irishwoman from Galway who was driven to emigrate by the Great Famine.^[2][3]

In 1889, Davis moved to the sheriff's office and he began writing a column on rowing in a weekly paper. He needed a pseudonym and adopted "Steele Rudder", the first name from the English essayist Richard Steele, the second chosen because he wanted to bring into his name some part of a boat. Later it was shortened to "Steele Rudd".^[2] During his time as under sheriff,^[4] Davis had to give the signal at the hanging of Patrick Kenniff which left him nervous and irritable for months after the event.^[2]

His reputation was established by his short stories of country life. The 1920 movie On Our Selection and 1932–1952 radio series Dad and Dave helped turn the characters into Australian cultural icons.

Davis, however, detested his struggling but admirable family being made into comic yokels, and had nothing to do with the radio program.^[5] There is no character called 'Mabel' attached to Dave anywhere in the entire Rudd canon of fiction: Dave briefly had a girlfriend called Fanny in one story, and he eventually married a girl called Lily.^[6] Davis had a profound respect for the pioneering Australian woman, and he was particularly incensed by the use of 'Mum' when referring to Mrs Rudd. "'It is 'Mother', 'Mother', Mother!' he would shout, flushed in the face."^[7]

A replica of Rudd's shingle hut can still be seen at the town of Nobby, Queensland.^[8] There is a statue of Steele Rudd at the Speakers' Corner in King George Square in Brisbane.^[9] There is also a residential college named "Steele Rudd" at the University of Southern Queensland campus.^[10]

There are copper statues of Dad, Dave, Mum and Mabel at Gundagai.^[11]

In his 1908 book, Dad in Politics, Davis satirises political life in the opening sentence:

Smith, the member for our district, died one day, and we forgot all about him the next. Not that a politician is ever remembered much after he dies, but Smith had been a blind, bigoted, old Tory, and was better dead. Politicians are mostly better dead, so far as other people and their country is concerned …

This quotation is often used to illustrate the cynicism of Australians towards the political class. FitzHenry notes that Davis's satirical depiction of individual members of the Queensland Parliament was so close to reality that he was almost called to the Bar of the House of Parliament for breach of parliamentary privilege.^[15]

• 1912 Our Selection was performed as adapted by actor Bert Bailey ( 1868–1935)^[16]

A play titled The Execution of Steele Rudd by Australian playwright Harry Reade was first staged in 1981 by the National Theatre at the Playhouse, Perth, directed by Stephen Barry. It portrays the character and actions of Davis who is employed in the sheriff's office, managing arrangements for the execution of two criminals. The play was also staged by Melbourne's Playbox Theatre in 1983.

• Selection (Australian history)