Jeremiah Stable

Jeremiah Stable (1883-1953)

Jeremiah Joseph Stable (14 May 1883—24 December 1953) (also referred to as J. J. Stable in some sources) was an Australian professor, literary critic, and government censor. Born in Gawler, South Australia and the son of a seaman, he was taken to live in Switzerland at age four, receiving his secondary education at the Collège de Genève. He then moved onto the University of Cambridge, specialising in English literature, receiving his M. A. degree in 1909. He tutored and studied at universities in Germany, before returning to Australia in 1912 to take up a position at the University of Queensland.[1]

By 1916, with World War I raging in Europe, Stable was appointed as a lieutenant in the Australian Field Artillery, and assigned to work with the district censor.[1] Stable censored a number of anti-conscription publications on the grounds that they would promote civil disorder.[2] These actions were considered provocative by some, including Queensland Premier T. J. Ryan, who read out material that had been censored by Stable on the floor of Parliament. Prime Minister Billy Hughes ordered to destroy all printed copies of the speeches; Stable responded by leading a military raid on the Government Printing Office to seize copies of Hansard containing the banned material, leading to a tense situation that was only resolved when one of Stable's staff was able to enter the building undetected in order to confirm that no more copies of the offending document had been printed.[3]

This incident did not adversely affect Stable's career, and after the war he was able to resume his duties at the university full-time. He was appointed to the McCaughey chair (later the Darnell chair) of English language and literature, and served as President of the Queensland Authors' and Artists' Association, the English and Modern Languages Association of Queensland, and was chairman of trustees for the Queensland National Art Gallery. During World War II he served again as a government censor. He died at his home in Brisbane in 1953.[1]

External links

References

  1. 1 2 3 Mahoney, J. C. "Stable, Jeremiah Joseph (1883–1953)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Australian National University. Retrieved 26 October 2016.
  2. ↑ Buckridge, Patrick (2012). Kirkpatrick, Peter John; Dixon, Robert, eds. Republics of Letters: Literary Communities in Australia. Sydney University Press. p. 41. ISBN 9781920899783.
  3. ↑ McKay, Judith (2014). "'No place for rail sitters': the conscription debate in Queensland during the First World War". Queensland State Archive. Retrieved 26 October 2016.
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