author
1865–1948
A Methodist minister and war chaplain, he turned frontline experience into vivid, humane writing about Australian soldiers in South Africa and World War I. His books mix eyewitness detail with a strong sense of compassion for ordinary people caught in war.

by James Green
Born in Newcastle upon Tyne on 14 October 1864, he was educated at Rutherford College, worked as a teacher, and moved to New South Wales in 1889, where he entered the ministry of the Primitive Methodist Church. He later served in a series of Australian parishes and became closely connected with military chaplaincy.
His best-known writing grew directly from service in wartime. In 1900 he sailed to South Africa as chaplain to the New South Wales Citizens' Bushmen, and the reports he sent home became The Story of the Australian Bushmen (1903). The book is remembered as an eyewitness account that does not hide the suffering of battle, even while it honors the men he served alongside.
During the First World War he became a senior Methodist chaplain with the Australian Imperial Force and served at Gallipoli and in Egypt. He was known for practical, ecumenical work among the troops as well as for his writing and public speaking, and he remained a notable figure in Australian religious and military life until his death in 1948.