(b Holbrook, NSW, 17 Jan 1920). Australian folksong collector, folklorist and oral historian. In Sydney he came into contact with other enthusiasts for the collection and performance of Australian traditional bush songs and verse, and in 1954 he formed the original Bushwhackers band, in which he played the button accordion, as a means of ensuring performance of many of the songs and dance tunes he had collected. Also in 1954 he met Sally Sloane, with whom he established regular recording sessions; between 1954 and 1958 he recorded over 150 items from this one singer. From this period his collecting and recording activities became geographically wider in scope and more thorough. The culmination of this work was Folk Songs of Australia, i (1967), which remains significant for its wealth and variety of material, as well as for the information it offers on each song’s performers and social contexts. A heart attack in 1962 prevented his collecting in the field for 18 years, but during this period he continued to study and write on aspects of Australian folk music, folklore and social history. He returned to the field in 1980 and began work on collecting material for Folk Songs of Australia, ii (1987). Australia’s leading and most significant collector of traditional songs and dance tunes, Meredith’s interest in Australian folk music and folklore is also reflected in his compositions, which include two ballad operas (The Wild Colonial Boy and How Many Miles from Gundagai?), and documentary films he has made of performers of traditional Australian music.
The Wild Colonial Boy: the Life and Times of Jack Donahoe (Ascot Vale, 1960)
The Coo-Ee March (Dubbo, 1981, 2/1986)
The Donahoe Ballads (Ascot Vale, 1982)
Duke of the Outback: the Adventures of ‘a Shearer named Tritton’ (Ascot Vale, 1983)
King of the Dance Hall (Kenthurst, NSW, 1986)
Real Folk (Canberra, 1995)
with H. Anderson: Folk Songs of Australia, i (Sydney, 1967, 3/1985)
with R. Covell and P. Brown: Folk Songs of Australia, ii (Sydney, 1987)
PATRICIA BROWN