author
Ida Lee
1865–1943
Best known for bringing early Australian exploration and colonial history vividly back to life, this Australian writer balanced careful archival research with a poet’s eye for storytelling. Her books often drew on rare material she uncovered in British libraries and Admiralty records.
2 Audiobooks
The Logbooks of the Lady Nelson
by Ida Lee
The Bush Fire, and Other Verses
by Ida Lee
About the author
Born in New South Wales in 1865, Ida Lee was an Australian historian and poet who later settled in England after her marriage to Charles John Bruce Marriott. She grew up in a large pioneering family near Kelso and published poetry before turning to the historical works that made her name.
Lee became especially interested in maritime exploration and the early British presence in Australia. Working through libraries and official records in Britain, she wrote books on figures such as Captain Cook and Commodore Sir John Hayes, as well as broader studies including The Coming of the British to Australia and Early Explorers in Australia.
Her scholarly career was notable for its time: she was elected a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and later became an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Australian Historical Society. She died in Norwich in 1943, remembered for making Australia’s early history more accessible and vividly told.