Banjo Paterson

Andrew Barton "Banjo" Paterson was born in 1864 on a farm in the ‘outback’, a term Australians use for their wild countryside - this was the setting for many of his stories, songs and poems. He had a woman to teach him at home until he was old enough to ride a horse, when he could travel to school each day. He was good both at his studies and at sports. He later went on to become a lawyer (although he never studied at university). Paterson was also a journalist though and reported on the Boer War in South Africa and the Boxer Rebellion in China. He served during World War I as an ambulance driver in Europe and was wounded. He then became a vet and looked after horses in the war, before heading his own soldiers in North Africa. Paterson’s writing made him very famous in Australia, as he still is today, and all over the world. He died of a heart attack in 1941 at the age of 76. By the way, his nickname, ‘Banjo’, was taken from his favourite horse.