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- 1895-1921 (Creation)
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1 folder
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Name of creator
Biographical history
John Denis (Jack) Fryer was born on 11 September 1895 at Springsure, Queensland, son of Charles George Fryer and Rosina Fryer (née Richards). Charles and Rosina had seven children: Elizabeth Stuart (later Gilmour), William Thomas, Charles George, Henry Hardy, John Denis, Richard Alexander James and Walter Ponsonby. Jack won a scholarship to the University of Queensland and commenced study in 1915. By the end of first term, Jack decided to volunteer for military service in the first Australian Imperial Force. He was commissioned in 1916 and went to France. On 4 August 1918 the Fifty-First Battalion was in the line near Amiens when they were attacked; among the casualties was Lieutenant Fryer who had wounds to his arm, leg and thighs. After being hospitalised in Britain, Jack returned to Australian in July 1919. He re-enrolled at the University of Queensland for the first term of 1920 to complete his English honours examinations. While at University he was engaged in extra-curricular activities such as cricket, rugby, editing magazines including Galmahra with P. R. 'Inky' Stephensen, the Dramatic Society, contributed to the recently-founded St. John's College magazine Argo (using the pseudonym 'Chut'). In September 1922 he was hospitalised for tuberculosis. His mother travelled from Brisbane in December 1922 and took him home to Springsure in early January 1923. He died on 7 February 1923. In 1926, as a memorial to their former member and vice-president, members of the University of Queensland Dramatic Society donated £10 to establish a collection of works in Australian literature. The Fryer collection was maintained in the English Department until the 1950s when it became part of the University of Queensland Library.
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Documents relevant to John D Fryer
• Birth Certificate for John Dennis Fryer, Springsure, 11 Sep 1895, registered 9 Nov 1895
• Death Certificate for John Denis Fryer, Springsure, 7 Feb 1923
• Memo to Master John Dennis Fryer from Department of Public Instruction re candidate for State Scholarship, 15 Dec 1908
• Memorandum from the Queensland Department of Public Instruction to John D Fryer re examination results, 29 Jan 1909
• Rockhampton Boys’ Grammar School reports for John D Fryer, Easter 1909 to Jun 1913
• The University of Queensland Junior Public Examination results, JD Fryer, Dec 1911
• The University of Queensland Senior Public Examination results for John D Fryer, Nov 1913
• Rockhampton Boys’ Grammar School, 2nd Report for Session 1914 on JD Fryer
• The University of Queensland Senior Public Examination results, JD Fryer, Nov 1914
• Letter from CR Paterson, JD Fryer and AN Park to HA Kellow, Headmaster, Rockhampton Grammar School re increasing senior prefects’ privileges, [1914?]
• Letter from the Department of Public Instruction, Brisbane to John D Fryer re granting of a scholarship to the University of Queensland, 8 Jan 1915
• AIR: The Tarpaulin Jacket, “A” Company, 4th Battalion, New College, Oxford, 19 Jan 1917
• AIR: “The Tarpaulin Jacket”, typed copy of original publication
• Menu: 52nd Battalion AIF Officers’ Mess, Christmas Dinner 1917. Signed by John D Fryer on the front and other diners on rear
• Dedication (to the victorious “eight”). An ode to the victorious University of Queensland crew of eight. Note records ‘JD Fryer’s property’.
• ‘O Frailty-----.’ Ode by ‘Chut’, [John D Fryer], Galmahra, Oct 1921
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Note
Box 1 Folder 9
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Created, Linda Justo, 11-May-2023.