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James Devaney

Australian writer (1890–1976)

Correspondence, annotated notebooks and portrait silhouettes prepared for research
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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionAug 23, 2026
Entity authorityQ6132577 ↗
Source-derived summary

James Martin Devaney (31 May 1890 – 14 August 1976) was an Australian poet, novelist, and journalist.

Biography

Born in Bendigo, Victoria in 1890, Devaney attended St. Joseph's College, Hunters Hill, entering the Marist Brothers juniorate in 1904. He took his vows in 1915. He moved to Queensland in 1921 after leaving the order due to contracting tuberculosis. He pursued writing and journalism. Under the pen-name 'Fabian', he contributed between 1924 and 1943 a nature column to the Brisbane Courier (renamed The Courier-Mail after 1933). He also wrote a regular literary column for the Catholic Leader.

Devaney was active in literary circles in the 1930s and 1940s. He was president of the Queensland Authors' and Artists' Association from 1944 to 1945 (later known as the Fellowship of Australian Writers or FAW).

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “James Devaney” as australian writer (1890–1976). This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around James, Devaney and Australian.

Editorial reviewA useful biographical orientation record, particularly for establishing names, roles and a first chronology. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1890, 1976, 1904, 1915—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1890-05-31. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with James, Devaney and Australian providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “James Devaney”, the useful work is to connect “australian writer (1890–1976)” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 23, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q6132577. VIAF identifies the subject as 42207383. The Library of Congress control number is no2021090674. 2 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1890, 1976, 1904 and 1915.

Critical limits

Public reputation and documentary evidence do not always develop together; absence from a summary is not evidence of historical absence. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.

Best used for
  • Establishing names and roles
  • Building a first chronology
  • Locating cited institutions
Verify next

Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “James Devaney”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow James Devaney primary sources, James Devaney archive and James research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “James Devaney”?
  2. How has the subject’s reputation changed across later accounts?
  3. Which claims depend on a single source or contested interpretation?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “James Devaney” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.