Albert Facey
Albert Barnett Facey (born August 31, 1894 in Maidstone, Victoria, Australia , † February 1982 ) was an Australian author. His autobiography A Fortunate Life is considered a "classic" of Australian literature .
Life
Albert Facey was born in 1894 as the seventh child of the married couple Joseph and Mary Ann Facey. His father died of typhus in the goldfields of Western Australia in 1896 . Albert's mother then left her children in the care of the grandmother. In 1899 he moved from Victoria to Western Australia with his grandmother and three of his six older siblings.
He had been working on farms since the age of nine and was unable to attend school. Facey was initially illiterate and taught himself to read and write.
On January 4, 1915, shortly after the outbreak of World War I , he joined the Australian Imperial Force (AIF). He took part in the war as an infantryman in the Australian 11th Battalion and fought in the Battle of Gallipoli . His brothers Roy and Joseph were killed in the battle, Albert Facey wounded at least twice. In August 1915 he was discharged from the army because of heart problems and returned to Australia. The symptoms turned out to be a ruptured spleen many years later . While recovering, Facey met Evelyn Mary Gibson, whom he married in Bunbury in August 1916 . They had six children together.
The Faceys lived in East Perth before returning to Wickepin with their children six years later, where they lived until 1934. The eldest son, Albert Barnett Facey Jr., joined the 2nd AIF during World War II and fought during the Battle of Singapore in which he was killed by an explosive charge .
In later years, Facey began writing his autobiography and had it printed at the request of his wife and children. The book was published nine months before his death in 1982.
His house in Wickepin is now a tourist attraction. A government building in Perth is named after Facey, as is a library in Mundaring and a street in Maidstone. Facey's manuscripts are kept in the Library of the University of Western Australia .
Publications
- Albert B. Facey: A Fortunate Life . 1988. ISBN 0-14010869-6 . (Previously published in 1981 by Fremantle Arts Center Press, Fremantle, WA)
literature
- Findlay, Len .: A Son's Fortunate life with no regrets ; The West Australian ; June 11, 2007; P. 71
- Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Victoria (1997), Federation index. Victoria 1889-1901 , Melbourne, Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages.
Web links
- about-australia.com.au, 2010, Albert Facey Homestead
- Hirst, JB (2006) "Facey, Albert Barnett (Bert) (1894-1982)", Australian Dictionary of Biography, Online Edition , Australian National University.
Individual evidence
- ↑ about-australia.com.au, 2010
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Facey, Albert |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Facey, Albert Barnett; Facey, AB |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Australian author |
| DATE OF BIRTH | August 31, 1894 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Maidstone, Victoria, Australia |
| DATE OF DEATH | February 1982 |