Patricia Jean Adam-Smith, (31 May 1924 – 20 September 2001) was an Australian author, historian and servicewoman. She was a prolific writer on a range of subjects covering history, folklore and the preservation of national traditions,Adelaide (1986) p. 2 and wrote a two-part autobiography. Her other notable works include The Anzacs (1978), Australian Women at War (1984) and Prisoners of War (1992).

Life Born out of wedlock, Patricia Jean Smith was adopted by railway workers, her mother a caretaker and her father a ganger.Price (1994) p. C2 She lived in a number of small Victorian country towns and was educated at small country schools. She enlisted as a nursing Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD) during the Second World War, serving from 17 March 1943 to 14 July 1944. Later, she was the first female Australian articled seaman when she worked on an Australian merchant ship from 1954 to 1960 and trained as a radio operator. She then lived in Hobart, Tasmania, from 1960 to 1967, where she worked as an Adult Education Officer. In 1970, she took the position of Manuscripts Field Officer for the State Library of Victoria, a job she held until 1982.

From 1976 to 2001, Adam-Smith was a member of the Board of Directors for the Royal Humane Society Australasia, and from 1983 to 2001 she was a Committee Member of the Museum of Victoria. Her appointment as an Officer of the Order of Australia in 1994 was made in recognition of her service to community history, particularly through the preservation of national traditions and folklore and the recording of oral histories.

While her main study of and work in oral history was carried out in Australia, Ireland, England and the United States, Adam-Smith's research took her to over 60 countries.

Literary career Adam-Smith wrote on a wide range of subjects, but her deepest interest was Australian railways. She contributed actively to Australia's literary community, and in 1973 she was State President of Australian Writers in Victoria and the Federal President of the Fellowship of Australian Writers.

In 1978 her book The Anzacs shared The Age Book of the Year Award and was made into a 13-part TV series.

Her autobiography was published in three parts: Hear The Train Blow, the award-winning Good-bye Girlie, and There was a Ship.

Awards 1978: The Age Book of the Year Award for The Anzacs 1980: Appointed Officer of the Order of the British EmpireIt's an Honour – Officer of the Order of the British Empire 1993: Order of Australian Association Book Prize for Prisoners of War 1994: Awarded an Officer of the Order of AustraliaIt's an Honour – Officer of the Order of Australia 1995: Audiobook of the Year, Benalla Award, for Good-bye Girlie 1995: TDK Australian Audio Book Awards, Unabridged Non-Fiction Category, for Good-bye Girlie

Bibliography Hear the Train Blow: An Australian Childhood, Ure Smith, 1964 Moonbird People, Rigby, 1965 There was a Ship, Rigby, 1967 Hobart Sketchbook (with drawing by Max Angus), Rigby, 1968 Tiger Country, Rigby, 1968 The Rails Go Westward, Macmillan of Australia, 1969 Folklore of the Australian Railwaymen (collected and edited), Macmillan of Australia, 1969 No Tribesman, Rigby, 1971 Across Australia by Indian-Pacific, Thomas Nelson, c1971 The Barcoo Salute, Rigby, 1973 Launceston Sketchbook (with drawing by Arthur Phillips), Rigby, 1973 Romance of Australian Railways, Rigby, 1973 The Desert Railway, Rigby, 1974 Neon Signs to the Mutes: Poetry by Young Australians (ed. with Michael Dugan and J.S. Hamilton), Fellowship of Australian Writers and BHP,1976 Footloose in Australia, Rigby, 1977 Historic Tasmania Sketchbook (with text by Joan Woodberry, and drawings by Max Angus, Frank Mather and Arthur Phillips), Rigby, 1977 Port Arthur Sketchbook (with drawings by Arthur Phillips), Rigby, 1977 Tasmania Sketchbook (with drawing by Max Angus), Rigby, Adelaide, 1977 Trader to the Islanders (originally published as There was a Ship), Rigby, 1977 The ANZACS, Thomas Nelson (Australia), 1978 Islands of Bass Strait (with photographs by John Powell), Rigby, 1978 Victorian and Edwardian Melbourne from Old Photographs, John Ferguson, 1979 Romance of Victorian railways, Rigby, 1980 Hear the Train Blow: Patsy Adam-Smith's Classic Autobiography of Growing Up in the Bush, Nelson, 1981 Outback Heroes, Lansdowne Press, 1981 The Shearers, Nelson, 1982 When We Rode the Rails, Lansdowne, 1983 Australian Women at War, Nelson, 1984 Heart of Exile: Ireland, 1848, and the Seven Patriots Banished..., Nelson, 1986 Australia: Beyond the Dream-time, William Heinemann Australia, 1987 Prisoners of War, Viking,1992 Trains of Australia: All Aboard, Australia Post, c1993, Goodbye Girlie, Viking, 1994

See also Australian outback literature of the 20th century

Notes

References Adelaide, Debra (1986) Australian Women Writers: A Bibliographic Guide, London, Pandora

Price, Jenna (1994) "When the spirit is willing, write about it", The Canberra Times, 12 November 1994

External links Patsy Adam-Smith interviewed by Hazel de Berg in the Hazel de Berg collection – audio recording