Frank Atha Westbury

His two major works were: The Shadow of Hilton Fernbrook, A Romance of Maoriland (1896) and Australian Fairy Tales (1897), which won him a place as one of the better-known writers for children in Victorian-era Australia.

He was 63.1 Westbury's poetry was Romantic in style while his fiction writing appears to have drawn inspiration from popular 19th-century romances as well as mystery adventure novels, particularly those of Alexandre Dumas.

Set in New Zealand, Venice and London, it has much intrigue and double dealing and features a sinister French "mesmerist" (hypnotist) named Gaston de Roal.2 The novel was well received at its time of publication.

Perhaps their small Highnesses, whose age is under double figures, may approve".5 Most of his fairy tales were about young men who started out in poverty but found riches through the intervention of a princess or magical being.

In the 1890s, novels, short stories and poems by Atha Westbury were to be found serialised in city and regional newspapers as well as literary journals across Australia and New Zealand and as far away as England.

A large number of these works were set in New Zealand and featured themes of mystery, adventure, war, crime and justice, the occult, mesmerism and romance.