Summary

This collection consists of typed letters written by the Australian writer Henry G. Lamond (1885-1969). Lamond was born on 13 June 1885 at Carl Creek in Queensland's Gulf country, second of three children of Scottish-born James Lamond, a sub-inspector of police, and his wife Amy Brooke, née Shadforth, from Victoria. In 1902, Henry became a jackeroo on Maneroo Station, near Longreach and on 27 June 1910 at Maneroo he married Anglican rites Eileen Meta Olive (d.1968), daughter of William McMillan, the former owner. Lamond worked on western Queensland properties in various jobs ranging from horse-breaker to manager before leasing the six Molle Islands, off Proserpine in 1927. He farmed on South Molle and started a mail service to the mainland, then moved to a farm at Lindum, Brisbane, in 1937. In the 1920s Lamond began writing short stories, articles on natural history, and advice on handling cattle and sheep. His work appeared in journals such as Queensland Country Life, Walkabout, the Bulletin, Farmer and Settler and the Pastoral Review. In the United States of America his writings were published in Atlantic Monthly, Adventure and Short Stories. His first monograph, Horns and Hooves (London, 1931), was followed by a collection of tales, Tooth and Talon (Sydney, 1934), and by An Aviary on the Plains (Sydney, 1934). He published more than a dozen books, mostly novels about animals, among them Brindle Royalist (Sydney, 1947) and Red Ruin Mare (London, 1956). His work proved popular in Australia, England and the United States. Regarded as classics of their genre, his novels were studied in Australian schools. Lamond was appointed M.B.E. in 1968.