Henry Lawson was born on the New South Wales goldfields in 1867 and was a prolific writer of verse. He was primarily a writer and was known to suffer from alcoholism and mental illness, being treated in mental hospitals several times. He also suffered several periods of imprisonment, no doubt the result of his alcoholic indulgence and mental problems.
Such behaviour is today a little more recognised for what it is and many of the great poets suffered similar problems. Among them was Adam Lindsay Gordon to name just one of the Australians.
Grenfell NSW has a great amount of statues and information about Henry Lawson and is well worth a visit.