cartoonist and lithographer, was the major artist and proprietor of Ballarat Punch , 'the infant and humble imitator of our illustrious namesake of world renown’. The paper had two lives. The first Ballarat Punch appeared in 1857, apparently on 28 October 1857, but could not have lasted long; only one issue – number 5, dated 25 November 1857 – is known (p.c.). In his History of Ballarat W.B. Withers stated that it had been founded by a consortium ('Henry Harris, E.C. Moore , C. Abbott, and others’), that H. Hasleham was its chief editor and that F.W. Niven 'assisted in the illustrations with one of Ronalds ' hand presses’. Abbott probably provided most of the cartoons.

When resurrected ten years later, Ballarat Punch survived from 7 February 1867 to 9 January 1870. Withers called Abbott sole editor and artist in this period. William Cooper was editor from February to July 1868 but otherwise Abbott seems to have been in charge throughout. Again most of the cartoons are unsigned, but the better ones carry a twined monogram that looks more like 'A.C.’ than 'C.A.’ and may be Albert Cooke . Complete runs of this series survive. Most of the cartoons appear to be hasty autolithographs (i.e. sketches drawn directly on the stone), the majority representing local personalities and events in a very coarse manner, both in style and subject. Several attack the large (named) companies mining by extraction that were increasingly monopolising the goldfields and destroying the livelihood of the alluvial prospector. One with the A and C monogram, From the Sublime to the Ridiculous (19 October 1867), shows two men outside the Ballarat Mechanics Institute commenting on the panorama Bachelder’s Paradise Lost brought out from the United States, apparently by a relative of P.M. Batchelder , in an excruciating pun ('Bachelor’s pair o’dice lost’). Another shows the allegorical figure of Australia mourning the attempted assassination of the Duke of Edinburgh at Sydney in 1868. She is saying, 'WHAT WILL HIS MOTHER THINK OF US?’

Mahood believes that it was with the 1860s Ballarat Punch that the earthy, colloquial, Sydney style of Australian satirical cartooning seen as quintessential Bulletin actually had its beginnings. She adds, however, that this predecessor owed much to 'good lithographers’ overcoming the weaknesses of 'inferior artists’. The paper was printed by George Cox and published by William Cooper from February to July 1868; then James Curtis became the printer and Abbott the publisher. F.W. Niven’s firm provided the title page and probably printed the earlier issues.

Writers:

Staff Writer

Date written:

1992

Last updated:

1989