Ethel Turner
Ethel Turner was an influential Australian author born on January 24, 1872, in Doncaster, England. After moving to Australia with her family in 1879, Turner began her literary career in her early twenties, writing a children's column for the Illustrated Sydney News. She gained immediate fame with her first novel, *Seven Little Australians*, published when she was twenty-two. This work was groundbreaking, focusing on the dynamics of suburban family life and featuring independent, spirited children, contrasting sharply with previous Australian children's literature that centered on male heroes in outback settings.
*Seven Little Australians* became a beloved classic, inspiring adaptations across various media, including film, radio, and stage. Turner wrote several sequels featuring the Woolcot family, emphasizing themes of family and childhood. Over her lifetime, she published more than forty children's books. Although she curtailed her novel writing after the tragic loss of her daughter in 1930, she continued her journalistic endeavors. Ethel Turner passed away in 1958, leaving behind a significant legacy, including her status as the first Australian author to have a book in continuous print for over a century.
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Ethel Turner
- Born: January 24, 1872
- Birthplace: Doncaster, Yorkshire, England
- Died: April 8, 1958
- Place of death: Mosman, New South Wales, Australia
Biography
Ethel Turner was born January 24, 1872, in Doncaster, Yorkshire, England, to Sarah Jane and George Burwell. When Turner was two years old, her father died unexpectedly. Her mother soon married Henry Turner, who had six children from a previous marriage. Henry Turner died in the late 1870’s, and Turner’s mother moved to Australia with her three daughters. They arrived in 1879, and Turner’s mother began working in a department store in Sydney. The following year Turner’s mother married a third time. Her new husband was Charles Cope, an individual with whom her children had a difficult relationship.
Turner began her literary career when she was in her early twenties, when she began writing a children’s column for the Illustrated Sydney News. Her first children’s novel, Seven Little Australians, was published when Turner was twenty-two. The book was an immediate success, and Turner quickly became a prolific author.
Seven Little Australians was the first of its kind. This children’s story is set in a suburban landscape, with children who are independent, energetic, and who treat their parents and elders with respect. The Australian children’s stories that came before this were mainly set in the outback and were concerned with male heroes on sheep and cattle stations whose stories were full of natural disasters and Aborigines.
Seven Little Australians is set on the outskirts of Sydney in a home called Misrule by the family that lives there, the Woolcots. The main characters are Meg, Judy and Nellie Woolcot. The story was told through the eyes of Judy Woolcot. The story has many similarities, and in many ways mirrors Little Women.
Seven Little Australians has had success ever since its first printing. It was translated and marketed in many European languages. In 1939, a film version was released, followed by two made-for-TV series—by the British Broadcasting Corporation (the BBC) in 1953, and a collaboration between the American Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) and the BBC in 1973. In the 1930’s a radio series appeared based on the books. A stage musical was created in 1988.
Turner wrote three additional novels that centered around the Woolcot family, The Family at Misrule in 1895, Little Mother Meg in 1902, and Judy and Punch in 1928. Other novels that Turner wrote also display the influence of American and British children’s novels. The Little Larrikin is essentially a reworking of Frances Hodgson Burnett’s Little Lord Fauntleroy.
In 1896, Turner married barrister Herbert Curlewis. Together they had two children, a girl and a boy. After Turner’s daughter died in 1930, she ceased writing novels, but continued her journalistic work. Turner published more than forty children’s books, which included such titles as The Family at Misrule, Little Mother Meg, and Judy and Punch. In 1995, Turner became the first Australian to have a book continually in print for over one hundred years (Seven Little Australians). Turner died in 1958 at the age of eighty-six.