Garnet Walch (1 October 1843 in Broadmarsh (

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

) – 3 January 1913 in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

), was an Australian writer, dramatist, journalist and publisher. From 1872 on, he became very popular as author of numerous

pantomime Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment. It was developed in England and is performed throughout the United Kingdom, Ireland and (to a lesser extent) in other English-speaking ...

s, burlesques, melodramas, comedies and comediettas. Walch was the youngest son of Major J. W. H. Walch, of H.M. 54th Regiment. He was secretary to the

Melbourne Athenaeum The Athenaeum or Melbourne Athenaeum is an art and cultural hub in the central business district of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1839, it is the city's oldest cultural institution. Its building on Collins Street in the East End ...

between 1873 and 1879. As a publisher, his most outstanding work was ''Victoria in 1880'', a de luxe book with lavish

engravings Engraving is the practice of incising a design onto a hard, usually flat surface by cutting grooves into it with a burin. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or glass are engraved, or may provide an in ...

by Charles Turner, compiled by Walch and published by George Robertson in Melbourne, celebrating the 1880–1881 International Exhibition. The book was inscribed to ''The Honourable William John Clarke, President of the Victorian International Exhibition Commission''. In 1883 he went to Madagascar as special correspondent for the '' Argus'' and the '' Australasian''.

Family

Walch married Ada Kate Ellard (died 13 July 1921) Their children included Kittie, Lizzie, Emily Clairellen ("Clair"), Albert Henry (died 28 May 1923), and Richmond. They had a home "Rubra" on Mont Albert Road,

Mont Albert, Victoria Mont Albert is an inner eastern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 12 kilometres east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the Cities of Boroondara and Whitehorse local government areas. Mont Albert recorded a ...

Selected works

* ''Jack the Giant Killer or, Harlequin Fe-Fi-Fo-Fum, the Demon Spider and the Fairies of the Silver Lake'' (1891) * ''The Trapper'' (1891) – with

Alfred Dampier Alfred Dampier (28 February 1843? 1847? – 23 May 1908) was an English-born actor-manager and playwright, active in Australia.John Rickard,Dampier, Alfred (1843–1908), ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'', Vol. 4, Melbourne University Pres ...

* '' The Scout'' (1891) – with Alfred Dampier * '' The Miner's Right'' (1891) – with Alfred Dampier * ''Robbery Under Arms'' (1890) – with Alfred Dampier * ''The Count of Monte Cristo'' (1890) – with Alfred Dampier * ''Sleeping Beauty or, Harlequin Mother Goose and the Seven Champions of Christendom'' (1885) * ''Bric-a-Brac'', a musical comedy in two acts (1885) * ''Dyk Whyttyngtonne and Hys Catte or, Arlekyn Lyttel Bo-Peepe and Ye Faerie Chymes of Bowe-Bells'' (1881) * ''Gulliver or, Harlequin King Lilliput'' (1881) * ''Sinbad the Sailor; or The Pet of the Pearl; The Old Man of the Sea; and the Dwarf of the Diamond Valley'' (1880) * ''The Babes in the Wood'' (1879) * ''Helen's Babies'' (1877) * ''Beauty and the Beast, or Harlequin King Glorio the Millionth, the Island of Apes, and the Fairies of the Magic Roses'' (1875) * ''Adamanta, the Proud Princess of Profusia, and her Six Unlucky Suitors'' (1874) * ''Australia Felix or, Harlequin Jackass and the Magic Bat'' (1873) * ''Orpheus'' (1872) * ''Trookulentos, the Tempter or, Harlequin Cockatoo, the Demon of Discontent'' (1871) * ''Prometheus or, The Man on the Rock'' (1870) * ''Conrad the Corsair or, Conrad and Medora'' (1870)

References

External links

* http://adbonline.anu.edu.au/biogs/A060361b.htm Australian Dictionary of Biography * https://web.archive.org/web/20090415185209/http://lib.monash.edu.au/exhibitions/tourism/xtourismcat.html Australian Rare Books Exhibition, Item # 12 1843 births 1913 deaths Writers from Tasmania Australian dramatists and playwrights Australian journalists Australian publishers (people) The Argus (Melbourne) people 19th-century Australian businesspeople {{Australia-writer-stub