- Born
- 5 February 1856
London, England - Died
- 12 February 1947
Hove, England
Summary
Sladen was born in London and educated Cheltenham College and Trinity College, Oxford. He emigrated to Victoria - where his uncle had been Premier - and married Margaret Muirhead, a squatter's daughter. After studying law at the University of Melbourne, he took a brief appointment in 1883 as a lecturer in modern history at the University of Sydney and then left Australia to return to England. His interest in colonial writing led to the compilation of two centennial anthologies, Australian Poets, 1788 - 1888 (1888) and Australian Ballads and Rhymes (1888). A prolific author, Sladen wrote a number of travelogues, historical studies and biographies, including lives of the colonial poet Adam Lindsay Gordon and Labor Prime Minister Billy Hughes. He published poetry in a wide range of Australian journals and magazines, and was the author of four novels, including Fair Inez: A Romance of Australia (1918).