Henry Kendall is remembered by many place names: the small village of Kendall on the NSW Mid North Coast is named after him, as is a street and a park in Tarrawanna near Wollongong and streets in West Gosford, Campbelltown, Padstow Heights, and Heathcote in NSW, and Elwood, Victoria. On the NSW Central Coast, there is a retirement village, a High School and Gardens and a biennial Poetry Award all named for him. [1]
Australian writer Henry Kendall’s final days were spent at Surry Hills, NSW, where he died on 1 August 1882 at the age of just 43—his final years had been a poignant blend of poetic triumph and personal hardship. Though once battered by misfortune, he had found stability in his last decade, a time of literary recognition and family solace.
After years of struggling to earn a living through journalism and poetry, Kendall’s health and fortunes collapsed. In 1873, he was admitted to a mental hospital before finding refuge with the Fagan brothers near Gosford. There, he regained his strength and, in 1876, moved to Camden Haven—later renamed Kendall in his honour—where his wife Charlotte rejoined him with their children. This period restored his self-respect, and by the late 1870s, he re-established himself as a leading voice in Australian poetry.
Encouraged by friends, Kendall published Songs from the Mountains (1880), a collection that confirmed his poetic mastery. It revealed a newfound confidence, celebrating Australia’s natural beauty with lyrical reverence. In 1881, at Sir Henry Parkes’s behest, he was appointed inspector of State Forests on a salary of £500 a year. However, long rides in harsh conditions weakened him, and his health—already fragile from years of hardship—deteriorated. He succumbed to pulmonary tuberculosis and was survived by his wife, Charlotte, three sons and two daughters.
Kendall was buried in Waverley Cemetery, where a monument was later erected in his honour. His widow Charlotte survived him by more than 40 years, supported in later life by a Commonwealth Literary Fund pension. He endures as one of Australia’s first great poets, and his verse—steeped in the grandeur of the bush and the sorrow of exile—continues to resonate today.