Laura Maude O'Ferrall 1864 Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Died
8 June 1929(1929-06-08) (aged 64–65) Belgrave, Victoria, Australia
Pen name
Bushwoman
Notable works
A Bush Honeymoon and other stories
Laura Maude Palmer-Archer (1864 – 8 June 1929) was an Australian short story writer, who mainly wrote using the pseudonym "Bushwoman". She is best known for her 1904 book, A Bush Honeymoon and other stories.
Palmer-Archer was born in Melbourne, Victoria in 1864 to parents of Irish heritage.[1] One of her brothers, Ernest O'Ferrall, was a short story writer and poet, who wrote as "Kodak" for The Bulletin.[2]
In 1888 Palmer-Archer married Tom Palmer-Archer and moved with him to a property in outback Queensland. Many of her stories a based on her first-hand experience of rural life.[1]
Palmer-Archer wrote short stories for The Australasian, the first appearing in November 1894[3] and the last in December 1928.[4] Her first book of collected stories, Racing in the Never-Never and other stories.[5]
It appeared to me a matter of simple justice, as well to the British public as to a talented writer, that work of such genuine merit should find a permanent place in literature.
— Rolf Boldrewood, A Bush Honeymoon and other stories, Foreword
In the 1920s she began to write poems for children which were published regularly in The Australasian[7][8] and also recited on radio by "Mary Gumleaf" as "Kiddyosities".[9][10]
Palmer-Archer died in hospital in Belgrave, Victoria on 8 June 1929.[11][12]
Palmer-Archer, Laura M. (1899). Racing in the Never-Never and other stories. George Robertson & Co.
Palmer-Archer, Laura M. (1904). A bush honeymoon and other stories (Colonial ed.). T. Fisher Unwin.
A number of her short stories may be found on The Australian Newspaper Fiction Database.[13] She was incorrectly attributed as "Miss Archer", author of the novel, Mr Moore, which was serialised in the Sydney Mail in 1880.[14][15]
^"Personal". The Herald (Melbourne). No. 16, 246. Victoria, Australia. 13 June 1929. p. 5. Retrieved 17 November 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
^"The Bushman". The Australasian. Vol. LVII, no. 1495. Victoria, Australia. 24 November 1894. p. 23. Retrieved 18 November 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
^"Miscellaneous Works". The Australasian. Vol. LXV, no. 1708. Victoria, Australia. 24 December 1898. p. 50. Retrieved 18 November 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
^"The Fairies' Breakfast Bell". The Australasian. Vol. CXXI, no. 4, 049. Victoria, Australia. 7 August 1926. p. 68 (Metropolitan Edition). Retrieved 18 November 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
^"The Cherry-Blossom Fairies". The Australasian. Vol. CXXI, no. 4, 053. Victoria, Australia. 4 September 1926. p. 3 (Metropolitan Edition). Retrieved 18 November 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
^"Family Notices". The Australasian. Vol. CXXVI, no. 4, 198. Victoria, Australia. 22 June 1929. p. 17 (Metropolitan Edition). Retrieved 17 November 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
^"About People". The Examiner (Tasmania). Vol. LXXXVII, no. 143. Tasmania, Australia. 19 June 1929. p. 12 (Daily). Retrieved 17 November 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
^Archer, Miss (24 July 1880). "Fiction: Mr. Moore". The Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser. Vol. XXX, no. 1046. New South Wales, Australia. p. 150. Retrieved 20 November 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
