Arthur Hoey Davis
14 November 1868 — 11 October 1935
Arthur Hoey Davis (29A‑47‑4)
Arthur Hoey Davis, born at Drayton near Toowoomba in 1868, was one of Queensland's literary greats and arguably the best remembered and best loved of the Queensland writers of yesteryear. He adopted the pseudonym 'Steele Rudd'. In 1895 The Bulletin published his ‘Starting the Selection’, a short story based on his father's experience, in which Rudd introduces the characters in his legendary family, and sets the pattern for further adventures.
Davis became a regular and popular contributor and in 1899 the Bulletin published an illustrated collection of the sketches in book form under the title On Our Selection. He lay in an unmarked grave after his death in 1935 until an appeal for public subscriptions by the Queensland Authors and Artists' Association resulted in the erection of a headstone in 1956.
Steele Rudd Memorial, Drayton, c 1958 — Queensland State Archives.
Arthur Hoey Davis - Steele Rudd, Charles Lilley and Emma Miller statues located in King George Square in Brisbane, Australia. Artist: Artbusters Materials: Bronze Installation date: 1993 by Kgbo, used under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Headstone
Inscription
Arthur Hoey
Davis
"Steele Rudd"
Born Drayton, Queensland.
14th November 1868
Died Brisbane 11th October 1935
"The Interpreter of Life on the Land"
Erected by Australian Citizens
Under the auspices of
Queensland Authors and Artists' Association
1956
Learn more
- Monument to "Steele Rudd" - The Courier-Mail, 20 Nov 1950
- Davis, Arthur Hoey (1868–1935) - Australian Dictionary of Biography