ROWE, Richard (1828-1879)

miscellaneous writer

son of Thomas Rowe, a Wesleyan minister, was born at Spring gardens, Doncaster, England, on 9 March 1828 (Dict.Nat.Biog.). He was well educated and came to Australia about 1857; he was working on the Month and the Sydney Morning Herald in that year. In 1858 his Peter 'Possum's Portfolio was published at Sydney, a volume of prose and verse of above average merit. The prose included a short novel, "Arthur Owen—An Autobiography", and most of the verse consisted of translations. Rowe returned to England, wrote much for the newspapers and magazines, and was also the author of several books for young people, some of which did not appear until after his death on 9 December 1879. He married in 1860 Mary Ann Yates, daughter of Jonathan Patten, and left four children (D.N.B.).

Rowe was in Australia for only a comparatively short period, but two of his lyrics have been included in more than one anthology of Australian verse, and Peter 'Possum's Portfolio is one of the earliest books of serious literature published in Australia. Miller lists 18 of his books in his Australian Literature, at least three of which have an Australian setting.

The Athenaeum, 13 December 1879, p. 765; E. Morris Miller, Australian Literature; G. B. Barton, Literature in New South Wales; Journal and Proceedings, Royal Australian Historical Society, vol. V, pp. 30-1.