1870 - 1956

One of the nation’s most beloved children’s authors Ethel Turner, who published ‘Seven Little Australians’ in 1894, became part of Bondi’s O’Brien family after marrying Herbert Raine Curlewis.

Turner’s book, written when she was 23, became a classic and has never been out of print since its release. She became a prolific author and between 1894-1928 published 41 works.

Born Ethel Burwell in England in 1870, she lost her father at two and later adopted the surname of her mother’s second husband, Turner. In 1879, her twice-widowed mother emigrated to Australia, marrying Charles Cope in 1880. He likely served as model for the irascible Captain Wolcot in her famous novel.

Turner was a good student and attended Sydney Girls High School, showing a precocious inclination to writing. When the school magazine’s director ignored her contributions, Turner founded a rival publication, Iris, writing most of its articles under pseudonyms.

At 17, she and her sister started a successful magazine called Parthenon, which produced annual revenue of £50 during the three years it lasted.

Turner continued writing stories and worked for the Sydney Illustrated News, which honed her skills and confidence enough to write Seven Little Australians in nine months. The book (originally titled Six Pickles) sold out two weeks after its release.

Despite high praise from Mark Twain and Banjo Paterson among others, her editors in England considered her style ‘too Australian’ and insisted on polishing the English. She refused.

In 1896, Turner married Herbert Curlewis, a lawyer. The union was a happy one. Herbert Curlewis was born in 1869 at Bondi and was the son of Frederick Charles Curlewis and his wife Georgina Sophia, nee O’Brien.

Georgina’s family owned the Bondi Estate, the 200-acre block originally purchased in 1850 by her grandfather, Edward Smith ‘Monitor’ Hall, who later sold it to his son-in-law Francis O’Brien. Curlewis was born at the O’Brien ‘Homestead’.