The first verses actually written and published in Australia seem to have been
the Royal Birthday Odes of Michael Robinson, which were printed as broadsides
from 1810 to 1821. Their publication in book form was announced
in `The Hobart Town Gazette' of 23rd March, 1822, but no copy of such a volume
is at present known to exist. The famous "Prologue", said to have been
recited at the first dramatic performance in Australia, on January 16th, 1796
(when Dr. Young's tragedy "The Revenge" and "The Hotel" were played
in a temporary theatre at Sydney), was for a long time attributed
to the notorious George Barrington, and ranked as the first verse
produced in Australia. There is, however, no evidence to support this claim.
The lines first appeared in a volume called "Original Poems and Translations"
chiefly by Susannah Watts, published in London in 1802,
a few months before the appearance of the "History of New South Wales" (1803)
-- known as George Barrington's -- which also, in all probability,
was not written by Barrington.
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