George Mackaness

George Mackaness (9 May 1882 – 3 December 1968), born in Sydney, was a distinguished Australian educator, historian author, bibliographer and bibliophile.

Life and career Born in 1882, George Mackaness was the son of George Mackaness, a printer and lithographer, and his wife Annie Ellen, née Barnett. He was one of eight children in the family.

He trained as a teacher and spent many years as English master at Fort Street Boys' High School, Sydney. His book Inspirational Teaching was widely acclaimed. He was in charge of the English Department at Sydney Technical College from 1924 to 1946. He was on the board of the Commonwealth Literary Fund, and a trustee of the Public Library of New South Wales. He was longtime member of the Royal Australian Historical Society, and president in 1948–9.

He wrote over 70 books and journal articles, including a life of William Bligh (1930) and Arthur Phillip (1937). Between 1935 and 1962, he edited and privately published in limited editions, a series of Australian Historical Monographs (later reprinted by Review Publications, Dubbo), consisting of valuable original research plus reprints of key but forgotten historical pamphlets.

He amassed in his Drummoyne home probably the largest private collection of Australian books. This huge library was sold via three catalogues issued by Angus & Robertson in 1966.

Mackaness was president of the Book Collectors Society of Australia for two years (1958–1959). He was awarded the OBE in 1961 and an honorary DSc (Syd) in 1961.

Personal life He married Alice Matilda Symons in 1906. They would have one daughter, Joan.