George Burnett Barton facts for kids

George Burnett Barton (born December 9, 1836 – died September 12, 1901) was an Australian lawyer, journalist, and historian. He was known for his writing and his work in both Australia and New Zealand.

Early Life and Education

George Burnett Barton was born in Sydney, Australia. His father was William Barton, and his mother was Mary Louise Barton. He was the older brother of Sir Edmund Barton, who later became Australia's first Prime Minister.

George went to school at William Timothy Cape's school and then studied at the University of Sydney. After a disagreement with one of his professors, Professor John Woolley, he decided to move to England.

In England, he continued his legal studies. He joined a famous legal society called the Middle Temple in 1857. By 1860, he had finished his training and became a qualified lawyer, which is known as being "called to the Bar".

Career Highlights

After his studies in England, George Barton returned to Australia. He started working as a journalist and became the very first editor of a newspaper called the Sydney Punch.

From 1865 to 1868, he also taught English literature at the University of Sydney. He gave a special lecture called The Study of English Literature, which was published as a book in 1866. In the same year, he wrote two other important books: Literature in New South Wales and Poets and Prose Writers of New South Wales. These were the first books in Australia to review and discuss Australian literature. Because of this, many people consider him the "founder of Australian literary criticism."

In 1868, George Barton moved to New Zealand. For about three years, from 1868 to 1871, he worked as the editor of the Otago Daily Times newspaper. In New Zealand, people sometimes called him "long Barton" to tell him apart from another lawyer named George Elliott Barton, who was not related to him.

Legal Work

While in New Zealand, George Barton also worked as a lawyer in Dunedin. He wrote a book in 1875 called A Digest of the Law and Practice of Resident Magistrates and District Courts, which helped explain the law. He also edited a legal magazine called the New Zealand Jurist.

Writing and History

George Barton came back to Australia in the 1880s. He wrote many articles for newspapers like the Sydney Evening News and the Sydney Morning Herald.

The government asked him to write a history book called History of New South Wales From the Records. He only finished the first volume, which was published in 1889. He had planned to write many more volumes, but he stopped working on the project after a disagreement about his payment.

Another one of his books, The True Story of Margaret Catchpole, was published after he passed away in 1924. Later in his life, he moved to Goulburn and was the editor of a newspaper called The Werriwa Times and Goulburn District News in 1901.

George Burnett Barton died in Goulburn Hospital on September 12, 1901, from influenza.