Frederick Spencer Burnell (1887 - 1958)

Born 1 Feb 1887 in Snapper Point, Victoria, Australia

Husband of Marjory Kane (Smyth) Burnell — married 1935 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Biography

Frederick Burnell was an Australian journalist and radio presenter. He worked for many years as a radio host on ABC Radio Sydney but one of his most significant assignments was as a special correspondent with the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force who were sent to seize and destroy German wireless stations in German New Guinea in 1914.

Frederick Spencer Burnell was born on 1st February 1887 at Snapper Point, Victoria, Australia. He was the eldest surviving son of Richard Burnell and Ellen McFarlane.^[1] He lived there until his family moved to Sydney. He graduated with a BA from the University of Sydney.

He published a book of poetry in 1912. In 1914, after being rejected for active service, he was assigned by the Sydney Morning Herald as a special correspondent with the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force.

After the First World War he visited Cape Town, Dakar, Dunkirk, Ypres, Hull and then London where he attended a dinner given by the P.E.N. club which was in honour of the 70th birthday of H. G. Wells. Burnell and his wife also toured England and Scotland by automobile. Over this period he also worked as a reporter for the Manchester Daily Dispatch, the London Daily, Sketch, and the Evening Standard. After this they travelled through Italy and Greece and lived in Rome for a number of years.

Burnell passed away on 10th February 1958.

Sources

1. ↑ Victoria Birth Index #6925/1887

• Wikipedia profile: Frederick Spencer Burnell; accessed 28 Jul 2019.