[We asked one of our foundation members, Bronwen Hickman to tell us something of the work she has been doing on a biography of a remarkable Australian writer. Here, she gives us a glimpse of a literary and historical treasure hunt.]

In the spirit of Johnson's essay I left Australia in October last year determined to find material for a biography of Mary Gaunt.

Mary Gaunt was an Australian author, born on the Victorian goldfields in 1861. In 1901 she went in search of literary fame to London. Her early years there were rather like Johnson's -- dreary quarters, little success, not much money. But she persisted. She travelled in Africa and China, writing travel books and novels as she went.

In 1921 she settled in a veritable English colony in the little town of Bordighera on the Mediterranian coast and went on with her writing. War forced her to leave in 1940, and she hid for a year in the mountains in occupied France, and spent her last months in the little British hospoital in Cannes.

I found a leter from Italy, written ten years ago, whuch led me to the hospital in Cannes, and ultimately to the retired English matron who, as a 21 year-old, had nursed Mary Gaunt just before her death. A dignified old Italian lawyer told me about playing tennis at the English tennis club in Bordighera just before being called up to fight - against the English! In the depths of the British Library I found part of Mary's autobiography which had long been thought to have disappeared.

So, laden with papers, notes and photographs, considering "nothing too little for my regard", I headed back home, escaping the English cold (the Thames froze!) to face the hottest February Melbourne has had. No visit to Lichfield; not even a bite to eat the The Cheshire Cheese (I tried, but it was closed!) but I somehow think Johnson would have approved of my expedition. I like to think so!