(1864 - 1941)

Paterson was born in Narrambla, New South Wales, in 1864 and grew up in the Yass region before moving to Sydney to receive his education. He worked in a law office before becoming a journalist and travelling throughout Australia.

He was a Boer War (1900-1901) correspondent for Australian newspapers, and returned to Sydney to take up the post of editor of the Evening News from 1903-1908. He later became a station owner in the Wee Jasper area near Yass, and enlisted with the Imperial Australian Force in 1915 stationed in Egypt, rising to the rank of Major.

In 1919 he returned to Sydney and resumed his career as a sporting editor, journalist and freelance writer. He had begun to write verses and ballads as early as 1885, heavily influenced by his childhood years in Yass, and adopted a pen name of "Banjo" from the name of a racehorse his family had owned.

He subsequently published many works including " The Man from Snowy River and other verses" in 1895, a volume of short stories "Three elephant power and other stories" (1917), some novels based on the outback and a collection of war dispatches entitled "Happy Dispatches" in 1934.

Banjo Paterson was one of Australia's first great literary figures, writing such favourites as "Waltzing Matilda" and "Clancy of the Overflow". He died in 1941.

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