Albert Facey

Albert Barnett Facey (31 August 1894 – February 1982) was an Australian writer, whose main work was his autobiography A Fortunate Life, now considered a classic in Australian literature.

He was born in Maidstone, Victoria, the son of Joseph Facey and Mary Ann (née Carr). His father died on the Goldfields of Western Australia in 1896 of typhoid fever and Albert's mother left her children to the care of their grandmother shortly afterwards. In 1899 he moved from Victoria to Western Australia with his grandmother and three of his six older siblings. His childhood in Western Australia was spent in Wickepin, Pingelly, and at Popanyinning,Cave Rock.

He started working on farms at the age of eight and had little education and therefore could not read or write. As a child he taught himself to read and write. By the age of 14 he was an experienced bushman, and at 18 a professional boxer.

He was badly injured at Gallipoli in August 1915 during the First World War, in which two of his brothers were killed. Australian National Archive records show he served at Gallipoli from 7 May 1915 to 19 August 1915, when he was admitted to hospital with "heart trouble" (discovered to be a ruptured spleen some forty years). He was subsequently evacuated to Alexandria and ultimately to Suez. He was then invalided to Australia on 31 October 1915. While recuperating he met his future wife Evelyn Mary Gibson and they were married in Bunbury in August 1916. The Faceys lived in East Perth before returning to Wickepin six years later with their children, where they lived until 1934. The couple had seven children - the eldest, (also Albert Barnett Facey) known as Barney, was killed in Malaya on 15 February 1942 during the Second World War - and twenty-eight grandchildren.

As he got older Facey began making notes on his life and, at the urging of his wife and children, eventually had the notes printed into a book. It was published just nine months before his death in February 1982.[1]

His home in Wickepin is a tourist attraction today, while a government building on Forrest Place in the state capital, Perth, is named in his honour and is home to Perth's main travel bureau and visitor centre. A public library in Mundaring, a street in Maidstone and a hotel in Narrogin also bear his name. The manuscripts of A Fortunate Life are housed in the Scholars' Centre in the University of Western Australia Library.

References

• Facey, A. B. (1988) A Fortunate Life. (illustrations by Robert Juniper). Ringwood, Victoria. Penguin. ISBN 0140108696. Previously published: (1981) Fremantle, W.A
• Fremantle Arts Centre Press.

Digger - Federation Index. Victoria 1889-1901

Further reading

• Findlay. Len "A Son's Fortunate life with no regrets" The West Australian 11 June 2007 p. 71 regarding death of Joseph Lindsay Facey - 5th of 7 children of Albert.