Outback Penguin

Richard Lane's Barwell Diaries

Richard Lane was one of three brothers who founded Penguin Books in 1935.

But like all great stories, his life didn’t start there.

After sailing to Adelaide in 1922, Richard began work as a boy migrant – a farm apprentice living in rural South Australia as part of the ‘Barwell Boys’ scheme.

In Australia, he deepened his appreciation for literature, and understood how important it was to make good writing widely accessible.

Richard’s diaries – the honest and moving words of a teenager, so very far away from home – capture vividly his life and loves; the characters he met; the land he worked; the families he depended on; and his coming of age in a new land.

A remarkable social record and one of the best first-hand accounts of the child migrant experience, the diaries also capture the ideas and the entrepreneurship that led to the founding of the twentieth century’s most famous publishing house.

With a foreword by eminent Australian historian Geoffrey Blainey, Richard Lane’s diaries are an important document for the history of rural Australia and global publishing.

‘One of the most revealing stories yet written about rural life in Australia.’ —Geoffrey Blainey

Fiona Kells studied art history at the University of Melbourne. She is a member of the Australian and New Zealand Association of Antiquarian Booksellers and edits the association’s journal, Bookfare. She lives in Melbourne with her husband, Stuart, and their daughter, Thea.

Stuart Kells is an author and antiquarian books authority. His previous book, the critically acclaimed biography of Kay Craddock, Rare, was published in 2011. He has a PhD from Monash University, and lives in Melbourne with his wife, Fiona, and daughter, Thea.

Elizabeth Lane, the daughter of Richard Lane, was born in England into a family of book lovers. She now lives in Melbourne, where she manages The Lane Press and assists with the Scotch College archives. She was recently involved in the planning and researching of Penguin and the Lane Brothers.

Louise Paton is the grand-daughter of Richard Lane, a founder of Penguin Books, and has worked in digital advertising and strategy. In 2015 she started The Lane Press with her mother, Elizabeth Lane.