Thomas Bracken (c. December 1843 – 16 February 1898) was an Irish-born New Zealand poet, journalist and politician.
He wrote "God Defend New Zealand", one of the two national anthems of New Zealand, and was the first person to publish the phrase "God's Own Country" as applied to New Zealand.
He also won the Otago Caledonian Society's prize for poetry.
His mother Margaret died in 1846 and his father Thomas in 1852. He was sent to Australia at the age of 12 to join his uncle, John Kiernan, at Geelong, Victoria.
Bracken was apprenticed to a pharmacist in Bendigo,[2] later moved around to work on farms as a shearer and drover, and for a time was a gold fossicker and store keeper. At that time he began writing tales over the activities of the diggers involved in the goldrush, and about stock men and sheep men.
He also established Thomas Bracken and Co with Alexander Bathgate to buy and operate the Evening Herald until it was superseded in 1890 by the liberal Globe.
He wrote "God Defend New Zealand", one of the two national anthems of New Zealand, and was the first person to publish the phrase "God's Own Country" as applied to New Zealand.
He also won the Otago Caledonian Society's prize for poetry.
His mother Margaret died in 1846 and his father Thomas in 1852. He was sent to Australia at the age of 12 to join his uncle, John Kiernan, at Geelong, Victoria.
Bracken was apprenticed to a pharmacist in Bendigo,[2] later moved around to work on farms as a shearer and drover, and for a time was a gold fossicker and store keeper. At that time he began writing tales over the activities of the diggers involved in the goldrush, and about stock men and sheep men.
He also established Thomas Bracken and Co with Alexander Bathgate to buy and operate the Evening Herald until it was superseded in 1890 by the liberal Globe.
Thomas Bracken (c. December 1843 – 16 February 1898) was an Irish-born New Zealand poet, journalist and politician.
He wrote "God Defend New Zealand", one of the two national anthems of New Zealand, and was the first person to publish the phrase "God's Own Country" as applied to New Zealand.
He also won the Otago Caledonian Society's prize for poetry.
His mother Margaret died in 1846 and his father Thomas in 1852. He was sent to Australia at the age of 12 to join his uncle, John Kiernan, at Geelong, Victoria.
Bracken was apprenticed to a pharmacist in Bendigo,[2] later moved around to work on farms as a shearer and drover, and for a time was a gold fossicker and store keeper. At that time he began writing tales over the activities of the diggers involved in the goldrush, and about stock men and sheep men.
He also established Thomas Bracken and Co with Alexander Bathgate to buy and operate the Evening Herald until it was superseded in 1890 by the liberal Globe.
He wrote "God Defend New Zealand", one of the two national anthems of New Zealand, and was the first person to publish the phrase "God's Own Country" as applied to New Zealand.
He also won the Otago Caledonian Society's prize for poetry.
His mother Margaret died in 1846 and his father Thomas in 1852. He was sent to Australia at the age of 12 to join his uncle, John Kiernan, at Geelong, Victoria.
Bracken was apprenticed to a pharmacist in Bendigo,[2] later moved around to work on farms as a shearer and drover, and for a time was a gold fossicker and store keeper. At that time he began writing tales over the activities of the diggers involved in the goldrush, and about stock men and sheep men.
He also established Thomas Bracken and Co with Alexander Bathgate to buy and operate the Evening Herald until it was superseded in 1890 by the liberal Globe.
Inscription
Sacred To
The Memory of
THOMAS BRACKEN
Poet, Journalist, Legislator.
Born Ireland 1843.
Died at Dunedin 1898.
"Not Understood, how many breasts are aching
For lack of sympathy, ah! day by day
How many cheerless, lonely hearts are breaking
How many noble spirits pass away – Not Understood.
Oh God! That men would see a little clearer
Or judge less harshly where they cannot see
Oh God! That men would draw a little nearer
To one another, They'd be nearer Thee –
And Understood".
– Thomas Bracken
Gravesite Details
[Monument is a tall white concrete and marble pillar topped by a draped urn. The monument builder was Frapwell & Holgate and the architect J. A. Burnside.]
Family Members
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