George Farwell

George Michell Farwell (3 October 1911 – 6 August 1976) was an English-born Australian novelist, freelance journalist, broadcaster and travel writer.

Early career Farwell was born in Bath, Somerset, England. and was educated at a number of different schools, ending with Forest School, Walthamstow, which he left at age 17. He lost both his parents at about the same time, and after struggling to make a living in Depression-era London, he left for an eighteen-month expedition to French Polynesia. This led to a life of fairly constant travel. Arriving in Sydney in 1935, he worked in or near that city at various jobs such as deckhand, dock labourer and gold miner, and contributed articles to the Sydney Mail at the same time.

Writing career Although Farwell experienced a number of lean years in Sydney, he kept on writing about the various experiences he had on the job, as well as on his travels to various parts of the world. His first book, Down Argent Street, telling the story of Broken Hill, New South Wales, was published in 1948. He published twenty two books in all, including an autobiography and biographies of Charles Sturt and E. D. S. Ogilvie. His articles and short stories have appeared in numerous publications, including The Bulletin and Walkabout. He contbuted also to the radio programme Australian Walkabout.