One of Australia's most significant (and successful) early nature writers was Edmund James Banfield (1852-1923). Born in England, Banfield followed in his father's footsteps and became a journalist, initially in Melbourne and Sydney but then in Townsville, where he became sub-editor of the Townsville Daily Bulletin. Banfield's nature writing is based on real lived-in experience of place. As well as Thoreau, critics have compared Banfiedl to John Burroughs and William Henry Hudson, partly for his capacity for close observation and description.