A CRITICAL BIOGRAPHY OF EDWIN JAMES BRADY - Mallacoota ...

The educational environment of Washington proved thoroughly satisfactory to Brady
who appreciated its tranquillity after “eleven or twelve years of almost-daily
encounters in which blackened eyes and blooded noses figured, to say nothing bruises
and abrasions.” 1 But the temporary respite had to come to an end. Urged principally
by the mother’s homesick longing for Australia, the family returned in 1882, settling
in Sydney and beginning Brady’s long association with this favourite city. Although
he often left it for Melbourne and other places, he retained a fondness for its busy
streets, its harbour, and its commercial and cultural activity.
Brady, along with Roderic Quinn and Christopher Brennan, attended St. Francis’
School in Haymarket in 1882, but the next year saw him at St. Mary’s School, from
where he passed the Civil Service Examination in October. Then Quinn and Brady
went on to the Marist Brother school at Harrington Street while Brennan proceeded to
Riverview. 2 Brother Wilbred Staunton greatly influenced Brady at this school, and
influence recognised when River Rovers was dedicated to ”Brother Wilbred – a
candid critic and a keen sportsman. Who imbued my youthful mind with a love of
literature, and inspired my spirit with true Australian sentiment”. From this school
Brady passed the Junior Public Examination in 1884.
Even at this early stage of Brady’s development, there were signs of some of those
facets of personality apparent in the mature man. In a series of reminiscence which
was published in Southerly after Brady'’ death, considerable light was shed upon
some of the influences which moulded him, as well as upon some of his
preoccupations and beliefs. He stated that Life’s Highway was not an autobiography
in the usual sense, but a book of reminiscence and personal experience which he
wished to record before his arrival “at the Universal Inn”. 3 Although the manuscript
had been earlier submitted to Angus and Roberston, the rejection slip was
accompanied by the readers’ reports, which described it as “full of interest” but
“discursive and often disconnected” – both legitimate comments. 4
Brady attributed his emotional sensitivities to his Celtic Forebears and made much of
certain experiences of childhood which left a lasting impression. In addition to the
fear engendered by a terrible “Something” which lived at the bottom of the well, there
was a traumatic experience of almost fatal proportions when the young child pulled a
basin of boiling bread and milk over him. This left physical scars but also mental
traces in the form of nervousness and a sense of impending doom which were never
quite outgrown:
I went down in to the Valley of Shadow and there I beheld stange new forms.
When I read Edgar Allan Poe’s “Ulalume” it all came back to me.
By a route obscure and lonely
Haunted by ill angels only
I journeyed on and on. One face among four is more present than others – the
face of a man with a grey beard. Sometimes as he bent over, his beard
brushed my cheek.
1
Brady to Carroll, 21.10.46, in Mitchell Library
2
Walter Stone, Biblionews. Vol 11 No. 11, October, 1949
3
From the Foreword written by Brady, when Life’s Highway was in manuscript. It was reproduced as
extracts in Southerly No. 4 1953 to No. 4 1955.
4
Enclosure with a letter, Angus and Robertson to Brady, 1.6.1939, among Brady’s papers in National
Library.
3