Dorothea MackellarPrint Page

The sculpture commemorates the Australian poet, Dorothea Mackellar, O.B.E. 

Isobel Marion Dorothea Mackellar (better known as Dorothea Mackellar), OBE (1885 – 1968) was an Australian poet and fiction writer. Her poem My Country is perhaps the best known Australian poem

The Mackellar family owned several properties in the Gunnedah area, including "Kurrumbede" and "The Rampadells" on the Blue Vale Road near Gunnedah. Dorothea Mackellar, author of the poem My Country, found the inspiration for that poem on her brother`s property `Kurrembede` where she witnessed the breaking of a severe drought. The first draft of what was to become Australia`s most quoted and best loved poem, My Country, was written in England at a time when Dorothea was feeling homesick. Never quite content with the verses, she wrote and re-wrote the poem several times after returning to Australia.

In the New Year's Day Honours of 1968, Dorothea Mackellar was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for her contribution to Australian literature. She died two weeks later. She is buried with her father and family in Waverley Cemetery overlooking the open ocean. Also her poem Colour, her own favourite, was read at the service.

Statue Unveiling 1983

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