28. Rudd, Steele, 1868-1935
On our selection! / written by Arthur H. Davis (Steele Rudd); illustrated from drawings by A.J. Fisher ... [et at.]. (Sydney : Bulletin Newspaper, 1903)
Steele Rudd (Arthur Hoey Davis) was born on the Darling Downs in Queensland. His father was a selector (a small land-holder) and much of Rudd’s writing draws from his early experiences. His first sketch of the Rudd family appeared in The Bulletin in December 1895, and a succession of similar stories followed. These were so popular that The Bulletin published them in book form in 1899, as On our selection. They became a phenomenon and A. C. Rowlandson and his New South Wales Bookstall Co. took over the publication of Rudd’s works from 1904. Rudd began Steele Rudd’s magazine in the same year to trade on his popularity. There were stage plays, movies and a long running radio serial, “Dad and Dave”. The slapstick farce which characterised Rudd’s stories hid much of the poverty and hardship he had experienced himself on small farms.
