Eldershaw, Flora (1897-1956), an Australian author, combined with Marjorie Barnard to write under the pen name M. Barnard Eldershaw. Their best-known book, A House Is Built (1929), is a psychological study of a family, the Hydes, set against the rapid growth of Sydney in the 1800’s. Their other novels include Green Memory (1931), The Glasshouse (1936), Plaque with Laurel (1937), and Tomorrow and Tomorrow (1947). They also collaborated on Essays in Australian Fiction (1938) and My Australia (1939, revised 1951). Eldershaw also wrote historical studies and literary criticism under her own name.
Flora Sydney Patricia Eldershaw was born on March 16, 1897, in Sydney. She received a B.A. degree from the University of Sydney in 1918. She served as senior mistress of the Presbyterian Ladies’ College from 1923 to 1940. Eldershaw was a founding member of the Fellowship of Australian Writers and was the organization’s president in 1935 and 1943. She died on Sept. 20, 1956.
