L. C. Rodd

L. C. (Lewis Charles) "Roddy" Rodd (1905–1979) was a schoolteacher, writer, activist, and the husband of novelist Kylie Tennant.

Early life and teaching career

Rodd was born on 12 March 1905 in Sydney and gained a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Sydney in 1931.[1] Rodd was a practicing Anglican, and had considered entering the priesthood rather than pursuing education.[2]

In 1931, he was a founder of the Educational Workers' League, and an activist in the New South Wales Teachers' Federation.[1][3] Rodd contributed regularly to the League's journal, the Education Worker from 1932 to 1936, arguing for changes to the curriculum.[2] Around 1937, he published a pamphlet as part of a "Survey of Australia" series titled Australian Imperialism.[4] He registered as a conscientious objector during World War II.[1]

He met novelist Kylie Tennant at the University of Sydney and they married in 1932.[5] During the 1930s and 1940s, Rodd worked at public schools in Coonabarabran, Canowindra, Dulwich Hill and Mullswellbrook as a teacher,[1] and as headmaster in Laurieton 1941–52[6] and Hunters Hill Primary School in 1953[7] and 1954.[8]

After the World War II, Rodd, Tennant and Tennant's father, formed a publishing company, Sirius Books, to re-publish Tennant's novels.[2] It also published "cheap" Australian editions of other novels.[1]

Retirement and later years

Rodd retired from teaching in November 1960, and experiencing depression, attempted suicide shortly after.[1] He collaborated with Donald McLean co-editing a collection of Australian essays Venturing the Unknown Ways (1965) and with Tennant on the collection The Australian Essay (1968).[9][10] In 1972 he wrote a biography of Father John Hope, long-serving rector of Christ Church St Laurence in George Street, Sydney.[11] He also co-wrote a book about the Church and its location, published the same year.[12]

From 1965 to 1966, Rudd published a series of children's books based on the lives of prominent individuals, almost all authors: Henry Lawson, Louisa M. Alcott, Rudyard Kipling, Mark Twain, Robert Louis Stevenson, R. M. Ballantyne and Henry Parkes.[13] He published an illustrated autobiography A Gentle Shipwreck in 1975.[14]

Rodd died from cancer on 29 July 1979 in the Blue Mountains, aged 74.[2][1] He was survived by Tennant, and their daughter Benison Rodd, a painter and artist.[15] Their son, John Rodd, died in 1978.[1]

Rodd's papers are held by the National Library of Australia.[16]

Selected works

  • John Hope of Christ Church: a Sydney Church era (biography) ISBN 0-85553-072-3
  • A Gentle Shipwreck (autobiography) (Sydney, Thomas Nelson, 1975) (illustrated by Cedric Emanuel) ISBN 0-17-005040-8

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Farrell, Frank, "Lewis Charles (Roddy) Rodd (1905–1979)", Australian Dictionary of Biography, Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, retrieved 26 March 2025
  2. 1 2 3 4 Cahill, Rowan. "More than a Footnote: A Biographical Portrait of L.C. Rodd". Australian Society for the Study of Labour History. Retrieved 26 March 2025.
  3. ↑ "Curator's notes Kylie Tennant (1986)". ASO - Australia's audio and visual heritage online. National Film and Sound Archive of Australia. Retrieved 26 March 2025.
  4. ↑ "PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED "Australian Imperialism"". The Workers' Weekly. 13 July 1937. Retrieved 26 March 2025 – via Trove.
  5. ↑ Elley, Samantha (14 February 2022). "On the road and in gaol to write her books". Tales from the Grave. Retrieved 26 March 2025.
  6. ↑ "Laurieton". The Northern Champion. Vol. 39, no. 7. New South Wales, Australia. 23 January 1953. p. 4. Retrieved 7 July 2026 – via National Library of Australia.
  7. ↑ "Authoress directs own school play". The Sun. No. 13678. New South Wales, Australia. 11 December 1953. p. 26. Retrieved 7 July 2026 – via National Library of Australia.
  8. ↑ "Measles, Mumps, Colds Are Sweeping Sydney". The Sydney Morning Herald. No. 36, 381. New South Wales, Australia. 29 July 1954. p. 1. Retrieved 7 July 2026 – via National Library of Australia.
  9. ↑ "Venturing the unknown ways / compiled by Donald McLean & L.C. Rodd ; forward and introductory notes by... - Catalogue". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 26 March 2025.
  10. ↑ "The Australian essay, compiled by L. C. Rodd. Introductory passages by Kylie Tennant - Catalogue". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 26 March 2025.
  11. ↑ "Details". State Library of New South Wales catalogue. Retrieved 26 March 2025.
  12. ↑ "Christ Church St Laurence : Railway Square, Sydney, N.S.W. : yesterday, today, tomorrow / by L.C. Rodd... - Catalogue". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 26 March 2025.
  13. ↑ "Author: "Rodd, L. C. (Lewis Charles), 1906-1979" - Catalogue". National Library of Australia Search Results. Retrieved 26 March 2025.
  14. ↑ "A gentle shipwreck / L. C. Rodd; with drawings by Cedric Emanuel - Catalogue". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 26 March 2025.
  15. ↑ "Rodd, Benison". AWR. Retrieved 26 March 2025.
  16. ↑ "Papers of Lewis Charles Rodd, 1963-1980 [manuscript] - Catalogue". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 26 March 2025.
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