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11 Facts About Mary Gaunt

1.

Mary Eliza Bakewell Gaunt was an Australian novelist, born in Chiltern, Victoria.

2.

Mary Gaunt wrote collections of short stories, novellas, autobiographies, and non-fiction.

3.

Mary Gaunt published her first novel Dave's Sweetheart in 1894.

4.

Mary Gaunt was educated at Grenville College, Ballarat and the University of Melbourne, being one of the first two women students to be admitted there.

5.

Mary Gaunt began writing for the press and in 1894 published her first novel Dave's Sweetheart.

6.

Mary Gaunt died in 1900, and, with only a small income, Gaunt went to London intending to earn a living by her writing.

7.

Mary Gaunt left Melbourne on 15 March 1901 and never returned.

8.

Mary Gaunt had difficulties at first but eventually established herself, and was able to travel in the West Indies, in West Africa, and in China and other parts of the East.

9.

Mary Gaunt's experiences were recorded in five pleasantly written travel books: Alone in West Africa, A Woman in China, A Broken Journey, Where the Twain Meet, Reflection - in Jamaica.

10.

Mary Gaunt had a sister Lucy, and brothers Cecil, Clive, Lancelot, Guy and Ernest; Guy and Ernest were both admirals of the Royal Navy, and Guy later became a Conservative Member of Parliament.

11.

Mary Gaunt was posthumously inducted onto the Victorian Honour Roll of Women in 2002.