Dora Birtles facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Dora Birtles
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Dora Birtles, c.1946
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| Born | Dora Eileen Toll 2 April 1903 Wickham, New South Wales |
| Died | 28 January 1992 (aged 88) Cobar, New South Wales |
| Occupation | novelist, short-story writer, poet and travel writer |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Education | University of Sydney |
| Children | 2 sons |
Dora Birtles (née Toll; 1904–1992), was an Australian novelist, short-story writer, poet and travel writer. She was the daughter of Albert Toll, founder of Toll Holdings, Australia's largest logistics company.
Life
Dora Toll was born in 1903 in Wickham, New South Wales, a suburb of Newcastle, the sixth daughter of Albert Frederick Toll and Hannah (née Roberts). She was ahead of her time in studying at the University of Sydney in a period when few women received a tertiary education.
Birtles returned to Sydney University to take a degree in Oriental history and a diploma of education, and then taught in Newcastle, New South Wales for a short time before travelling to Europe. Before the Second World War she was a member of the International Women's League Against War and Fascism and reported for the Newcastle Sun.
Personal life
Birtles was married to poet and journalist Bert Birtles. She died on 28 January 1992 aged 88.
Works
Birtles' first novel, Pioneer Shack was for children. It had been written in the 1930s but did not appear until 1947, after the publication of a novel for adults, The Overlanders (1946), which was based on the 1946 film of the same name for which she had been a researcher. Birtles wrote an account of a sea voyage from Newcastle to Singapore, North-West by North (1935) which became one of her most popular works. She also wrote another children's novel, Bonza the Bull (1949). Her work has been the subject of feminist literary criticism.
Birtles was the subject of a finalist portrait for the Archibald Prize of 1947, by Dora Toovey.
