Jefferis, Barbara (1917–2004)
Jefferis, Barbara (1917–2004)
Australian writer. Name variations: Barbara Hinde; (pseudonym) Margaret Sydney. Born Barbara Tarlton Jefferis, Mar 25, 1917, in Adelaide, NSW, Australia; died Jan 3, 2004, in Sydney; dau. of Tarlton Jefferis (analytical chemist) and Lucy Ingoldsby (Smythe) Jefferis (died 1917); granddau. of James Jefferis (minister and philosopher); Adelaide University, BA; m. John Hinde (film critic), 1939; children: Rosalind (b. 1944).
Began career as a journalist for The Daily News (1939), then the Telegraph, Women's Weekly and Pix; wrote radio plays; wrote 1st novel, Contango Day (1953); other works include Half-Angel (1959), One Black Summer (1967), Time of the Unicorn (1974), The Tall One (1977), Three of a Kind (1982); was 1st woman president of Australian Society of Authors (1973–75). Made a member of Order of Australia (1986); received Emeritus Award of Australia Council (1995).