Ernest Scott was born in Northampton, England, on 21 June 1867, and migrated to Australia in 1892.
He worked as a journalist for the Globe (London, UK) and then for The Herald (Melbourne, Vic.). Scott then became a Hansard writer for the Victorian parliament, and then the Commonwealth parliament.
As an avid history buff, Scott had turned his hand to writing books about Australian history. Due to his talents and knowledge, he was appointed to the position of Professor of History at the University of Melbourne in 1913. In June 1939, just a few months before his death, Professor Scott was made a Knight Bachelor.
Sir Ernest Scott died in Melbourne, on 6 December 1939.
Books by Ernest Scott:
[Books arranged by year of publication.]
1910: Terre Napoleon: A History of French Explorations and Projects in Australia, London: Methuen
1912: Laperouse, Sydney: Angus & Robertson
1914: The Life of Captain Matthew Flinders, R.N., Sydney: Angus & Robertson
1916: A Short History of Australia, London: Oxford University Press [first published in 1916; the 1936 edition was the last edition published before his death]
1917: The History of Victoria, [Melbourne: Government Statist’s Office]
1920: Men and Thought in Modern History, Melbourne: Macmillan
1925: History and Historical Problems, London: Oxford University Press
1929: Australian Discovery by Land, London: Dent (editor)
1929: Australian Discovery by Sea, London: Dent (editor)
1935: Lord Robert Cecil’s Gold Fields Diary, Melbourne: Melbourne University Press (editor)
1936: Australia During the War (vol. XI of the Official History of Australia in the War of 1914-1918), Sydney: Angus & Robertson
1936: Historical Memoir of the Melbourne Club, Melbourne: Specialty Press
1936: A History of the University of Melbourne, Melbourne: Melbourne University Press
Selected articles by Ernest Scott:
An Australian Tercentenary [21 October 1916]
An article regarding Dirk Hartog’s discovery of Australia.
The “Men who made Australia” series (12 articles):
1. Matthew Flinders: His achievements and tragedy [20 May 1939]
2. John Macarthur: Who gave this country wool [27 May 1939]
3. Macquarie, who adopted the name Australia [3 June 1939]
An article about Lachlan Macquarie, Governor of New South Wales 1810-1821.
4. James Stirling, who founded Western Australia [10 June 1939]
5. Sturt and the great river system: “Greatest Australian Explorer” [17 June 1939]
An article about the explorer Charles Sturt (1795-1869).
6. Strzelecki, who first found gold in the continent [24 June 1939]
An article about the explorer Count Paul de Strzelecki (1797-1873).
7. Two elopements and a colonising theory [1 July 1939]
An article about the author and politician Edward Gibbon Wakefield (1796-1862).
8. George Fife Angas, the man who made South Australia [8 July 1939]
9. Adventures and tragedy of the mysterious Leichhardt [15 July 1939]
An article about the explorer Ludwig Leichhardt (1813-1848).
10. Edmund Barton, the great federal leader [22 July 1939]
11. Alfred Deakin — statesman, orator, and seer [29 July 1939]
12. John Monash, soldier, engineer and scholar [5 August 1939]
References:
Kathleen Fitzpatrick, “Scott, Sir Ernest (1867–1939), Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University
“Death of Professor Sir Ernest Scott: Eminent historian”, The Advertiser (Adelaide, SA), 7 December 1939, p. 16
“Sir Ernest Scott: Death in Melbourne”, The Sydney Morning Herald (Sydney, NSW), 7 December 1939, p. 10
“Late news”, The Age (Melbourne, Vic.), 7 December 1939, p. 9 [see section “Sir Ernest Scott dead”]
“Personal and obituary paragraphs”, The Australasian (Melbourne, Vic.), 16 December 1939, p. 26 [see section “Sir Ernest Scott (V.)”]
“Ernest Scott Prize”, Melbourne University
Further information:
“Ernest Scott”, Wikipedia
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