1. Teaching Notes The Life of Andrew Barton Paterson had an huge impact on the poetry he wrote. Work through his life story with students to get a feeling for his experience. After each slide ask students to write down 5 key words that are important. Briefly ask for suggestions from the class and have them explain why. This deepens their understanding. There are two you tube videos in the PowerPoint. Because of copyright restrictions I am unable to offer you the videos but click the names for the You Tube address. The videos are used to demonstrate features of the poem, The Geebung Polo Club. Cobb & Co stagecoach ride Polo Match If you wish to download You Tube videos, I suggest Keep Vid

2. Andrew Barton “ Banjo” Paterson

3. Andrew Barton "Banjo" Paterson, OBE (17 February 1864 – 5 February 1941) was an Australian bush poet, journalist and author. He wrote many ballads and poems about Australian life, focusing particularly on the rural and outback areas, including the district around Binalong, New South Wales where he spent much of his childhood.

4. Banjo Paterson was born at the property "Narrambla", near Orange, New South Wales. His father was a Scottish immigrant and his mother was an Australian. Paterson's family lived on the isolated Buckinbah Station in the Monaro until he was five when his father lost his wool clip in a flood and was forced to sell up.

5. When Paterson's uncle died, his family took over the uncle's farm in Illalong, near Yass, close to the main route between Melbourne and Sydney. Bullock teams, Cobb and Co coaches and drovers were familiar sights to him.

6. He also saw horsemen from the Murrumbidgee River area and Snowy Mountains country take part in picnic races and polo matches, which led to his fondness of horses and inspired his writings.

7. Paterson's early education came from a governess, but when he was able to ride a pony, he was taught at the bush school at Binalong.
In 1874 Paterson was sent to Sydney Grammar School, performing well both as a student and a sportsman.
Matriculating at 16, he took up the role of an articled clerk in a law firm and on 28 August 1886 Paterson was admitted as a qualified solicitor.

8. In 1885, Paterson began submitting and having his poetry published in the Sydney edition of The Bulletin under the pseudonym of "The Banjo", the name of a favourite horse.

9. In 1890, The Banjo wrote "The Man from Snowy River” , a poem which caught the heart of the nation, and in 1895 had a collection of his works published under that name. This book is the most sold collection of Australian Bush poetry and is still being reprinted today. Paterson also became a journalist, lawyer, jockey, soldier and a farmer.

10. Paterson became a war correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age during the Second Boer War, sailing for South Africa in October His graphic accounts of the war attracted the attention of the press in Britain.

11. He was editor of the Sydney Evening News ( ) and of the Town and Country Journal ( ). In 1908 after a trip to the United Kingdom Paterson decided to abandon journalism and writing and moved with his family to a 200 km2 property near Yass.

12. In World War I, Paterson failed to become a correspondent covering the fighting in Flanders, but did become an ambulance driver with the Australian Voluntary Hospital, Wimereux, France.
His wife had joined the Red Cross and worked in an ambulance unit near her husband.

13. He returned to Australia early in 1915 and, as an honorary vet, travelled on three voyages with horses to Africa, China and Egypt.

14. Just as he returned to Australia, the third collection of his poetry, Saltbush Bill JP, was published and he continued to publish verse, short stories and essays while continuing to write for the weekly Truth. Paterson also wrote on rugby league football in the 1920s for the Sydney Sportsman.

15. Paterson died of a heart attack in Sydney on 5 February 1941 aged 76
Paterson died of a heart attack in Sydney on 5 February 1941 aged 76. Paterson's grave, along with that of his wife, is in the Northern Suburbs Memorial Gardens and Crematorium, Sydney.

16. Check out the $10 note