// Workers AI · dad joke modeWho's David Burn? A guy who's a blazing success.
David Burn | |
|---|---|
| Born | c. 1799 |
| Died | 14 June 1875 |
| Occupation | Dramatist |
David Burn (c.1799 – 14 June 1875) was a Scottish-born Tasmanian pioneer and dramatist,[1] author of the first Australian drama to be performed on stage, The Bushrangers. He has been called Australia's first playwright.[2]
Early life
[edit]Burn was born in Scotland, the son of David Burn and his wife, Jacobina, née Hunter (1763–1851). David Burn senior died c.1820 and Jacobina emigrated to Van Diemen's Land (now Tasmania) and became the first woman there to have land granted to her. David junior had a brief career in the navy, joining his mother in Van Diemen's Land in 1826. He failed to qualify for a land grant and returned to Edinburgh in 1829, divorcing his wife there.[1]
Career
[edit]In 1830 Burn returned to Van Diemen's Land and revisited England with his mother in 1836.[1]
He contributed a serial in the Colonial Magazine of 1840-1841, Van Diemen's Land, which has been reprinted in book form in 1973 as A Picture of Van Diemen's Land. Burn published a pamphlet Vindication of Van Diemen's Land in A Cursory Glance at Her Colonists as They Are, Not as They Have Been Represented To Be (London, 1840).
In 1842 he visited Port Arthur penal colony and its cemetery, Isle of the Dead.[3]
Burn accompanied Sir John and Lady Jane Franklin on their expedition to the west coast of Tasmania in 1842 which was described in his Narrative of the Overland Journey … From Hobart Town to Macquarie Harbour, 1842 (published in Sydney 1955 with notes by G. Mackaness).
Death and legacy
[edit]He had two children and was married twice.[1]
Bibliography
[edit]Novels
[edit]Poetry
[edit]- Albert, or, The Exile: A Poem in Three Cantos, 1843[6]
Drama
[edit]Non-fiction
[edit]- Vindication of Van Diemen's Land : in a cursory glance at her colonists as they are, not as they have been represented to be, 1840[11]
- A Picture of Van Diemen's Land, 1841[12]
- An Excursion to Port Arthur in 1842, 1842[13]
- Narrative of the Overland Journey of Sir John and Lady Franklin and Party from Hobart Town to Macquarie Harbour, 1843[14]
References
[edit]- 1 2 3 4 "David Burn (c. 1799–1875) by D. H. Borchardt". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Retrieved 13 July 2026.
- ↑ Rees, Leslie (1953). Towards an Australian Drama. pp. 6–11.
- ↑ Burn, David (1853). An excursion to Port Arthur in 1842. University of California Libraries. Launceston Tasmania: Examiner and Courier Offices.
- ↑ "Austlit – The Convict Land, or, Men, Manners, and Matters at the Antipodes by David Burn". Austlit. Retrieved 13 July 2026.
- ↑ "Austlit – L'Independencia : A Tale of Brazil by David Burn". Austlit. Retrieved 13 July 2026.
- ↑ "Austlit – Albert, or, The Exile: A Poem in Three Cantos by David Burn". Austlit. Retrieved 13 July 2026.
- ↑ "Austlit – The Bushrangers by David Burn". Austlit. Retrieved 13 July 2026.
- ↑ "Plays, and Fugitive Pieces, in Verse by David Burn". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 13 July 2026.
- ↑ "Austlit – Sydney Delivered; or, The Princely Buccaneer by David Burn". Austlit. Retrieved 13 July 2026.
- ↑ "Austlit – The Queen's Love by David Burn". Austlit. Retrieved 13 July 2026.
- ↑ "Austlit – Vindication of Van Diemen's Land by David Burn". Austlit. Retrieved 13 July 2026.
- ↑ "A Picture of Van Diemen's Land by David Burn". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 13 July 2026.
- ↑ "An Excursion to Port Arthur in 1842 by David Burn". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 13 July 2026.
- ↑ "Narrative of the Overland Journey of Sir John and Lady Franklin and Party from Hobart Town to Macquarie Harbour by David Burn". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 13 July 2026.
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