Transcript Geebung Polo Club

Teaching Notes
The Life of Andrew Barton Paterson had an huge impact on the poetry he wrote.
Work through his life story with students to get a feeling for his experience.
After each slide ask students to write down 5 key words that are important. Briefly ask for suggestions from
the class and have them explain why. This deepens their understanding.
There are two you tube videos in the PowerPoint. Because of copyright restrictions I am unable to offer you
the videos but click the names for the You Tube address. The videos are used to demonstrate features of
the poem, The Geebung Polo Club.
Cobb & Co stagecoach ride
If you wish to download You Tube videos, I suggest
Polo Match
Keep Vid
Andrew Barton “ Banjo” Paterson
Andrew Barton "Banjo" Paterson, OBE
(17 February 1864 – 5 February 1941)
was an Australian bush poet, journalist
and author.
He wrote many ballads and poems about
Australian life, focusing particularly on the
rural and outback areas, including the
district around Binalong, New South Wales
where he spent much of his childhood.
Banjo Paterson was born at the property
"Narrambla", near Orange, New South
Wales. His father was a Scottish
immigrant and his mother was an
Australian.
Paterson's family lived on the isolated
Buckinbah Station in the Monaro until he
was five when his father lost his wool clip
in a flood and was forced to sell up.
When Paterson's uncle died,
his family took over the
uncle's farm in Illalong, near
Yass, close to the main route
between Melbourne and
Sydney. Bullock teams, Cobb
and Co coaches and drovers
were familiar sights to him.
He also saw horsemen from
the Murrumbidgee River area
and Snowy Mountains
country take part in picnic
races and polo matches,
which led to his fondness of
horses and inspired his
writings.
Paterson's early education came from a
governess, but when he was able to ride a
pony, he was taught at the bush school at
Binalong.
In 1874 Paterson was sent to Sydney
Grammar School, performing well both as
a student and a sportsman.
Matriculating at 16, he took up the role of
an articled clerk in a law firm and on 28
August 1886 Paterson was admitted as a
qualified solicitor.
In 1885, Paterson began
submitting and having his
poetry published in the
Sydney edition of The
Bulletin under the
pseudonym of "The
Banjo", the name of a
favourite horse.
In 1890, The Banjo wrote "The Man from
Snowy River” , a poem which caught the
heart of the nation, and in 1895 had a
collection of his works published under
that name. This book is the most sold
collection of Australian Bush poetry and is
still being reprinted today.
Paterson also became a journalist, lawyer,
jockey, soldier and a farmer.
Paterson became a war correspondent for
The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age
during the Second Boer War, sailing for
South Africa in October 1899. His graphic
accounts of the war attracted the
attention of the press in Britain.
He was editor of the Sydney Evening News
(1904-06) and of the Town and Country
Journal (1907-08).
In 1908 after a trip to the United Kingdom
Paterson decided to abandon journalism
and writing and moved with his family to
a 200 km2 property near Yass.
In World War I, Paterson failed to become a
correspondent covering the fighting in
Flanders, but did become an ambulance
driver with the Australian Voluntary
Hospital, Wimereux, France.
His wife had joined the Red Cross and
worked in an ambulance unit near her
husband.
He returned to Australia early in 1915 and,
as an honorary vet, travelled on three
voyages with horses to Africa, China and
Egypt.
Just as he returned to Australia, the third
collection of his poetry, Saltbush Bill JP,
was published and he continued to publish
verse, short stories and essays while
continuing to write for the weekly Truth.
Paterson also wrote on rugby league
football in the 1920s for the Sydney
Sportsman.
Paterson died of a heart attack in Sydney
on 5 February 1941 aged 76. Paterson's
grave, along with that of his wife, is in the
Northern Suburbs Memorial Gardens and
Crematorium, Sydney.
Check out the $10 note