Editing P. L. Travers (section)

== Early life ==
Helen Lyndon Goff, also known as Lyndon, was born on 9 August 1899 in [[Maryborough, Queensland|Maryborough]], Queensland, Australia, at her family's home,{{Sfn|Lawson|2006|p=23}} which was the upstairs manager's residence at a bank in the city's "Central Business District (CBD)".<ref name="auto">{{cite news |last1=Marsellos |first1=Brad |title=Bank invests in stories to celebrate Mary Poppins author in regional Queensland |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-07-07/bank-invests-in-stories-to-celebrate-mary-poppins-author/11281884 |access-date=25 January 2025 |publisher=ABC |date=7 July 2019}}</ref> This bank building, the [[Australian Joint Stock Bank Building, Maryborough]] is on the [[Queensland]] State Heritage Register.<ref>{{cite web |title=Australian Joint Stock Bank (former) |url=https://apps.des.qld.gov.au/heritage-register/detail/?id=600693&lang=en |website=Queensland Heritage Register |publisher=Queensland Government |access-date=26 January 2025}}</ref>

Her mother, Margaret Agnes Goff (née Morehead), was Australian and the niece of [[Boyd Dunlop Morehead]], [[Premier of Queensland]] from 1888 to 1890.{{Citation needed|date=March 2021}} Her father, Travers Robert Goff, was unsuccessful as a bank manager owing to his alcoholism, and was eventually demoted to the position of [[bank clerk]].<ref name="picardie">{{cite news|last=Picardie|first=Justine|date=28 October 2008|title=Was P L Travers the real Mary Poppins?|newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph]] (telegraph.co.uk)|location=London|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/donotmigrate/3562643/Was-P-L-Travers-the-real-Mary-Poppins.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/donotmigrate/3562643/Was-P-L-Travers-the-real-Mary-Poppins.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |access-date=25 November 2010}}{{cbignore}}</ref> The two had been married on 9 November 1898, nine months before Helen was born.{{Sfn|Lawson|2006|p=23}} The name Helen came from a maternal great-grandmother and great-aunt. Although she was born in Australia, Goff considered herself Irish and later expressed the sentiment that her birth had been "misplaced".{{Sfn|Lawson|2006|p=|pp=23&ndash;24}}

As a baby she visited her great-aunt Ellie in [[Sydney]] for the first time; Ellie would figure prominently in her early life,{{Sfn|Lawson|2006|p=|pp=23&ndash;24}} as Goff often stayed with her.{{Sfn|Lawson|2006|p=24|pp=}} Goff lived a simple life as a child, given a penny a week by her parents as well as occasional other gifts. Her mother was known for giving Goff maxims and instructions while she loved "the memory of her father" and his stories of life in Ireland. Goff was also an avid reader, later stating that she could read at three years old, and particularly enjoying [[Fairy tale|fairy tales]].{{Sfn|Lawson|2006|p=|pp=26&ndash;29, 41}}

The family lived in Maryborough until Goff was three years old, when they relocated to [[Brisbane]] in 1902. Goff recalled an idealised version of her childhood in Maryborough as an adult. In Brisbane, Goff's sister was born.{{Sfn|Lawson|2006|p=|pp=26&ndash;29}} In mid-1905 Goff went to spend time with Ellie in Sydney.{{Sfn|Lawson|2006|p=30|pp=}} Later that year, Goff returned and the family moved to [[Allora, Queensland]].{{Sfn|Lawson|2006|pp=35}} In part because Goff was often left alone as a child by parents who were "caught up in their own importance", she developed a "form of self-sufficiency and [...had an] idiosyncratic form of fantasy life", according to her biographer Valerie Lawson, often pretending to be a mother hen{{Em dash}}at times for hours.{{Sfn|Lawson|2006|p=|pp=25&ndash;26}} Goff also wrote poetry, which her family paid little attention to. In 1906 Goff attended the Allora Public School.{{Sfn|Lawson|2006|p=|pp=44&ndash;45}} Travers Goff died at home in January 1907. Lyndon would struggle to come to terms with this fact for the next six years.{{Sfn|Lawson|2006|p=46|pp=}}

[[File:MaryPoppinsStatueAshfieldPark.jpg|thumb|upright|Mary Poppins statue in Ashfield Park in honour of Goff (Travers) who lived nearby from 1918 to 1924]]
Following her father's death, Goff, along with her mother and sisters, moved to [[Bowral]], New South Wales, in 1907. In Bowral she attended the local branch of the [[SCEGGS Darlinghurst|Sydney Church of England Girls Grammar School]] as a day student.{{Sfn|Lawson|2006 |p=50}}  From 1912 Goff [[Boarding school|boarded]] at [[Normanhurst School, Ashfield|Normanhurst School]] in [[Ashfield, New South Wales|Ashfield]], a suburb of [[Sydney]]. At Normanhurst, she began to love theatre. In 1914 she published an article in the ''Normanhurst School Magazine'', her first, and later that year directed a school concert. The following year, Goff played the role of [[Nick Bottom|Bottom]] in a production of ''[[A Midsummer Night's Dream]]''. She became a [[prefect]] and sought to have a successful career as an actress.<ref>[http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/movies/the-truth-behind-mary-poppins-creator-pl-travers-20140104-30akz.html "The truth behind Mary Poppins creator P.L. Travers"] by Time Barlass, ''The Sydney Morning Herald'', 5 January 2014</ref>{{Sfn|Lawson|2006 |p=|pp=56&ndash;60}} Goff's first employment was at the [[Australian Gas Light Company]] as a cashier.<ref name=":0">{{Cite ODNB|id=62619|title=Goff, Helen Lyndon [''pseuds''. P. L. Travers, Pamela Lyndon Travers]}}</ref> Between 1918 and 1924 she resided at 40 Pembroke Street, [[Ashfield, New South Wales|Ashfield]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=P L Travers (Mary Poppins) statue and plaque |url=https://monumentaustralia.org.au/themes/people/arts/display/20125-p.-l.-travers-mary-poppins#:~:text=The%20bronze%20Mary%20Poppins%20Statue,Allora%2C%20when%20she%20was%20three.  |access-date=28 June 2023 |website=Monument Australia}}</ref> In 1920 Goff appeared in her first [[pantomime]].{{Sfn|Lawson|2006 |p=62|pp=}} The following year she was hired to work in a [[Shakespeare's plays|Shakespearean]] Company run by [[Allan Wilkie]] based in Sydney.{{Sfn|Lawson|2006 |p=|pp=64&ndash;65}}