- Born
- 4 September 1852
Liverpool, England - Died
- 2 June 1923
Dunk Island, Queensland, Australia - Alternative Names
- Rambler
Summary
Banfield was born at Liverpool and came to Australia with his family in 1854, settling in the Victorian township of Ararat where his father established the Ararat Advertiser. In the 1870s and early 1880s Banfield worked as a journalist for newspapers in Melbourne, Sydney and Townsville, before travelling to England for eye surgery in 1884. He returned to Queensland and married, continuing in journalism before tuberculosis led him to retire to Dunk Island in 1897. Banfield's observations of the island became the basis for many articles on naturalism, including his best-known book Confessions of a Beachcomber (1908). As well as writing popular non-fiction, Banfield published short stories in magazines and newspapers including the North Queensland Register and the Lone Hand.