AustLit

In their "Introduction" to Utopian Brisbane, and All Other Known Writings of 'Austin South,' Bill Metcalf and Darryll Bellingham present a section titled 'Who is Austin South.' Published before the arrival of Trove (National Library of Australia), the compilers faced the almost impossible task of trying to establish the identity of the person behind the nom de plume. They raise the possibility that 'South could have been Medway Day, editor of the onscure Adelaide newspaper The Voice,' which published In Those Days in 1893. They also point to two issues which counter that suggestion, however - the fact that the writing styles of both men were vastly different and that Day was unlikely to have used a pseudonym given that 'he was seeking to become better recognised as a writer.' In the end Metcalf and Bellingham conclude that it was impossible for them to therefore establish without doubt the identity of the person behind the pen-name (p.11).

In 2010 AustLit researcher Robert Thomson was able to track down a number of sources using Trove. These provide a convincing case for ascerting that 'South's' real identiy was William Edward Graham. A 1905 'Gossip from Women's Clubland' column, published in Queensland Figaro, records for example: 'Congratulations to Mr W. G. Graham, Loch Nell, on his clever poem in Saturday's Courier on the Russian question as "Austin South." Mr Graham has many admirers in the literary world' (2 February 1905, p.6). In reporting on Graham's appointment as master at the Tamworth Grammar School that same year, the Queenslander also notes: '[Graham] is well-known in Brisbane, and his literary work under the nom de plume of "Austin South" has attracted attention' (1 April 1905, p.9).