Frank Clune

{{Short description|Australian historian and writer}} {{Use Australian English|date=October 2016}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2026}} {{Infobox person | name = Francis Patrick Clune | honorific_suffix = OBE | image = Frank Clune.jpg | birth_name = Francis Patrick Clune | birth_date = {{birth date|1893|11|27|df=yes}} | birth_place = Darlinghurst, New South Wales, Australia | death_date = {{Death date and age|1971|03|11|1893|11|27|df=yes}} | death_place = Sydney, New South Wales, Australia | occupation = Author, travel writer and popular historian }}

'''Francis Patrick Clune''', OBE, (27 November 1893{{spaced ndash}}11 March 1971) was a best-selling Australian writer, travel writer and popular historian.

==Early life and career== Clune was born in Liverpool Street, Darlinghurst, Sydney in 1893, and grew up in Redfern. He left home at 15 and for five years lived the life of an adventurer, claiming to have had twenty-five different jobs by the age of 17, and enlisting with the US Army in Kansas 26 October 1911, deserting and going to sea.<ref name="adb">{{Australian Dictionary of Biography |last= Croft |first= Julian |authorlink= Julian Croft |year= 1993 |id= A130493b |title= Clune, Francis Patrick (Frank) (1893–1971) |accessdate= 11 March 2010 }}</ref>

Clune joined the AIF in 1915 during World War I and was soon with the 16th Battalion at Gallipoli. He was wounded in action and repatriated a year after being wounded in both legs.

He married Maud Roy in 1916; they divorced in 1920. He married again in 1923 to artist and sculptor Thelma Cecily Smith (1900–1992), established himself as a tax consultant and by 1930 had settled in Vaucluse.<ref name="adb"/> His first book was published in 1933, ''Try Anything Once'', an account of his adventures. Some of his subsequent books were written in collaboration with P. R. 'Inky' Stephensen, notably ''The Viking of Van Diemen's Land'' and ''The Pirates of the Brig 'Cyprus'''.

He was fascinated by the 'outsiders' of Australian history such as Captain Melville, Captain Starlight, Martin Cash, Edward Hargraves, Bully Hayes, Jørgen Jørgensen, "Chinese" Morrison, Ben Hall, Ned Kelly, Frederick Bailey Deeming and Louis de Rougemont.

Clune also wrote for many magazines including ''Walkabout'', ''The Bulletin'', ''Pacific Islands Monthly'', ''Smith's Weekly'' and ''ABC Weekly'' as well as his own ''Frank Clune’s Adventure Magazine,'' illustrated by Allan Jordan and published over 8 issues in 1948''.'' He broadcast "Roaming Round Australia" regularly on The ABC from 1945 to 1957.<ref name="adb"/>

He was an effective promoter of Albert Namatjira and Australian Aborigines generally.

Clune had his detractors in the literary world. He was criticised for embellishing the facts in the interests of the narrative, and was met with hostility by General Sir Thomas Blamey for his "irregular methods and indiscreet utterances" during WWII.<ref name="adb"/> Regardless of criticism, by the early 1950s, his books had sold in excess of 500,000 copies, much to the delight of his publisher Angus & Robertson.

==Association with the art world== In the 1940s, Frank and Thelma Clune opened an art gallery in Kings Cross which was subsequently to house works by many of Australia's best known painters, including Sir Russell Drysdale, John Passmore and John Olsen.<ref name=kingsX>Elizabeth Butel & Tom Thompson. ''Kings Cross Album''. Published by Atrand. Australia, 1984. ({{ISBN|978-0-908272-02-0}}).</ref>

In the 1950s and 1960s, together with his wife Thelma and youngest son Terry, he opened the Terry Clune Art Galleries on the corner of Challis Avenue and Macleay Street, and at 59 Macleay Street in Kings Cross. The gallery became the home for Sydney's young expressionists, such as John Olsen, Stan Rapotec, Robert Klippel and Robert Hughes. The gallery later became the home of the noted artist Martin Sharp and was then known as ''Yellow House''. Frank and Thelma Clune were great friends and supporters of artist William Dobell for many years.<ref name=kingsX/>

==Death== Clune died on 11 March 1971 at St Vincent's Hospital, Sydney at Darlinghurst, age 77.<ref>Sydney Morning Herald: 13 March 1971 – ''Frank Clune'' . Death Notice</ref> He was buried at South Head Cemetery. He was survived by his wife Thelma and his two sons: Anthony Patrick (1930–2002) and Terry Michael (1932-2025).

==Recognition and awards==

Clune's portrait was painted by Sir William Dargie and by Sir William Dobell for the 1950 Archibald Prize.

He was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1967 for services to Australian literature.<ref>[https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/1107819 It's an Honour]</ref>

==Influence== Clune's 1959 book ''Jimmy Governor - the true story'' was the inspiration for Thomas Keneally's 1972 novel ''The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith''.<ref>{{Cite web|last=|title=Jimmy Governor : The True Story|url=https://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/7133992|access-date=2021-05-25|website=AustLit: Discover Australian Stories|language=en}}</ref>

== Selected publications == His published books include: *''Try Anything Once'' 1933 (Autobiography) *''Rolling Down the Lachlan'' 1935 *''Roaming Round the Darling'' 1936 *''Dig'' (about Burke and Wills) 1937 *''Free and Easy Land'' 1938 *''Sky High to Shanghai'' 1939 *''To the Isles of Spice'' 1940 *''Chinese Morrison'' 1940 (about George Ernest Morrison) *''All Aboard for Singapore'' 1941 *''D'Air Devil'' 1941 *''Last of the Australian Explorers: the story of Donald Mackay'' 1942 (about Donald George Mackay) *''Prowling through Papua'' 1942 *''Tobruk to Turkey'' 1943 *''The Red Heart'' 1944 *''Captain Starlight'' 1945 (about the inspirations for Captain Starlight in ''Robbery Under Arms'') *''Pacific Parade'' 1945 *''The Forlorn Hope'' 1945 (about voyage of boat ''Forlorn Hope'' from NT to WA in 1865) *''The Greatest Liar on Earth'' 1945 (about De Rougemont) *''Pacific Parade'' 1945 *''Dark Outlaw'' (about Frank Gardiner) 1945 *''Try Nothing Twice'' 1946 (second Autobiography) *''Golden Goliath'' 1946 - about the discovery of gold in Australia *''Song of India'' 1946 *''Roaming around Australia'' 1947 *''Ben Hall the Bushranger'' 1947 (about Ben Hall) *''A Noose for Ned'' 1948 *''High Ho to London'' 1948 *''Wild Colonial Boys'' 1948 *''The Demon Killer'' 1948 - about Frederick Bailey Deeming *''Sky High to Shanghai'' 1948 *''Land of My Birth'' (short stories) 1949 *''Land of Hope and Glory'' 1949 *''Ashes of Hiroshima'' 1950 *''All Roads Lead to Rome'' 1950 *''Hands across the Pacific'' 1951 *''Somewhere in New Guinea'' 1951 *''Gunman Gardiner'' 1951 (new edition of ''Dark Outlaw'') *''Castles in Spain'' 1952 *''Flying Dutchmen'' 1953 *''Land of Australia'' 1953 *''Roaming round Europe'' 1954 *''The Viking of Van Diemen's Land'' (about Jørgen Jørgensen) 1954 *''Roaming round Europe'' 1954 *''The Kelly Hunters'' 1954 *''Bound for Botany Bay'' 1954 - about the journey of the Hillsborough<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article131762216 |title=Not the best of Clune |newspaper=The Canberra Times |volume=39 |issue=11,109 |location=Australian Capital Territory, Australia |date=20 March 1965 |accessdate=2 April 2024 |page=13 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> *''Korean Diary'' 1955 *''Martin Cash'' 1955 (about Martin Cash) *''Overland Telegraph'' 1955<ref name="dad">{{cite magazine|first=Stephen|last=Vagg|magazine=Filmink|url=https://www.filmink.com.au/forgotten-australian-films-dad-rudd-mp/|title=Forgotten Australian Films: Dad Rudd MP|date=25 August 2025|access-date=25 August 2025}}</ref> *''Roaming round New Zealand'' 1956 *''Captain Melville'' 1956 - about bushranger Captain Melville *''Scandals of Sydney Town'' 1957 *''The Fortune Hunters'' 1957 *''Flight to Formosa'' 1958 *''A Tale of Tahiti'' 1958 *''Murders on Maunga-tapu'' 1959 *''The Blue Mountains Murderer'' 1959 *''Jimmy Governor'' 1959 (about Jimmy Governor) *''Journey to Canberra'' 1960 *''Saga of Sydney'' . Halstead Press, 1961 *''Across the Snowy Mountains'' 1962 *''The Pirates of the Brig 'Cyprus''' 1962 (about Cyprus Mutiny) *''Bound for Botany Bay'' 1964 *''Journey to Kosciusko'' 1964 *''Search for the Golden Fleece'' 1965 *''Journey to Pitcairn'' 1966 *''The Norfolk Island Story'' 1967. Angus & Robertson Books. ({{ISBN|0 207 14537 7}}). *''King of the Road'' 1967 - about Frank Gardiner *''Serenade to Sydney'' 1967 *''Scallywags of Sydney Cove'' 1968 *''The Scottish Martyrs'' 1969 *''Captain Bully Hayes'' 1970 (about Bully Hayes) *''Rascals, Ruffians and Rebels of Early Australia'' (collection) 1987

==Sources== *''The Oxford Companion to Australian Literature'' W H Wilde (2nd edition 1994) {{ISBN|0-19-553381-X}}

==References== {{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clune, Frank}} Category:1893 births Category:1971 deaths Category:Australian travel writers Category:Australian Officers of the Order of the British Empire Category:20th-century Australian historians Category:20th-century Australian journalists Category:20th-century Australian male journalists