Newtown, New South Wales by the crime writer Peter Corris. One of the first pieces of fiction to be published in colonial Sydney was "The Legend of Newtown" by future member of parliament D.H. Deneihy, published in the Sydney "Sentinel" on 5 November 1845 when the author was 17. It described Newtown as "a favourite place ... to snatch a mouthful of fresh air, a view of the ruralities of the place". The famous Newtown recluse and eccentric Eliza Emily Donnithorne (1826-1886) is said by some sources to have inspired the character of Miss Havisham in Charles Dickens' novel "Great Expectations". Donnithorne lived in
Elizabeth Dickens (ornithologist) Clement, in a 1959 "Yankee Magazine" article about Elizabeth Dickens, coined the title “Bird Lady of Block Island” for Miss Dickens. Her biography was written by Herbert S. Whitman. Elizabeth Dickens (ornithologist) Elizabeth Dickens, known as the "Bird Lady of Block Island", (born 2 Dec 1877, died 17 Jun 1963) was an American ornithologist. Dickens was born and lived her entire life on Block Island, Rhode Island. She was an eighth generation descendant of Nathaniel Dickens (1614-1692), an early settler of Block Island who arrived from the mainland in 1679. She was the last member of that family line to