Biography that Syme deserved

摘要

This is not the first biography of David Syme - earlier ones appeared in 1908 and 1965 - but it is the one he deserved. The man widely regarded as Australia's greatest newspaperman of the 19th century was worthy of a biographer of Elizabeth Morrison's tenacity and literary ability. Syme - who was "abrasive" to subordinates and could be "controlling and churlish" (pp. 104, 190) -would not, however, have authorised this warts-and-all examination of his life as a newspaper proprietor, man of property, thinker, author and family man. Ambrose Pratt wrote the "authorised" biography, which appeared in 1908, the year of Syme's death. Syme heavily influenced the content. In the second biography, C. E. Sayers focused on Syme's political influence. And now Morrison, with the benefit of a century's hindsight - not to mention the aid of Trove's digitised newspapers - presents a highly detailed account not only of Syme's life but also of the life and times of The Age and its associated publications over half a century. She portrays sympathetically the role played in the success of The Age by David's brother George (as an editor) and nephew Joseph (on the production side). She also makes it clear that David bent over backwards to do the right thing by the family of his brother, Ebenezer, who died in 1860 after taking over The Age's proprietorship in 1856.