Want to discover the next great Australian novel? 

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Want to read original Australian fiction that has been forgotten for over 100 years?

You might decide that some of this fiction is best forgotten! …

But who knows?

You might just discover a brand new Miles Franklin or Marcus Clarke!

Click on one of the titles below to begin.

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Below are two lists designed to give you somewhere to start, including (1) Fiction by newly discovered Australian authors and (2) Newly discovered fiction by known Australian authors.

If you correct the text of a story why not leave a comment below? If you discover the next great Australian writer we’d love to hear about that too! If you find a story with missing instalments, find out how to add them here.

(These lists aren’t comprehensive – there were too many new authors and titles to include all the 19th century examples, and we haven’t even begun to add twentieth-century authors and titles – so if you come across an author or title in the database that you think belongs in this list let us know.)

Feel free to dip in and out of different stories, but if you decide to devote yourself to editing a particular title, enter that information into the register here (to save people correcting the same titles again and again!)

 

1. Fiction by newly discovered Australian authors

Author

Titles

First date
Ahearn, Minnie “Nina’s Mistake”
“Aileen’s Troubles”		 1896
1898
August, John “A Commonplace Daughter” 1893
Baker, Goodwin “From Dark to Dawn: A Back Block Romance” 1896
Bevan, Edward “Jenny. A Story of the North Queensland Plantations”
“The Very Best Society: A Tale of Queensland Bush Life”
“His Wretched Luck: A Story of the Discovery of a Mine”
“The Recidivistes: A Story of French Convict Life”
“Bush Crossways From a Buckboard”
“Captain Jack: A Tale of Modern Buccaneering in the South Pacific”		 1885
1886
1887
1888
1891
1891
 Bowling, E. J. “Our Kangaroo Camp at Rothbury Mountains”
“Over Many Seas; or, Half Round the World”
“The McGuires of Ballypossum; Or, The Son of an Informer”		 1890
1891
1893
Brees, Harold “Curlew; or, In Days Gone By” 1894
Bruce, Elder “A Theatrical Marriage” 1896
Congreve, Henry John “For Dear Art’s Sake. A Story of To-Day”
“Change and Mystery”
“Nulingee: An Australian Tale of Bush and Diggings”
“Old Roach and His Adopted Daughter”
“Gordon Balterstone; Or, The Unfulfilled Prediction”
“Clarise; or, Which Is the Man”		 1882
1885
1885
1885
1887
1888
Corinda “Viola: A Tale from Shakespeare”
“Madeline”
“The Last £20 Note”
“John Marston’s Sacrifice”
“Murphy’s Man; Or, Between Two Lovers”		 1885
1890
1890
1891
1892
Echo “Dingo Creek: A Christmas Tale of the Yarra Track” 1887
Edith “Olive Vanstone” 1878
Eucalyptus “Neuroomia: A New Continent”
“Alice Laverne”		 1892
1893
Farley, Rice “Plot and Counterplot. In Two Parts”
“A Double Dealer”		 1889
1890
Fenton, Alberta L. “Ruby” 1886
Goldney, Jessie Maria “A Woman’s Faith”
“Isabella Randell’s Dream”
“Our Carrie”
“Like a Dream”
“Esther Vere’s Petition”		 1876
1877
1877
1879
1889
Goulter, Horace “Bound by Love” 1892
Gray, Captain East “Fortune’s Freaks: An Original Australian Story” 1898
Hackney, Esther “Thistledown” 1899
Harris, Mrs Julia S. “From Shadow Land; or A Traveller Returned”
“Sir Jaspar’s Ward, or The Wraith of Trevor Park”
“Euphemia Redmond: The Guardian Spirit of Knockmey Hall”		 1892
1893
1894
Hart, Frank H. “Won by Jockeyship: A Sporting Sketch” 1898
Heathfield, Alice “For Ever and Aye. A Sydney Romance” 1879
Henty, Mrs Richmond “The Devil’s Own. An Australian Story” 1891
Hewitson, T. “Remember” 1887
Holden, Rev. E. W. “John Brown and His Dog Faithful” 1884
Kitchen, William Freeman “The Mountain Mystery. Or, The Stone of the Sacred Death” 1897
Langford, Ben. Franklin “The Last of the Montezamas: A Tale of Life’s Sunshine and Death’s Shadows”
“Madame Delamere: How I found Her, How I won Her, and How I lost Her”		 1883
1882
Laurie, Mrs D. F. “A Christmas Pantomime” 1893
MacAlister, Alister “Adventures and Observations in Australia” 1859
Montcalm, Louis “The Wealth of the West” 1898
Nottage, John Silvester “Ruth Morven: A Christmas Story”
“Half a Century Ago”
“Paul Ferrel’s Revenge: A Christmas Story”
“Singular Passage in the Life of the Late Robert Warden, Solicitor”
“The Great Golconda Mine”
“Vidah”
“Dr Delmont”		 1875
1880
1880
1881
1881
1882
1883
Nunn, Teddy “The Life of a Jockey” 1898
Olicana “Crowned with Good”
“The Love Story of a Senior Op”		 1884
1887
Osborne, Foster “Cowabee”
“My Devil. A New Australian Story Full of Sensational Incidents”		 1882
1891
Paddy Melon “An Episode in the Career of Billy Martin” 1892
Petersen, Elizabeth Ida “A Whited Sepulchre” 1894
Puella “Good at Last” 1871
Quiz “The Law’s Decree: An Original Story” 1878
Reynolds, Charles “Mistaken Identity. A South Australian Novelette” 1891
Roy, John “Scotland Lang Syne” 1875
Roy, Rich “P. Q. R. S.: A Tale of the Melbourne G. P. O.” 1892
Sigma “Amor Vincit” 1875
Smith, Arthur Foster “My Campaign in the Trans-Vaal” 1880
Smyley, Luke “The Romeo Married; The Real Tragedy”
“The Three Programmes; Or, The Great Divorce Case”
“The Kidnappers; or, The Father’s Revenge”		 1876
1876
1878
Stocks, A. Mabel “Studies in Bush Life. On a Gippsland Selection” 1899
Stow, J. P. “Voyage of the Forlorn Hope in 1865” 1894
Sweetapple, Anna Mapleson “Sowing the Wind”
“Brought to Mind”
“How I Came to Australia”
“A Victim of Intrigue”		 1884
1887
1890
1899
Thorne, Ambrose “The Pity of It. A Sydney Story” 1896
Twyford, Paul “Weedon’s Folly; Or, The Big Find of Gold at Lodore”
“Dutchy’s Wife”		 1891
1898
Underwood, Captain “Recollections of a Pioneer” 1878
Watkins, W. “Found at Last”
“Vernon Bascom: A Novel”		 1877
1879
West, Mark “Chronicles of Marah. Jim Worthington’s Experiment”
“Chronicles of Marah. Miss Nasmyth’s Legacy and What Came of It”
“Blame Shakespeare”
“Jane”		 1883
1884
1889
1899
Wilkinson, George Blakiston “Yarns on Olden Times” 1880


2. Newly discovered fiction by known Australian authors

Author

Titles

First date
Atkins, R. A. “Harry Linton’s Downfall: A Story of Old Sydney” 1868
Badham, Miss E. A. “Society, Friendship and Love” 1886
Cameron, William A. “Keith Hope” 1897
Carroll, Janet “By the River’s Side”
“Theodora Vail. A Story in Six Chapters”
“Harriette Hurst’s Christmas”		 1882
1882
1883
Chads, Mrs “The Haunted Grange”
“Fulke Egerton’s Vow”		 1880
1881
Charles, E. “The Rightful Heir. An Australian Christmas Story”
“Under the Southern Cross: A Tale of Australian Life”
“Guilty or Not? An Australian Tale”
“An Australian Idyl”
“Miss Ingram’s Heiress”
“The Wilfulness of Winnie”		 1884
1884
1885
1887
1889
1897
Cleland, E. Davenport “Clarissa’s Lover”
“From Desk to Diggings, Or A Golden Christmas”
“Phantoms of the Past. A Bush Legend”
“The Curious Experience of Mr Brownlow Timmins”
“Dandy Dick’s Diversion”
“Miss Nomer’s Nonsense”
“The Coltbreaker’s Courtship”
“Wininowie”		 1886
1887
1887
1887
1888
1888
1888
1888
Clotilde “Mr Emerson’s Client”
“Lost”
“Hazel”		 1873
1876
1877
Cohen, Philip “A Terrible Christmas Day. A True Story of the Olden Time”
“The First Nugget”		 1892
1894
Collins, William “Adventures of a Somnambulist: An Australian Story”
“Agnes Meredith’s Birthday Party”		 1886
1886
Conant, H. A. “Carleton’s Luck; Or, A Maid of Omeo: A Story of the Mines”
“The Colt from Crooked Creek”		 1896
1897
Crozier, James “Feminter; Or, The Aurora Land of the South”
“Solved by Time. A Story of the Eureka Stockade”		 1895
1895
Doidge, Edwin “The Daughters of Eve. A Tale of the Maori War”
“Marian Gonisby”		 1898
1899
Downes, Marion “Monica. A Sea-Shore Idyll” 1899
Effra “Fortune My Foe. A Tale of the Old Land and the New” 1895
Egremont, Godfrey “The Kennises” 1881
Ellis, Edward “Mrs Holterby’s Troubles: A Tale of the Day”
“Mrs Widgery’s Lodgers”		 1876
1885
Eugah “A Real Good Fellow”
“A Very Sad Event in the History of Mr Jones”
“Viola Linn: An Australian Story”
“Whatsoever a Man Soweth”		 1892
1893
1893
1895
Evans, Henry Congreve “For Dear Art’s Sake. A Story of To-Day” 1882
Falk, David G. “Miss Roberts’s Lovers: An Australian Story”
“Towser Bill’s Troubles”
“Gabriel Lobo; or, The Legend of Trodd’s Flat. A Story of the Diggings”
“The Man from the Territory”
“A Silver King”
“The Land of Promise”
“The Harrow Bushrangers”
“John Brede, Bushman: Three Chapters from His Life”		 1883
1883
1886
1886
1889
1890
1891
1899
Ferrar, William Moore “The Maxwells of Bremgarten” 1867
Grassie, James “A Cruise in the Polar Sea”
“Narrative of the Loss of The Fame”
“John, the Bishop: A Tale of the Dark Days of Tasmania”		 1873
1873
1877
Growden, Oliver H. “A Man and His Destiny” 1895
Haverfield, Robert
Ross		 “Scattered Leaves from Peregrine Pick’s Diary: A Romance of Old Bendigo”
“The Romance of the Rallaby Riders”		 1889
1889
Hawkes, Henry Morgan “Musical Mysteries. A Bachelor’s Adventures in Search of a Happy Home”
“Vane Tresham. A Story of Metmepsychosis”
“In Sackcloth and Ashes”
“Three Sons of Anak”
“Beyond the Seas”
“An Australian Galatea. A Story of Exploration and Strange Discovery”		 1873
1884
1885
1886
1887
1888
Kibble, Robert “Hector Mactavish; or, The Scotchman in Australia” 1847
Lane, William “As Others See Us. A Yankee Girl’s Impressions of the Sunny South” 1885
Liston, Ellie “The Stauntons. A South Australian Story” 1871
Lockett, Jeannie “Awfully Sudden Death” 1887
Mackenzie, Harold M. “The Verdict Was??? A Story of North Queensland” 1891
Martin, Catherine “Cadenabbia”
“Clare’s Christmas Eve”		 1882
1881
McCrae, George Gordon “Nancy. A Story of the Fifties” 1892
McLean, Angus “Arthur Landon, the Australian Bushman” 1887
Merrall, Edwin M. “Matty and her Lovers: An Australian Story” 1874
Mitchell, H. Williams “Love and Death” 1877
Moore, J. S. “The Bronze Chalice. An Australian Tale” 1881
Myers, Francis “A Wreath of Poppy Leaves”
“Sam Morrison’s Experiences”		 1890
1891
Newland, Simpson “Dark Dunmore” 1894
Nicholls, F. Saunders “The Marvellous Island”
“The Five Comrades”		 1888
1889
Nicholson, John H. “Dick. A Queensland Story”
“King Grumpy. A Story for Young People”
“Lampaspia”
“Yim Yonson”		 1894
1894
1894
1894
O’Byrne, Joseph “Wooing in Arcadia”
“Under Southern Skies”		 1885
1892
O’Sullivan, E. W. “Under the Southern Cross: A Romance Introducing Stirring Scenes and Episodes in Australian History” 1898
Philpott, N. V. “Whom the Gods Love”
“Sisters Three”
“Under the Southern Cross”
“Morning Waits at the End of the World”		 1893
1894
1894
1897
Poole, Cecil W. P. “A Fatal Dream” 1883
Samson, E. A. “Ada and her Cousin Charles, A Tale for Victorian Boys and Girls”
“The Patient Husband: A Tale for the Younger Members of the Family”		 1878
1879
Shackell, Mrs “Matched and Mated: A Romance in Real Life” 1893
Sherard, Charles Allan “In The Wake of Corunna: An Australian Racing Story” 1898
Sparrow, Lionel “The Loss of the Black Swan: A Tale of Love and Adventure”
“The Tragedy at Waritungah”		 1895
1895
St Buxton, H. A. “The Old Garden Seat” 1881
Stephen, Harold W. H. “Alma: An Original Australian Story”
“Ettie’s Error; An Australian Story”
“The Bewitched King: An Episode in the History of Bohemia”
“Goths, Huns, and Vandals: A Novel”
“In Quest of the Holy Grail”
“The New Editor: An Episode in the History of Warrener’s Gulch, California”		 1876
1883
1886
1887
1887
1889
Sutherland, George “Danbury’s Agent. A Tale of London and Adelaide” 1887
Tom Bluegum “The Stolen Bullock”
“Love is of God”
“The Kangaroo Flat Revival”
“The Middle Ridge Appointment”		 1898
1899
1899
1899
Utting, J. J. “Blind Bella; or, A Ride for Life: A New Zealand Story”
“The Golden Cross”
“Frank Calvary. A Semi-Nautical Novel”		 1882
1884
1885
Walch, Garnet “Larrikin Jack: A Story of a Woman’s Devotion”
“Queer in the Head. A Story of an Old Man and a Drum”		 1886
1886
Waterhouse, J. M. “The Prince of Ariedam”
“On the Wrong Track”
“Pilgrims from the Seventh Pleiad”		 1892
1893
1896
Whitelocke, Nelson P. “A Remittance Man”
“Maud’s Troubles, A Love Story”
“The Pen and the Pistol. A Realistic Love Story”		 1890
1892
1892
Whitfeld, Adeline J. “Madge”
“Rex”
“Farmer Mack”
“Double Ugly”
“Uncle Turk”
“The Living Pen”
“On The Measureless Plain. A Colonial Story”		 1892
1894
1895
1896
1896
1897
1898
Winstanley, Eliza “The Flower of Botany Bay” 1879
Wren, Jenny “Missing. A Christmas Story”
“Sir Godfrey’s Decree”
“A Man and His Money”		 1891
1897
1899
Wright, James W. (writing as “Captain Lacie”) “Barumba Station; Or, Amy River’s Sacrifice. A True and Eventful Narrative of the Early Days in New South Wales”
“The Tamar Pirates. A Sensational and True Narrative of Adventure of the Early Days in Van Diemen’s Land”
“Davies the Bushranger. An Australian Story”		 1895
1895
1899
Wright, James W. (writing as “Ivan Dexter”) “From Prison to Parliament”
“The Mount Macedon Mystery”
“In the Wake of Fortune: An Australian Story”		 1891
1891
1893

 

2 Comments

  1. Hello,

    I have edited to completion something like 100 titles over the last 18 months or so, finding material through my own searches – and have only just found this page.

    I can pass on information about the stories that I have corrected as I have kept notes…the question is how much detail do you want ?

    I can supply the title / author / year of publication / newspaper as has been done above and also a brief synopsis and comment on quality if required.

    I would also particularly like to identify those stories I considered outstanding. (There weren’t that many ! )

    • Hi Paul, Thanks so much for your editing! We just received news yesterday that the project has received a grant so this will hopefully mean we can streamline the process of recording ideas and projects. In the meantime, I love getting emails about outstanding stories!

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