Dyson, Edward George (1865-1931), was an Australian writer who wrote about the gold fields and bush where he grew up. Dyson was born on March 4, 1865, in Morrisons, near Ballarat, Victoria, Australia. His father was a mining engineer. Dyson started work at the age of 12 and eventually worked as a miner and factory worker before becoming a free-lance journalist in 1884.
Dyson’s Rhymes from the Mines and Other Lines (1896) contains verses in bush ballad style. Hello Soldier! Khaki Verse (1919) is war poetry written mainly in slum slang. Dyson wrote many amusing short stories with bush and mining themes. His stories and sketches were published in such collections as Below and On Top (1898) and Fact’ry ‘Ands (1906). One serious novel, The Gold Seekers (1901), introduces the Eureka Stockade. Dyson also wrote a second novel, In the Roaring Fifties (1906). He died on Aug. 22, 1931.
