Frank Dalby Davison

Frank Dalby Davison was born in Melbourne in 1893. At the age of twelve he left school to follow various occupations in the bush. In his teens he travelled to the US and later served with the British cavalry in France during World War I. He based is novel The Wells of Beersheba (1933) on his experiences. After the war he returned to Australia with his first wife and settled for a time in Queensland. Soon growing restless he moved to Sydney where he worked as a real estate agent and journalist. He continued to write fiction - short stories and a children's book - and in 1948 settled in country Victoria with his second wife, Marie. His long novel about the relationships between men and women, The White Thorntree, was published in 1968. He died in 1970.