George Chamier

John C. Ross (Massey University)

Ed. by Doreen D'Cruz, Massey University
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 9.1.2: New Zealand Writing and Culture.
Vol. editors: Doreen D'Cruz (Massey University), Jennifer Lawn (Massey University), John C. Ross (Massey University), Mark Williams (Victoria University of Wellington)

Dates

Born 8 Apr 1842
Died 25 Apr 1915
Activity 1890-1915

Places

Born in England
Active in New Zealand

Activities

Primary

Engineer
Novelist

Resources

Chamier's Works

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George Chamier (1842-1915) wrote two New Zealand novels,

Philosopher Dick: Adventures and Contemplations of a New Zealand Shepherd

(1891) and its sequel,

A South-Sea Siren: A Novel Descriptive of New Zealand Life in the Early Days

(1895)

which have been praised by Lawrence Jones as “what may be considered the best New Zealand novels of the nineteenth century” (“Chamier”,

Dictionary of New Zealand Biography,

II: 84). For Jones, they were two of only three novels written in that century about New Zealand settler life that provided sustained critical-realist views of it, the third being Sigurd Wiśniowski’s

Tikera; or, Children of the Queen of Oceania,

published in Polish in 1877, yet not in an English translation until 1972 (“The Novel” 128). Chamier’s two novels are…

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Citation: Ross, John C.. "George Chamier". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 19 January 2024 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=14096, accessed 24 November 2024.]

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