Irish Druids and Old Irish Religions (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781781070451)

James Bonwick (8 July 1817 - 6 October 1906) was an English-born Australian historical and educational writer. Bonwick was born Lingfield, Surrey, England, the eldest son of James Bonwick, and Mary Ann n馥 Preston. James Bonwick, the elder, was a man of some mechanical ability, but he suffered from ill health, and his children were brought up in poor circumstances. His eldest son was educated at the Borough Road school, Southwark, and at 17 years of age teaching at a school at Hemel Hempstead and similar positions followed at Bexley and Liverpool. In April 1840 he married Esther Ann Beddow, the daughter of a Baptist clergyman, and in the following year obtained a position at the Normal School, Hobart, Tasmania. Bonwick and his wife arrived at Hobart on 10 October 1841. He was a successful teacher in Hobart for eight years and published the first of his many school books, Geography for the Use of Australian Youth, in 1845. He went to Adelaide in 1850, and opened a private school. In 1852 made his way to the Victorian gold diggings after finding himself in debt, but he did not find much gold. He then went to Melbourne where he established The Australian Gold-Diggers' Monthly Magazine, which ceased publication with the eighth issue in May 1853. He then established a successful boarding school at Kew, a suburb of Melbourne. He had already published several schoolbooks and pamphlets, when in 1856 he published his Discovery and Settlement of Port Phillip, the first of his historical works. About this time he joined the Victorian government service as an inspector of denominational schools, and in 1857 made a tour of inspection through the western district of Victoria. He made Ballarat his centre and worked there for about four years. During his journeys he suffered from sunstroke and a coaching accident. He became so ill that he was given 18 months' leave of absence, but was unable to continue his work and had to retire from the service. He visited England in 1860 and then returned to Melbourne in July 1862 and opened a school in the suburb of St Kilda, which became very prosperous. He paid another visit to England with his wife, leaving the school in the hands of a son and a friend of his. They, however, mismanaged the school, and Bonwick was compelled to return and put things in order again. He was doing much writing, and in the ensuing years travelled in various parts of Australia, New Zealand and Europe.