Alfred Ronalds (10 July 180223 April 1860) was an English author, artisan and Australian pioneer, best known for his book ''

The Fly-fisher's Entomology ''The Fly-Fisher's Entomology, Illustrated by Coloured Representations of the Natural and Artificial Insect and Accompanied by a Few Observations and Instructions Relative to Trout-and-Grayling Fishing'', first published in 1836 by Alfred Ronald ...

''.

Life and family

Early years

He was born at No 1 Highbury Terrace,

Highbury Highbury is a district in North London and part of the London Borough of Islington in Greater London that was owned by Ranulf brother of Ilger and included all the areas north and east of Canonbury and Holloway Roads. The manor house was situ ...

, the eleventh child of wealthy London wholesale cheesemongers Francis Ronalds and Jane née Field. The inventor Sir

Francis Ronalds Sir Francis Ronalds FRS (21 February 17888 August 1873) was an English scientist and inventor, and arguably the first electrical engineer. He was knighted for creating the first working electric telegraph over a substantial distance. In 1816 ...

FRS was his oldest brother and mentor. The family later resided at

Kelmscott House Kelmscott House is Grade II* listed Georgian brick mansion at 26 Upper Mall in Hammersmith, overlooking the River Thames. Built in about 1785, it was the London home of English textile designer, artist, writer and socialist William Morris fro ...

in Hammersmith, Queen Square in Bloomsbury, and in

Croydon Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an extensi ...

. After a Unitarian schooling, probably at Revd John Potticary’s

school A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes compuls ...

Blackheath Blackheath may refer to: Places England *Blackheath, London, England ** Blackheath railway station **Hundred of Blackheath, Kent, an ancient hundred in the north west of the county of Kent, England *Blackheath, Surrey, England ** Hundred of Blackh ...

, Ronalds was apprenticed at age 14 to learn the ways of business. He was unsuited to the commercial world, however, and instead spent his time developing his scientific, practical and artistic skills with Sir Francis.

Moving around Britain and to Australia

In 1829 he moved to

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...

, renting the Lee Grange farm near

Lichfield Lichfield () is a cathedral city and civil parish in Staffordshire, England. Lichfield is situated roughly south-east of the county town of Stafford, south-east of Rugeley, north-east of Walsall, north-west of Tamworth and south-west of B ...

, formerly owned by Francis Perceval Eliot. After his marriage to Margaret Bond of

Tixall Tixall is a small village and civil parish in the Stafford district, in the English county of Staffordshire lying on the western side of the Trent valley between Rugeley and Stone, Staffordshire and roughly 4 miles east of Stafford. The populat ...

in 1831, they settled at the property of Lea Fields near Gratwich, where he focussed on fly fishing. The family relocated to Wales in 1843, first living on the shore of

Tal-y-llyn Lake Tal-y-llyn Lake, ( cy, Llyn Mwyngil), also known as Talyllyn Lake and Llyn Myngul, is a large glacial ribbon lake in Gwynedd, North Wales. It is formed by a post-glacial massive landslip damming up the lake within the glaciated valley. The hamle ...

, and then in the parish of

Llanelwedd Llanelwedd is a village and community near Builth Wells, in Powys, Wales. It lies within the historic boundaries of Radnorshire. Llanelwedd features the Royal Welsh Showground. Location and geography Llanelwedd is on the right bank of the W ...

, where Margaret died after giving birth to their eighth child. Ronalds decided in 1848 to take the children to the

Colony of New South Wales The Colony of New South Wales was a colony of the British Empire from 1788 to 1901, when it became a State of the Commonwealth of Australia. At its greatest extent, the colony of New South Wales included the present-day Australian states of New ...

. He established himself initially in

Geelong Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in the southeastern Australian state of Victoria, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River, ...

as an engraver,

lithographer Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by the German a ...

and

printer Printer may refer to: Technology * Printer (publishing), a person or a company * Printer (computing), a hardware device * Optical printer for motion picture films People * Nariman Printer (fl. c. 1940), Indian journalist and activist * James ...

, and he married Mary Ann Harlow. They had four further children. After a successful spell prospecting for gold in the

Victorian gold rush The Victorian gold rush was a period in the history of Victoria, Australia approximately between 1851 and the late 1860s. It led to a period of extreme prosperity for the Australian colony, and an influx of population growth and financial capita ...

, the family settled in the new goldfields township of

Ballarat Ballarat ( ) is a city in the Central Highlands (Victoria), Central Highlands of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 Census, Ballarat had a population of 116,201, making it the third largest city in Victoria. Estimated resid ...

in 1852 and established the first nursery in the district on the shore of

Lake Wendouree Lake Wendouree () is an artificially created and maintained shallow urban lake located adjacent to the suburb of the same name in the city of Ballarat, Victoria, Australia. The name Wendouree comes from a local Aboriginal word ''wendaaree'' w ...

. They supplied some of the initial trees and plants for the

Ballarat Botanical Gardens The Ballarat Botanical Gardens Reserve, located on the western shore of picturesque Lake Wendouree, in Ballarat, Victoria, Australia, covers an area of 40 hectares which is divided into three distinct zones. The central Botanical Gardens reserve ...

. When he died suddenly his family became quite poor. He was buried in the

Ballaarat Old Cemetery Ballaarat Old Cemetery is a cemetery located in the rural city of Ballarat, Victoria in Australia. The cemetery dates back to 1856, although records show burials took place in the area from the late 1840s.Albert Francis Ronalds; artist and horticulturalist

Henrietta Maria Gulliver Henrietta Maria Gulliver (29 October 1866 – 15 July 1945) was an Australian artist who specialized in landscape and floral still-life paintings. She was also a florist, horticulturalist and landscape designer. Life and Family Henrietta grew ...

; equestrian

Sam Griffiths Sam Griffiths is an Australian Eventing rider from Pearcedale in Victoria. 2017 saw him as the Ambassador to the Mitsubishi Motors Adelaide International Horse Trials. 4th individually at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games and part of t ...

; politician

Andrew Ronalds Andrew Mark Ronalds is an Australian politician who represented the Eastern Victoria Region for the Liberal Party in the Victorian Legislative Council The Victorian Legislative Council (VLC) is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament ...

; and cricketer

Janet Ronalds Janet Elizabeth Ronalds (born 30 October 1985) is an Australian-born physiotherapist and cricketer, who plays for the Germany women's national cricket team as an all-rounder. She was the first player, male or female, to score a century for Germ ...

Fly fishing author

Ronalds began fly fishing with his family as a child, learning the craft on rivers near their homes around London. The detailed research for ''

'' was conducted on the

River Blithe The River Blithe is a river in Staffordshire, England. It is a tributary of the River Trent and runs for around 18 miles from source to its confluence with the River Trent. Etymology The Origins of the name Blithe probably come from the Old E ...

at Lea Fields. The book was produced with the assistance of his brother Sir

and

published Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...

Longman Longman, also known as Pearson Longman, is a publishing company founded in London, England, in 1724 and is owned by Pearson PLC. Since 1968, Longman has been used primarily as an imprint by Pearson's Schools business. The Longman brand is also ...

on 11 July 1836. It was an immediate and enduring success. Ronalds produced a 2nd edition in 1839 and a 3rd in 1844, and Sir Francis, his sister Emily Ronalds and brother-in-law Samuel Carter produced the 4th edition in 1849 when Ronalds migrated to Australia.

Copyright A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, education ...

and control then passed to Longman for the 5th through 9th editions, and an

editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, photographic, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, orga ...

called Piscator was employed who made many changes to the book. Ronalds' nephew

John Corrie Carter John Corrie Carter (29 December 1839 – 5 June 1927) was an English Barristers in England and Wales, barrister, High Sheriff, author and sportsman. Life and family Born at Islington Row, Birmingham, Corrie Carter was the third son of Maria (yo ...

edited the 10th edition in 1901 and assisted with the 11th edition in 1913. A further edition appeared in 1921. In 2020, the book was described as “the single most influential work ever published” on fly fishing. Ronalds earned over £600 in revenue from Longman for the 2,000 copies of the first four editions, but he had fallen into debt. He had also become bored with fishing and book-making, and his increasing renown did not sit comfortably with him; he was ready for a new challenge. His wife Margaret's death was a final trigger for his move to Australia.

Artist and artisan

Angling applications

An early record of Ronalds' artistic talent is the "exquisite delineations" of

insects Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs of j ...

and

artificial flies An artificial fly or fly lure is a type of fishing lure, usually used in the sport of fly fishing (although they may also be used in other forms of angling). In general, artificial flies are an imitation of aquatic insects that are natural food of ...

that were the heart of his book. Ronalds engraved the 20 copperplates and managed the printing and colour painting of all the copies of the first three editions. He also made fishing tackle for sale, including fly rods, his recommended artificial flies, and a novel fly case to store the flies. His eldest child Maria Shanklin later became a professional fly tier in Australia.

Australian art pieces

Further examples of his engraving and lithography survive that were executed in Geelong. He lithographed the figures in the short booklet ''A Treatise on Gold Discovery and Gold Washing, compiled from Ure and Hebert'' (1851) that he produced with James Harrison. He later sold his lithographic presses to Francis Wilson Niven who went on to build up a large printing business. There is evidence that Ronalds taught Niven his early lithographic skills. Ronalds engraved the Geelong

seal Seal may refer to any of the following: Common uses * Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly: ** Earless seal, or "true seal" ** Fur seal * Seal (emblem), a device to impr ...

after the municipality was incorporated in 1849. Shortly afterwards he designed and made a Separation Medal to commemorate the formation of the new Colony of

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

. It was the first

medal A medal or medallion is a small portable artistic object, a thin disc, normally of metal, carrying a design, usually on both sides. They typically have a commemorative purpose of some kind, and many are presented as awards. They may be int ...

struck in

Australasia Australasia is a region that comprises Australia, New Zealand and some neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term is used in a number of different contexts, including geopolitically, physiogeographically, philologically, and ecologica ...

and a significant number were made for sale. He also advertised as a

surveyor Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the terrestrial two-dimensional or three-dimensional positions of points and the distances and angles between them. A land surveying professional is ca ...

and

draftsman A drafter (also draughtsman / draughtswoman in British and Commonwealth English, draftsman / draftswoman or drafting technician in American and Canadian English) is an engineering technician who makes detailed technical drawings or plans for m ...

and made maps for sale.

Engineering work

In Ballarat, amongst other ventures, he supplied water for the town and assisted in building the hospital.

References

1802 births 1860 deaths English emigrants to colonial Australia Settlers of Victoria (Australia) People from Geelong {{Improve categories , date=September 2022 Artists from Victoria (Australia)