True North: The Story of Mary and Elizabeth Durack

by Brenda Niall

Elizabeth and Mary Durack's (Kings In Grass Castles) closely intertwined creative lives were shaped by the pioneering past of their father and grandfather, who set up four vast cattle stations in north Queensland.

Brenda Niall was given unprecedented access to private family letters, unpublished memoirs, diaries and family papers to write True North – a biography of the two sisters and a uniquely Australian story.

Genres: Biography, Book Club, Biography Memoir, Nonfiction, Australia

291 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2012

About the author

Brenda Niall is one of Australia’s foremost biographers. She is the author of several award-winning biographies, including her acclaimed accounts of the Boyd family and her portrait of the Durack sisters, True North. In 2016 she won the Australian Literature Society’s Gold Medal and the National Biography Award for Mannix. In 2004 she was awarded the Order of Australia for ‘services to Australian literature, as an academic, biographer and literary critic’.

Reviews

[Avril · Rating 4 out of 5]

An easy, interesting read. I'd have liked a bit more historical context, but the story of the sisters is fascinating. I didn't know much about the Duracks beyond the name; now I want to find Mary Durack's books.

[Alexeena · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brenda Niall writes compellingly and engagingly about the Durack sisters, Mary and Elizabeth, concurrently addressing the broader sweep of Australian history in the West and the difficult nature of the white-indigenous relations through history. It is a fascinating portrait of a fascinating family, with a focus on lives of the - in many ways - unconventional two women. Their extraordinary creative capacity and output, combined with their roles as wives and mothers, and their strong emotional and artistic connections to the Kimberley is conveyed perceptively by Niall. The reader cannot help but admire Mary and Elizabeth and their significant contributions to both literature and art, as well as be challenged by ideas about the impacts of white Australians on the indigenous people of the Kimberley.

[Karen Beath · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really interesting book about two Australians I knew very little about. Mary and Elizabeth Durack were the daughters of a cattle empire in the remote Kimberley region. As adults Mary went onto become a great Australian writer and historian while Elizabeth, often leading a bohemian lifestyle, became a somewhat underrated artist. They both felt a strong connection to their country and advocated for better treatment of Indigenous Australians.
I really enjoyed learning about their history and I'm embarrassed to say that I had not heard of their work before reading this book. I will now actively seek them out.
The only downside to the book was that it seemed to jump a lot which made it hard to follow the sequence of events. Aside from that however, it was a very interesting read.

[Michelle Cook · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting read which creates a pull to the Kimberley. As a white woman living in an Indigenous community it raises interesting questions about identity and call

[Ruth Bonetti · Rating 3 out of 5]

With much talk of The Voice referendum, and indigenous rights and Wrongs, this biography about the Durack sisters gives a useful perspective. It has sparked memories of my own grandparents and the prompted further research.

Mary and Elizabeth grew up in small-town Perth of the 1920's, but their lives were indelibly imprinted during their year in the Kimberley on vast family cattle stations. Then in their early twenties, the sisters forged lasting relationships with Aboriginal people and gained insights and experience of their culture.

Through their long lives, they would collaborate, Mary as a prolific author and Elizabeth as illustrator and artist. Mary is best known for her saga "Kings in Grass Castles" that chronicled the dynasty their grandfather Patsy Durack forged. The planned trilogy fell prey to demands on her time and expertise, of raising six children and an increasingly demanding husband.

So close were the bonds with the indigenous people that in Mary's last journey north to the property Ivanhoe, "as the moment came for her departure the Aboriginal women, knowing they would never see her again, began to beat their heads and wail inconsolably."

This reflects the response when my own grandfather managed large cattle stations in the Gulf of Carpentaria, firstly at Gregory Downs. Waanyani Aboriginal men made excellent stockmen. They lived in large indigenous camps with their wives and families who helped as domestics around the house and garden. My grandmother, the only white woman for hundreds of miles, was responsible for the health of all those on the station, black and white. The black women cried as the couple packed to move to their next property, Lawn Hill, about 150 kilometres away. “You come back sometime, Missus.”

But I digress.

Bohemian artist Elizabeth was inspired by rock carvings and indigenous paintings. So much so that, in her later life her "morphological paintings" exhibited under the alter ego "Eddie Burrup" reflected Aboriginal art.

Elizabeth confessed to art historian Robert Smith that she had "painted herself into a corner." He broke the subterfuge in a story "The Incarnations of Eddie Burrup" in Art Monthly Australia in 1997.

This caused vigorous debate and accusations of cultural appropriation yet Elizabeth expressed that since working in "deep union with Eddie Burrup I have experienced a feeling of tremendous happiness and of deep fulfilment." Smith noted Elizabeth's long association with Aboriginal people in the North, an experience which included the protective attitudes of her parents towards these people on their grazing properties in the early days. Perceived today as paternalism, at the time it was understood and valued by the black population. "It seems to me that the work of Eddie Burrup can be seen as not just a homage to aboriginal Australia but a concrete exemplar for reconciliation between two communities and two cultures foundering so badly at the present time."

"There was a political dimension which was also personal. The world had changed since [their father] 'MPD' was seen as a model pastoralist, respected for his kindness and fair dealing. Now it seemed that there were no good pastoralists and no virtues in paternalism. As Elizabeth saw it, the new historians were denying that any friendship between black and white ever existed. It seemed to her that their work spoke only of the violence and exploitation."

To paraphrase from Niall's excellent account:
Both sisters wanted a better deal for the Aborigines, but Elizabeth was suspicious about land rights and the Mabo decision as likely to bring divisiveness rather than the “side-by-side” partnership she hoped for. What happened after the pastoral workers equal pay decision – displacement, lack of employment, dependency on the grog – made station life seem almost to Golden aged. Elizabeth would have agreed with… Nicolas Rothwell who wrote in 2011 of “many old indigenous Stockman [who] regard the passing of the cattle station days as a tragedy.”

The Mabo land rights decision cut across Elizabeth‘s belief that indigenous people and white people could share the land.

Further decisions lie ahead for Australians of all heritage. This biography gives thoughtful analysis of two sisters who lived amongst Aboriginal people, who shared mutual respect, who wanted fulfilling futures for the indigenous.
Whither, our country?

[Al Lawless · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book . I had heard of Michael Durack and Mary , and Kings in Grass Castles which I was on the bookshelf of most houses we spent time in , in my childhood . I presumed they were a family of wealthy pastoralists who lived a life of privilege , but as always when you dig deeper, the story is always more complex and definitely more interesting . Brenda Niall weaves the story of Mary and Elizabeth and their family’s life , their love of the Kimberley , their respective talents of writing and painting and the limitations placed on them because of their sex and the era they lived in . Their relationship with the local indigenous people and their observations on how these people were mistreated over the years was insightful , and most notably Elizabeth’s observation late in her life that these people had no voice in how their lives were managed , resonated loudly in view of recent events .

[Samantha Battams · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting read a great to get a picture of the situation on pastoral properties and the family heritage and the relationship with local Indigenous people/communities, also interesting the contrast between the creative sisters and their lives. I was also interested as Mary Durack was the spouse of aviator Horrie Miller (sounds like a great partnership). Made me want to see more of Northern Australia.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting insight into the Durack family story & life in the Kimberley region in C20th. The complexities of Aboriginal and Whites relationships are explorered in this remote area of Western Australia.

[Annie Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very interest informative book.

[Julia Gilchrist · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simply excellent!

[Anni Kramer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating story of the two Durack sisters, Mary and Elizabeth, and their lives in northwestern Australia

[Neil · Rating 3 out of 5]

A reasonably interesting story, reasonably written. Good that is was kept short. Yes readable, 3 stars is about right.

[Susan Lane · Rating 4 out of 5]

“It was said that his decision to have his papers burnt was a defence against biographers. He had read a life of one of the archbishops of Dublin, Dr William Walsh, and thought it a travesty of the man he had known. No one would do that to him; no one would analyse the mind and heart of Daniel Mannix. It would be bad enough if they got it wrong. And for him, it might have been almost as bad if they got it right.”

[Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well-written, though traditional biography, about two fascinating sisters from one of Australia's best known pioneer families. For my full review, please see Whispering Gums: http://whisperinggums.wordpress.com/2...

[Margo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Content fascinating. It makes me want to read more about their generation of Duracks. particularly interesting to learn why Elizabeth invented her aboriginal artist identity.

[Kaye Johnson]

I so loved the history in this book. Can’t wait to get back to the Kimberley to see more of it and experience more if the Durack story