39 Facts About Arthur Desmond

Arthur Desmond lived for periods in New Zealand, Australia, the United States, and England.

Arthur Desmond moved to Sydney in 1894, where he got involved with the Australian labour movement, as an associate of Billy Hughes, Jack Lang and Henry Lawson.

Arthur Desmond is believed to be the author of the 1896 political treatise, Might Is Right, written under the pen name Ragnar Redbeard and printed in Chicago.

Arthur Desmond spent his adult life concealing his origins as well as his identity.

Arthur Desmond was said to be 25 years old [placing his birth in 1859], born in New Zealand of Irish descent.

Arthur Desmond had been in Hawke's Bay since the late 1870s, and had worked as a musterer in south Taranaki.

In that instance Arthur Desmond declared that he was born in place called Claud, Northumberland, England in 1859 to Samuel Arthur Desmond and Sarah Ewing.

Nevertheless, to compound matters, in the 1910 US census record Arthur Desmond claimed his birthplace as California, but changed that to England in his last census appearance in 1920.

Whatever his real origins, the first concrete evidence of Arthur Desmond's life comes when he stood for parliament in Hawke's Bay, New Zealand in 1884.

In 1887 Arthur Desmond stood for Parliament for a second time, this time running on a platform that consisted of a concentrated attack on landlords, bankers and monopolists.

Additionally, Arthur Desmond championed the Crown's right of pre-emption of Maori land, which meant the resumption of the Treaty of Waitangi agreement whereby only the Crown could buy land from the Maori.

In Poverty Bay, at a packed schoolhouse in Makaraka, Arthur Desmond faced a meeting of some five hundred angry settlers on Te Kooti's behalf.

Amidst talk of armed resistance and bloodshed, Arthur Desmond explained to his brethren that he knew many of the chief's supporters and that the Maori meant them no harm.

Arthur Desmond's arguments were unsuccessful, and in the resulting chaos some of the settlers grabbed Desmond and bodily threw him from the schoolhouse.

Once again Arthur Desmond was there to speak in favour of the chief.

The Zealandia article was so well received that Arthur Desmond decided to publish it as a booklet and, as added prestige, used one of Sir George Grey's personal letters as a preface.

The charge was serious enough that a highly embarrassed Arthur Desmond finally worked up the pluck to write to Sir George Grey.

Amidst this controversy, Arthur Desmond was very active on behalf of workers' rights.

Arthur Desmond collaborated with Hughes on a political broadsheet which evolved into a radical periodical titled The New Order, and he became part of the circle surrounding McNamara's Bookshop at 221 Castlereagh Street, associating with Louisa Lawson and her son Henry, Jack Lang, Tommy Walker, and future Prime Minister Alfred Deakin.

The "bush poet" Henry Lawson composed a poem in defence of Arthur Desmond which appeared in the New Zealand periodical Fair Play in December 1893; it reads in part:.

Arthur Desmond explains that supporting weakness is unnatural and dangerous for species survival; competition, strength, and dominance being prime natural values.

Arthur Desmond was a proponent of Social Darwinism and believed organised religion was particularly harmful to personal growth and ambition.

Arthur Desmond describes rights as "spoils" of the conquering man and only something to be enjoyed when they are earned or won, rather than given.

Hard Cash and other writings of Arthur Desmond's succeeded in infuriating the authorities and Arthur Desmond's own superiors.

Whether or not Arthur Desmond actually went to South Africa to fight with Rhodes is unknown.

From England Arthur Desmond travelled to New York, as his friend Julian Stuart recalled: "Soon after I got a letter from New York saying he was taking another name just for luck".

Arthur Desmond had several Australian friends with contacts in Chicago, which likely explains why he chose Chicago as his new home.

Arthur Desmond's occupation is listed as "reporter" in the 1896 Chicago city directory.

The preface to the 1896 Chicago edition of Might Is Right indicates that Arthur Desmond spent much of 1895 looking for a publisher.

In 1898, Arthur Desmond travelled to London, where he published a British edition of The Survival of the Fittest.

Arthur Desmond printed a series of pamphlets he titled Redbeard's Review, which were meant to draw attention to his book.

Dilg and Arthur Desmond were involved in more than a commercial venture.

The reason for the shared address was that Arthur Desmond was the general manager of the Ser-Vis Ice Cream and Candy Company and was using his company office for an advertising sideline.

The man returned with police, and Arthur Desmond responded by holding them off with his rifle.

On 1 September 1904, the 45-year-old Arthur Desmond married 22-year-old Fredericke Woldt in the parish house of St James Episcopal Church.

In 1910, Arthur Desmond was living alone with his young son at 2647 Reese Avenue in Evanston, Illinois; he reported to the census taker that he was a widower, although his wife Fredericke was in fact alive and living with her family in Gary, Indiana.

On 4 May 1913, Fredericke Arthur Desmond died of pulmonary tuberculosis in a Logansport, Indiana sanatarium, aged 31 years.

Arthur Desmond was buried in the Waldheim Cemetery in Gary, Indiana, beside her parents.

Arthur Desmond was taken to Cook County Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.