Ambrose Dyson (1876 – 4 June 1913), often known as Amb Dyson was an Australian illustrator and political cartoonist, born at Alfredton, near

Ballarat, Victoria Ballarat ( ) is a city in the Central Highlands of Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 Census, Ballarat had a population of 116,201, making it the third largest city in Victoria. Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. Within months of Vic ...

, Australia, the son of George Dyson, then a hawker and later a mining engineer, and his wife Jane, ''née'' Mayall. He was educated at state schools at

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 ...

and

South Melbourne South Melbourne is an inner suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 3 km south of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Port Phillip local government area. South Melbourne recorded a population of 11,548 at t ...

. He was the older brother of the brilliant

Will Dyson William Henry Dyson (3 September 1880 – 21 January 1938) was an Australian illustrator and political cartoonist. In 1931 he was regarded as "one of the world's foremost black and white artists", and in 1980, "Australia's greatest cartoonist" ...

and the writer

Edward Dyson Edward George Dyson (4 March 1865 – 22 August 1931), or 'Ted' Dyson, was an Australian journalist, poet, playwright and short story writer. He was the elder brother of illustrators Will Dyson (1880–1938) and Ambrose Dyson (1876–1913), wi ...

. He may have studied at the Melbourne National Gallery Art School and certainly took private lessons with Tom Durkin, but was mostly self-taught. He was a frequent contributor to '' The Bulletin'' and ''

Melbourne Punch ''Melbourne Punch'' (from 1900, simply titled ''Punch'') was an Australian illustrated magazine founded by Edgar Ray and Frederick Sinnett, and published from August 1855 to December 1925. The magazine was modelled closely on ''Punch'' of Londo ...

'', but his first regular position was with the

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

''Critic'' from 1899 to 1903, then with ''The Bulletin''.Lindesay, Vane ''The Inked-in Image'' Hutchinson (Australia) 1979 He worked as cartoonist for the Melbourne ''Table Talk'' from 1907 to 1910, while contributing to

C. J. Dennis Clarence Michael James Stanislaus Dennis (7 September 1876 – 22 June 1938), better known as C. J. Dennis, was an Australian poet and journalist known for his best-selling verse novel ''The Songs of a Sentimental Bloke'' (1915). Alongside ...

's ''

Gadfly Gadfly most commonly refers to: * Horse-fly or Botfly * Gadfly (philosophy and social science), a person who upsets the status quo Gadfly may also refer to: Entertainment * ''The Gadfly'', an 1897 novel by Ethel Lilian Voynich ** ''The Gadfly'' ...

'' followed by the

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

-based ''Comic Australian''. He was the first sports cartoonist for the ''

Melbourne Herald ''The Herald'' was a morning and, later, evening broadsheet newspaper published in Melbourne, Australia, from 3 January 1840 to 5 October 1990, which is when it merged with its sister morning newspaper ''The Sun News-Pictorial'' to form the ''H ...

'' from 1907 to 1910. He died in Kew Insane Asylum on 4 June 1913, after suffering alcoholism and chronic syphilis-related dementia and paralysis.

Sources

*McCulloch, Alan ''Encyclopedia of Australian Art'' Hutchinson of London 1968

References

1876 births 1913 deaths Australian illustrators Australian people of English descent Australian satirists Cartoonists from Melbourne {{cartoonist-stub