E. L. Grant Watson facts for kids
Elliot Lovegood Grant Watson (born June 14, 1885 – died May 21, 1970) was a talented writer and a biologist. He wrote about 40 books, plus many essays and short stories. Among his works were six novels set in Australia. He also wrote scientific and philosophical books that explored ideas about how life developed on Earth, sometimes offering different views from the usual Darwinism (the theory of evolution).
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About E. L. Grant Watson
Elliot Lovegood Grant Watson was born in Staines, England. His father, Reginald Grant Watson, was a successful lawyer. His mother, Lucy, loved nature and books. People called him 'Peter'.
When he was five years old, in 1890, Peter visited Australia. This was after his younger brother passed away. Sadly, his father also died during this trip to Tasmania.
Even though his family faced harder times, Grant Watson went to Bedales School and then Trinity College, Cambridge. He studied natural sciences and did very well, graduating in 1909.
Adventures in Australia
At age 24, Grant Watson joined an important trip to Western Australia. He worked with social anthropologist Alfred Brown and Daisy Bates. His experiences in the Australian desert, near places like Kalgoorlie and Sandstone, deeply affected him. He also visited Aboriginal lock hospitals in Shark Bay. These experiences inspired him to become a writer.
Travels and Writing Life
After his time in Australia, he traveled to Fiji, Canada, and Ceylon. He later joined the British Army. After facing some health challenges, he worked on biological research in London. He also taught officer cadets at a college.
In 1919, he married Katharine Hannay.
Grant Watson was a restless person by nature. He lived in many different places, including the English countryside, Florence, Paris, London, and New York. He even traveled to Palestine and the Arctic Circle!
He became friends with many famous writers and thinkers. These included Joseph Conrad, D.H. Lawrence, and Carl Jung.
His Books and Ideas
Grant Watson wrote many kinds of books. He wrote fiction, essays about nature (some with beautiful illustrations by Charles Tunnicliffe), and travel stories. He also wrote books about deep philosophical ideas.
His Australian novels are special because they were among the first to use the desert as a symbol for hidden thoughts and feelings. His stories showed early understanding and sympathy for Aboriginal views of the land and the environment. Later Australian writers like Katharine Susannah Prichard and Patrick White were influenced by his work.
He wrote two autobiographies, But to What Purpose (1946) and Journey Under the Southern Stars (1968). These books share exciting details about his travels and his thoughts. In his later years, he also gave talks on BBC radio and at universities. He also worked as a lay psychologist, helping people with their minds.
Legacy and Films
Elliot Lovegood Grant Watson passed away on May 21, 1970, in Petersfield, England. He was buried under an oak marker in a nearby churchyard. He was survived by his wife, Katharine, and their two daughters, Josephine and Bridget.
After his death, the well-known filmmaker Paul Cox made two movies based on Grant Watson's Australian novels:
- The Nun and The Bandit (1992), based on his 1935 novel.
- Exile (1994), based on his 1940 novel Priest Island.
A collection of his writings, called Descent of Spirit, was published in 1990. A book about his life, The Imago: E. L. Grant Watson & Australia, was written by Suzanne Falkiner in 2011.
Selected Books
Here are some of the books E. L. Grant Watson wrote:
Australian Novels
- Where Bonds are Loosed (1914)
- The Mainland (1917)
- The Desert Horizon (1923)
- Daimon (1925)
- The Nun and the Bandit (1935)
- The Partners (1933) (also known as Lost Man! in the U.S. in 1934)
Other Novels
- Deliverance (1920)
- Shadow and Sunlight (1921)
- Moses: the Lord of the Prophets (1929)
- Moonlight in Ur (1932)
- It’s Up to You (1933)
- Country Holiday (1938) (written for children)
- A Mighty Man of Valour (1939)
- Priest Island (1940)
Short Stories
- Innocent Desires
Non-fiction Books
- English Country (1924)
- With the Australian Aborigines (1930) (written for children)
- The Common Earth (1932)
- Enigmas of Natural History (1936)
- Mysteries of Natural History (1937) (U.S. version of Enigmas of Natural History)
- Man and His Universe (1940)
- Nature Abounding (editor) (1941)
- Walking with Fancy (1943)
- The Leaves Return (1947)
- Profitable Wonders: Some Problems of Plant and Animal Life (1949)
- What to Look for in Nature/Winter/Summer/Autumn/Spring (1959–61) (written for children)
- Nature’s Changing Course (1961)
- The Mystery of Physical Life (1964)
- Animals in Splendour (1967)
Autobiography Books
- But to What Purpose (1946)
- Departures (1948)
- Journey under the Southern Stars (1968)
Poems
- Four Sacred Women and Other Verses (1960)
