Eliza Hamilton Dunlop

Eliza Hamilton Dunlop (1796 – 20 June 1880) was an Irish–Australian poet and songwriter, known for composing the poem "The Aboriginal Mother" among others. She was born in County Armagh, Ireland, and was raised by her grandmother and a guardian, after her father travelled to India and her mother died. Later, she travelled to India to visit her father and discovered that she had two Indian half-sisters. Her writing career began in Ireland while she was still a child. After moving to Australia, her works were published in newspapers there, some set to music by Isaac Nathan after he arrived in Australia in 1841.

Early and personal life Dunlop was born Eliza Hamilton in County Armagh, Ireland, in 1796, and grew up there. Her father was Solomon Hamilton, a lawyer, who raised her Anglican. Her mother died shortly after her birth. Later, her father travelled with her two oldest siblings to Bengal, to become a judge in the Supreme Court of India . Therefore she had to be raised by her grandmother and later by a guardian. Her father sent her money from India; however, she had a difficult time retrieving it. they married in 1812, when she was 16 years old. She was able to receive some financial security by inheriting her father's money as well as from a settlement of George, one of her brothers. Afterwards, she returned to Britain. During her brief visit to India, some of her works were published in a journal there as well. The Sydney Herald criticized the poem greatly, causing Dunlop to write a letter to the Herald's editor disapproving of the criticism.

Dunlop wrote "Nung Ngnun," another poem which became widely published. In addition, she wrote The Cousins of Aledo, a play based on 'Blanch,' a poem by Mary Russell Mitford; Some of the lyrics Dunlop constructed appeared in Australian Melodies, a series by Isaac Nathan. Her transcriptions of word lists, songs and poems have survived in manuscript, held in the Mitchell Library, State Library of NSW.

Later life and death On 24 March 1863, David died at Wollombi, New South Wales. Eliza, however, lived another 17 years, dying on 20 June 1880, at age 84, also in Wollombi. During these 17 years, she wrote less poetry than previously. She is buried at Wollombi's Church of England cemetery. In 1981, long after her death, a collection containing Dunlop's poems was made.

Works Title Creator(s) Year Publications The Aboriginal Mother Eliza Hamilton Dunlop 1838 The Australian (1838), Sydney Monitor and Commercial Advertiser (1841), Australasian Chronicle (1841), The Aboriginal Mother and Other Poems (1981), The Penguin Book of Australian Ballads (1993), The Oxford Book of Australian Women's Verse (1995), Australian Verse: An Oxford Anthology (1998), An Anthology of Australian Poetry to 1920 (2007), The Puncher & Wattmann Anthology of Australian Poetry (2009), Macquarie PEN Anthology of Australian Literature (2009), The Penguin Anthology of Australian Poetry (2009) The Eagle Chief Eliza Hamilton Dunlop (writer), Isaac Nathan (composer) 1842 Mable MacMahon, An Australian Melody Eliza Hamilton Dunlop (translator), Isaac Nathan (composer) 1842 The Aboriginal Father Eliza Hamilton Dunlop (writer), Isaac Nathan (composer) 1843 The Aboriginal Mother and Other Poems (1981), The Turning Wave: Poems and Songs of Irish Australia (2001), An Anthology of Australian Poetry to 1920 (2007), The Penguin Anthology of Australian Poetry (2009)