Unknown Lawson facts at Twilight Talk

BALLARAT identity Hedley Thomson will present a talk on some unknown facts about Henry Lawson at the Ballaarat Mechanics Institute (BMI) on Wednesday next week.

Mr Thomson’s presentation will be part of the BMI’s Twilight Talks 2025 spring season, and will be held at the Sturt Street institute’s Humffray Room from 5.30pm to 6.30pm.

“I’ve spent 35 of my 70 years in Ballarat,” Mr Thomson said.

“Throughout my life I’ve had an interest in regional Australia, in theatre – especially performing – and, developing from not much to a near obsession (in all the right ways), in Henry Lawson.”

Mr Thomson said he knew of Lawson’s well-known pieces such as The Loaded Dog and The Drover’s Wife, but little else.

“I’d scanned through a few selections of his works but – like many people, I think – I found them a bit too serious; Banjo Patterson was certainly the more popular writer,” he said.

“Then, in the 1980s, I happened to buy what became the very popular two-volume complete works of Lawson, compiled by Leonard Cronin.

“Once I started reading, I was hooked. I discovered he wrote about everything, in almost every possible style, with humour, with pathos, with serious analysis of the topic chosen, with prophetic intent.”

Mr Thomson said to learn that Lawson visited Ballarat in 1887, following which he wrote a number of pieces about the Eureka uprising, had enabled him to make a connection between his passion for Lawson’s writings, his place of residence and his long-time involvement with theatre and performance.

“During 2022 – the 100th anniversary year of Lawson’s death – a trio of us performed various of Lawson’s works to community group audiences,” he said.

“Now the BMI has provided me with the opportunity to focus on ‘Ballarat’s Henry Lawson’ and to highlight the effect that the young Henry’s visit had on his writings.”

Mr Thomson’s talk will include performances of several of the more notable pieces, both poetry and prose, that Lawson was inspired to write following his Ballarat visit.

Tickets are available from events.humanitix.com/bmi-twilight-talks-season-3-2025.