Steele Rudd

Steele Rudd
Born
Arthur Hoey Davis

(1868-11-14)14 November 1868
Drayton, Queensland, Australia
Died11 October 1935(1935-10-11) (aged 66)
Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Resting placeToowong Cemetery
Pen nameSteele Rudd
OccupationAuthor
NationalityAustralian
Literary movementBulletin School
Notable worksOn Our Selection, Rudd's Magazine
Notable awardsKing George V Silver Jubilee Medal
SpouseViolet Christina Davis
PartnerWinifred Hamilton, Beatrice Sharp

Steele Rudd was the pen name of Arthur Hoey Davis (14 November 1868 – 11 October 1935) an Australian author, best known for his short story collection On Our Selection.

In 2009, as part of the Q150 celebrations, Rudd was named one of the Q150 Icons for his role in Queensland literature.[1]

Early life

Davis was born at Drayton near Toowoomba, Queensland, the son of Thomas Davis (1828–1904), a blacksmith from Abernant in south Wales who arrived to Australia in 1847 due to a five-year conviction for petty theft, and Mary, née Green (1835–1893) an Irishwoman from Galway who was driven to emigrate by the Great Famine.[2][3]

In 1889, Davis moved to the sheriff's office and he began writing a column on rowing in a weekly paper. He needed a pseudonym and adopted "Steele Rudder", the first name from the English essayist Richard Steele, the second chosen because he wanted to bring into his name some part of a boat. Later it was shortened to "Steele Rudd".[2] During his time as under sheriff,[4] Davis had to give the signal at the hanging of Patrick Kenniff which left him nervous and irritable for months after the event.[2]

Writing career

His reputation was established by his short stories of country life. The 1920 movie On Our Selection and 1932–1952 radio series Dad and Dave helped turn the characters into Australian cultural icons.

Davis, however, detested his struggling but admirable family being made into comic yokels, and had nothing to do with the radio program.[5] There is no character called 'Mabel' attached to Dave anywhere in the entire Rudd canon of fiction: Dave briefly had a girlfriend called Fanny in one story, and he eventually married a girl called Lily.[6] Davis had a profound respect for the pioneering Australian woman, and he was particularly incensed by the use of 'Mum' when referring to Mrs Rudd. "'It is 'Mother', 'Mother', Mother!' he would shout, flushed in the face."[7]

Steele Rudd statue in King George Square, Brisbane

A replica of Rudd's shingle hut can still be seen at the town of Nobby, Queensland.[8] There is a statue of Steele Rudd at the Speakers' Corner in King George Square in Brisbane.[9] There is also a residential college named "Steele Rudd" at the University of Southern Queensland campus.[10]

There are copper statues of Dad, Dave, Mum and Mabel at Gundagai.[11]

Bibliography

Steele Rudd's grave[12] at Toowong Cemetery in Brisbane
Monument[13] celebrating the birthplace of Arthur Hoey Davis at Drayton, Queensland.

Novels

  • In Australia (1908)
  • Duncan McClure : Being Part II of 'The Poor Parson' (1909)
  • The Book of Dan (1911)
  • The Old Homestead (1913)
  • Memoirs of Corporal Keeley (1918)
  • We Kaytons (1919)
  • On Emu Creek (1922)
  • Me an' th' Son (1924)
  • The Miserable Clerk (1924)
  • The Romance of Runnibede (1927)
  • Green Grey Homestead (1934)

Short story collections

  • On Our Selection (1899) (sold over 250,000 copies)
  • Our New Selection (1903)
  • Sandy's Selection (1904)
  • Back at Our Selection (1906)
  • The Poor Parson (1907)
  • Dad in Politics and Other Stories (1908)
  • For Life and Other Stories (1908)
  • Stocking Our Selection (1909)
  • From Selection to City (1909)
  • On an Australian Farm (1910)
  • The Dashwoods (1911) illustrated by Claude Marquet
  • Grandpa's Selection (1916)[14]
  • The Rudd Family (1926) illustrated by Percy Lindsay

Plays

  • McClure and the Parson (1916)

Quotation

In his 1908 book, Dad in Politics, Davis satirises political life in the opening sentence:

Smith, the member for our district, died one day, and we forgot all about him the next. Not that a politician is ever remembered much after he dies, but Smith had been a blind, bigoted, old Tory, and was better dead. Politicians are mostly better dead, so far as other people and their country is concerned …

This quotation is often used to illustrate the cynicism of Australians towards the political class. FitzHenry notes that Davis's satirical depiction of individual members of the Queensland Parliament was so close to reality that he was almost called to the Bar of the House of Parliament for breach of parliamentary privilege.[15]

Dramatisation

  • 1912 Our Selection was performed as adapted by actor Bert Bailey ( 1868–1935)[16]

A play titled The Execution of Steele Rudd by Australian playwright Harry Reade was first staged in 1981 by the National Theatre at the Playhouse, Perth, directed by Stephen Barry. It portrays the character and actions of Davis who is employed in the sheriff's office, managing arrangements for the execution of two criminals. The play was also staged by Melbourne's Playbox Theatre in 1983.

See also

References

  1. ^ Bligh, Anna (10 June 2009). "Premier unveils Queensland's 150 icons". Queensland Government. Archived from the original on 24 May 2017. Retrieved 24 May 2017.
  2. ^ a b c Ikin, Van (1981). "Davis, Arthur Hoey (1868–1935)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Vol. 8. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. ISBN 978-0-522-84459-7. ISSN 1833-7538. OCLC 70677943. Retrieved 18 December 2015.
  3. ^ Fotheringham, Richard (22 August 2003). "In Search of Steele Rudd" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 July 2008.
  4. ^ "Execution of Patrick Kenniff". The Brisbane Courier. 13 January 1903. p. 6. Retrieved 18 December 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
  5. ^ Kent, Jacqueline. (1983). Out of the Bakelite Box: the heyday of Australian radio. Angus and Robertson. pp 35–39. ISBN 0-207-14486-9.
  6. ^ 'Dave in Love' appears in Our new Selection and 'Dave Brings Home a Wife' in Back at Our Selection.
  7. ^ FitzHenry (1954), p. xviii.
  8. ^ The replica hut is situated onSteele Rudd Rd at East Greenmount not Nobby. 3. Half Day – Steele Rudd Country Drive, – Toowoomba Carnival of Flowers
  9. ^ King George Square, – Your Brisbane Past and Present
  10. ^ Steele Rudd College, – University of Southern Queensland
  11. ^ Dad, Dave, Mum & Mabel, – Gundagai Shire Council
  12. ^ Davis, Arthur Hoey Archived 1 June 2012 at the Wayback Machine – City Council Grave Location Search
  13. ^ Steele Rudd Memorial at Drayton – Toowoomba's Literary History
  14. ^ Vagg, Stephen (28 October 2025). "Forgotten Australian Films: Grandad Rudd". Filmink. Retrieved 28 October 2025.
  15. ^ FitzHenry 1954, p. xx. In this case, called to the Bar refers to an ordinary citizen being summoned to answer charges of contempt of Parliament.
  16. ^ Bailey, Bert, 1868–1953; Duggan, Edmund, 1862?–1938; Grant, Julius; Bertram, Bert, 1893–1991; Rudd, Steele, 1868–1935. On our selection; J.C. Williamson (Firm); Bert Bailey New Dramatic Company; Theatre Royal (Christchurch, N.Z.) (1912), Australasia's biggest success ... commencing Thursday, Dec. 26th, 1912, for a limited number of nights, the Bert Bailey New Dramatic Company ... On our selection{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)

Bibliography

  • Serle, Percival (1949). "Davis, Arthur Hoey". Dictionary of Australian Biography. Sydney: Angus & Robertson.
  • FitzHenry, W E (1954). "Foreword". Steele Rudd: On Our Selection and Our New Selection. Angus and Robertson.
  • Lindsay, Norman (1973). "Steele Rudd". Bohemians of the Bulletin. Angus and Robertson Classics. ISBN 0-207-12946-0.
  • Cantrell, Leon, ed. (1977). A. G. Stephens: selected writings. Angus and Robertson. ISBN 0-207-13244-5.


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