author
Jeannie Gunn
1870–1961
Best remembered for the Australian classic We of the Never-Never, this teacher-turned-writer drew on her brief, life-changing time in the Northern Territory to create stories that stayed in print for generations. Her life also included years of volunteer work supporting Australian servicemen and veterans.
2 Audiobooks
We of the Never-Never
by Jeannie Gunn
About the author
Born Jeannie Taylor in Melbourne in 1870, she trained as a teacher before marrying Aeneas Gunn in 1901. Soon after, the couple traveled to Elsey Station in the Northern Territory, an experience that became central to her writing. After her husband's death only a short time later, she eventually returned south.
Writing as Mrs Aeneas Gunn, she published The Little Black Princess in 1905 and We of the Never-Never in 1908. The second book became her best-known work, remembered as a vivid account of station life in northern Australia and as a lasting part of Australian literary culture.
Beyond her books, she was active for many years in welfare work for soldiers and later for returned service men and women through the RSL. She was appointed OBE, and she died in Hawthorn, Melbourne, in 1961.