Ada Cambridge (21 November 1844 – 19 July 1926), later known as Ada Cross, was an English-born Australian writer. She wrote more than 25 works of fiction, three volumes of poetry and two autobiographical works.[1] Many of her novels were serialised in Australian newspapers but never published in book form. While she was known to friends and family by her married name, Ada Cross, her newspaper readers knew her as A.C. She later reverted to her maiden name, Ada Cambridge, and that is how she is known today.[2]
Ada was born at St Germans, Norfolk, the second child of Thomasine and Henry Cambridge, a gentleman farmer.[3] She was educated by governesses, an experience she abhorred. She wrote in a book of reminiscences: "I can truthfully affirm that I never learned anything which would now be considered worth learning until I had done with them all and started foraging for myself. I did have a few months of boarding-school at the end, and went to sex school school for its day it was, but it left no lasting impression on my mind." (The Retrospect, Chapter IV). It was, in fact, an unmarried aunt who contributed most to her intellectual development.[4]
On 25 April 1870, she married the Rev. George Frederick Cross and a few weeks later sailed for Australia. She arrived in Melbourne in August and was surprised to find it a well-established city. Her husband was sent to Wangaratta, then to Yackandandah (1872), Ballan (1874), Coleraine (1877), Bendigo (1884) and Beechworth (1885), where they remained until 1893. Her Thirty Years in Australia (1903) describes their experiences in these parishes. She experienced her share of tragedy, including the loss of children to whooping cough and scarlet fever.[5]
Cambridge's grave at Brighton General Cemetery
Cross at first was the typical hard-working wife of a country clergyman, taking part in all the activities of the parish and incidentally making her own children's clothes. Her health, however, broke down, for a number of reasons, including a near-fatal miscarriage and a serious carriage accident, and her activities had to be reduced, but she continued to write.
In 1893, Cross and her husband moved to their last parish, Williamstown, near Melbourne, and remained there until 1909. Her husband went on the retired clergy list at the end of 1909 with permission to operate in the diocese until 1912. In 1913 they both returned to England, where they stayed until his death on 27 February 1917. Ada returned to Australia later that year. She died in Melbourne on 19 July 1926, and was buried at Brighton General Cemetery. She was survived by a daughter and a son, Dr K. Stuart Cross.
CareerEdit
While Cambridge began writing in the 1870s to make money to help support her children, her formal published career spans from 1865 with Hymns on the Litany and The Two Surplices, to 1922 with an article "Nightfall" in Atlantic Monthly.[6] According to Barton, her early works "contain the seeds of her lifelong insistence on and pursuit of physical, spiritual and moral integrity, as well as the interweaving of poetry and prose which was to typify her writing career."[4] Cato [1] writes that "some of her ideas were considered daring and even a little improper for a clergyman's wife. She touches on extramarital affairs and the physical bondage of wives."
In 1875, her first novel, Up the Murray, appeared in the Australasian, but was not published separately. It was not until 1890, with the publication of A Marked Man, that her fame as a writer was established.[7] However, despite regular good reviews, there were many who discounted her because she did not write in the literary tradition of the time, one that was largely non-urban and masculine, that focused on survival against the harsh environment.[8]
The Ada Cambridge Prizes were first awarded in 2005. There are now four such prizes: the Ada Cambridge Biographical Prose Prize, the Ada Cambridge Poetry Prize, the Young Adas Short Story Prize, and the Young Adas Graphic Short Story Prize. These all carry a cash component and winners are announced at the Williamstown Literary Festival each year.[10]
Cambridge Street in the Canberra suburb of Cook is named after her.[11]
Selected worksEdit
Novels
The Two Surplices (1865)
My Guardian : A Story of the Fen Country (1874)
Up the Murray (1875)
In Two Years Time (1879)
Dinah (1880)
A Mere Chance (1880)
Missed in the Crowd (1882)
A Girl's Ideal (1882)
Across the Grain (1882)
The Three Miss Kings (1883)
A Marriage Ceremony (1884)
A Little Minx (1885)
Against the Rules (1886)
A Black Sheep (1889)
A Woman's Friendship (1889) (Serialised in the Age, 1889; first published in book form in 1988)
^. Archived from the original on 28 September 2020. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
^"AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY National Memorials Ordinance 1928–1959". Commonwealth of Australia Gazette. Australia. 2 October 1969. p. 5791. Retrieved 16 December 2020 – via Trove.
Ada Cambridge (1844–1926) 14 May 2011 at the Wayback Machine Gravesite at Brighton General Cemetery (Vic)
Barton, Patricia (1988) 'Ada Cambridge: Writing for her Life' in Adelaide, Debra (1988) A Bright and Fiery Troop: Australian Women Writers of the Nineteenth Century, Ringwood, Penguin
Cato, Nancy (1989) 'Introduction' in Cambridge, Ada (1989) Sisters (Penguin Australian Women's Library)
Morrison, Elizabeth (1988) 'Editor's introduction' in Cambridge, Ada (1988) A woman's friendship (Colonial Text Series)
119 poems featured at the Australian Poetry Library.
August 31, 2023
cambridge, november, 1844, july, 1926, later, known, cross, english, born, australian, writer, wrote, more, than, works, fiction, three, volumes, poetry, autobiographical, works, many, novels, were, serialised, australian, newspapers, never, published, book, f. Ada Cambridge 21 November 1844 19 July 1926 later known as Ada Cross was an English born Australian writer She wrote more than 25 works of fiction three volumes of poetry and two autobiographical works 1 Many of her novels were serialised in Australian newspapers but never published in book form While she was known to friends and family by her married name Ada Cross her newspaper readers knew her as A C She later reverted to her maiden name Ada Cambridge and that is how she is known today 2 Ada CambridgeBorn 1844 11 21 21 November 1844St Germans Norfolk EnglandDied19 July 1926 1926 07 19 aged 81 Melbourne AustraliaBurial placeBrighton General CemeteryOther namesA C and Ada CrossOccupation s Novelist poet memoirist and journalistSpouseRev George Frederick CrossChildrenFive including Dr K Stuart Cross Contents 1 Life 2 Career 3 Legacy 4 Selected works 5 References 6 Bibliography 7 External linksLife EditAda was born at St Germans Norfolk the second child of Thomasine and Henry Cambridge a gentleman farmer 3 She was educated by governesses an experience she abhorred She wrote in a book of reminiscences I can truthfully affirm that I never learned anything which would now be considered worth learning until I had done with them all and started foraging for myself I did have a few months of boarding school at the end and went to sex school school for its day it was but it left no lasting impression on my mind The Retrospect Chapter IV It was in fact an unmarried aunt who contributed most to her intellectual development 4 On 25 April 1870 she married the Rev George Frederick Cross and a few weeks later sailed for Australia She arrived in Melbourne in August and was surprised to find it a well established city Her husband was sent to Wangaratta then to Yackandandah 1872 Ballan 1874 Coleraine 1877 Bendigo 1884 and Beechworth 1885 where they remained until 1893 Her Thirty Years in Australia 1903 describes their experiences in these parishes She experienced her share of tragedy including the loss of children to whooping cough and scarlet fever 5 Cambridge s grave at Brighton General CemeteryCross at first was the typical hard working wife of a country clergyman taking part in all the activities of the parish and incidentally making her own children s clothes Her health however broke down for a number of reasons including a near fatal miscarriage and a serious carriage accident and her activities had to be reduced but she continued to write In 1893 Cross and her husband moved to their last parish Williamstown near Melbourne and remained there until 1909 Her husband went on the retired clergy list at the end of 1909 with permission to operate in the diocese until 1912 In 1913 they both returned to England where they stayed until his death on 27 February 1917 Ada returned to Australia later that year She died in Melbourne on 19 July 1926 and was buried at Brighton General Cemetery She was survived by a daughter and a son Dr K Stuart Cross Career EditWhile Cambridge began writing in the 1870s to make money to help support her children her formal published career spans from 1865 with Hymns on the Litany and The Two Surplices to 1922 with an article Nightfall in Atlantic Monthly 6 According to Barton her early works contain the seeds of her lifelong insistence on and pursuit of physical spiritual and moral integrity as well as the interweaving of poetry and prose which was to typify her writing career 4 Cato 1 writes that some of her ideas were considered daring and even a little improper for a clergyman s wife She touches on extramarital affairs and the physical bondage of wives In 1875 her first novel Up the Murray appeared in the Australasian but was not published separately It was not until 1890 with the publication of A Marked Man that her fame as a writer was established 7 However despite regular good reviews there were many who discounted her because she did not write in the literary tradition of the time one that was largely non urban and masculine that focused on survival against the harsh environment 8 She was first president of the Women Writers Club and an honorary life member of the Lyceum Club of Melbourne Her many friends in the literary world included Grace Jennings Carmichael Rolf Boldrewood Ethel Turner and George Robertson 9 Legacy EditThe Ada Cambridge Prizes were first awarded in 2005 There are now four such prizes the Ada Cambridge Biographical Prose Prize the Ada Cambridge Poetry Prize the Young Adas Short Story Prize and the Young Adas Graphic Short Story Prize These all carry a cash component and winners are announced at the Williamstown Literary Festival each year 10 Cambridge Street in the Canberra suburb of Cook is named after her 11 Selected works EditNovelsThe Two Surplices 1865 My Guardian A Story of the Fen Country 1874 Up the Murray 1875 In Two Years Time 1879 Dinah 1880 A Mere Chance 1880 Missed in the Crowd 1882 A Girl s Ideal 1882 Across the Grain 1882 The Three Miss Kings 1883 A Marriage Ceremony 1884 A Little Minx 1885 Against the Rules 1886 A Black Sheep 1889 A Woman s Friendship 1889 Serialised in the Age 1889 first published in book form in 1988 A Marked Man 1890 Not All in Vain 1891 Fidelis 1895 A Humble Enterprise 1896 Materfamilias 1898 Path and Goal 1900 The Devastators 1901 Sisters 1904 A Platonic Friendship 1905 A Happy Marriage 1906 The Eternal Feminine 1907 The Making of Rachel Rowe 1914 Poetry collectionsHymns on the Litany 1865 Hymns on the Holy Communion 1866 Echoes 1869 The Manor House and Other Poems 1875 Unspoken Thoughts 1887 The Hand in the Dark and Other Poems 1913 Short story collectionsThe Vicar s Guest A Tale 1869 At Midnight and Other Stories 1897 Children s fictionLittle Jenny 1867 AutobiographyThirty Years in Australia 1903 The Retrospect 1912 References Edit a b Cato 1989 p v Morrison 1988 p xv Brighton Cemetery a b Barton 1988 p 134 Morrison 1988 p xxvii Morrison 1988 p xxii Morrison 1988 p xix Morrison 1988 p xx Barton 1988 p 133 The Adas Winners Announced Williamstown Literary Festival Archived from the original on 28 September 2020 Retrieved 3 August 2020 AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY National Memorials Ordinance 1928 1959 Commonwealth of Australia Gazette Australia 2 October 1969 p 5791 Retrieved 16 December 2020 via Trove Bibliography Edit This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain Cousin John William 1910 A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature London J M Dent amp Sons via Wikisource Ada Cambridge 1844 1926 Archived 14 May 2011 at the Wayback Machine Gravesite at Brighton General Cemetery Vic Barton Patricia 1988 Ada Cambridge Writing for her Life in Adelaide Debra 1988 A Bright and Fiery Troop Australian Women Writers of the Nineteenth Century Ringwood Penguin Cato Nancy 1989 Introduction in Cambridge Ada 1989 Sisters Penguin Australian Women s Library Morrison Elizabeth 1988 Editor s introduction in Cambridge Ada 1988 A woman s friendship Colonial Text Series Roe J I 2006 Cambridge Ada 1844 1926 Australian Dictionary of Biography Online Edition http www adb online anu edu au biogs A030310b htm Serle Percival 1949 Cambridge Ada Dictionary of Australian Biography Sydney Angus amp Robertson AustLit author entry External links Edit Wikisource has original works by or about Ada Cambridge Works by or about Ada Cambridge at Internet Archive Works by Ada Cambridge at LibriVox public domain audiobooks Ada Cambridge contains the text of three of her sonnets Cordula s Web features selected poems from Ada Cambridge manybooks net offers free PDF formatted works by Ada Cambridge SETIS contains free PDF formatted works and print works for purchase by Ada Cambridge Williamstown Literary Festival contains details of stories shortlisted for and winners of the Ada Cambridge Writers Prize in 2008 and 2009 Works by Ada Cambridge at Project Gutenberg 119 poems featured at the Australian Poetry Library Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Ada Cambridge amp oldid 1168204162, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
