Verax

Nat Gould was not the first to use the pen name Verax, which means truthful or speaking the truth. It was already used by correspondents to the Australian press before Nat ever set foot in Australia.

So care has to be taken in attributing to him contributions to the press on subjects other than horse racing. For example there is a letter in the Brisbane Courier as early as 17 November 1884 from Verax complaining about a “cheap and nasty” stone street crossing. That does however sound like Nat!