The Little Boy from Manly was a national personification of the colony of New South Wales and later of Australia, initially created by the cartoonist Livingston Hopkins of The Bulletin in April 1885. Hopkins' creative imagination produced an enduring image that evolved to symbolise and personify the colony of New South Wales and, in later years, a figurative representation of the Australian nation as a whole.Marguerite Mahood (1973), pages 181-182.Graeme Davison, 'The Little Boy from Manly', (in) Graeme Davison, John Hirst & Stuart Macintyre (eds.) (1998), The Oxford Companion to Australian History, page 395, .
Conception
In February 1885 William Bede Dalley, acting premier of the colony of New South Wales, offered to send a detachment of troops to the Sudan to support British forces in the suppression of the Mahdist uprising.The Soudan Expedition, Freeman's Journal (Sydney), 21 February 1885, page 12. After the British acceptance of Dalley's offer, a wave of patriotic enthusiasm became evident and a fund was established to receive public contributions, both monetary and in kind, in support of the expedition.The Patriotic Fund, Sydney Morning Herald, 19 February 1885, page 8. However support for the enterprise was not universal, particularly in working-class suburbs and rural districts. Sydney's Bulletin magazine responded cynically to Dalley's offer of colonial troops, describing it as having "a suspicious resemblance to a feat of political legerdemain".'Sudan (New South Wales Contingent) March-June 1885', Australian War Memorial website; accessed 30 March 2025.Dalley's Device, The Bulletin (Sydney), 21 February 1885, page 4.
On 4 March 1885, the day after the troops departed from Sydney "amid much public fanfare", 10-year-old Ernest Lawrence wrote to Dalley enclosing the sum of £25 from his savings (plus a contribution from his father) "with my best wishes from a little boy at Manly". Ernest's father was a partner in the legal firm of Stephen, Lawrence and Jaques. In his accompanying letter Ernest wrote that he had watched "the steamers go through the Heads" and longed to be with the departing troops "and help to punish the wicked Arabs who killed General Gordon". The young boy's contribution received wide publicity, with his letter and Dalley's reply being published in the Sydney Morning Herald and other newspapers.Master Ernest Lawrence..., Sydney Morning Herald, 7 March 1885, page 14; also reprinted in the Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate, the Evening News and the Australian Town and Country Journal.
The initial response in The Bulletin to the publicity surrounding Ernest Lawrence's contribution and letter was the publication of a satirical poem titled 'Nemesis; or, "The Little Boy From Manly"' on a page with a cartoon mocking the cost of sending the contingent of troops to Sudan.Mr. Dalley recently received a letter..., The Bulletin (Sydney), 14 March 1885, page 10. On 4 April 1885, a month after the departure of the troops, a cartoon by Livingston Hopkins titled 'Innocent Triflers; or, the Joys of His First and Her Second Childhood' was published in The Bulletin, featuring a representation of 'The Little Boy at Manly'. The cartoon depicted the boy making a contribution to a devouring money-box labelled "Patriotic Fund", held by 'Old Granny', while a spectral figure looms in the background with labels including "War Expenses", "Pensions", "Soldiers' Homes" and "Support of Widows & Orphans". Hopkins illustrated 'The Little Boy at Manly' as a young lad in early-Victorian costume in the style of English storybook schoolboys, wearing high-waisted pantaloons, a shirt with a frilled collar and a flat peaked cap.Innocent Triflers, The Bulletin (Sydney), 4 April 1885, page 13.Graeme Davison, 'The Little Boy from Manly', (in) Graeme Davison, John Hirst & Stuart Macintyre (eds.) (1998), The Oxford Companion to Australian History, page 395, .
The New South Wales Contingent arrived at Suakin on the Red Sea in late March (the first overseas deployment of a military force by an Australian colony). During their short period in Sudan the Australians were involved in only minor skirmishes with the enemy, as well as guard duties and working on the construction of a railway. Casualties were few, though fatalities occurred from disease. The New South Wales contingent departed from Sudan in mid-May and arrived back in Sydney on 19 June 1885. The official reception for the New South Wales Contingent was held on 23 June 1885, greeted by "thousands of people" at Circular Quay including the colonial governor Lord Augustus Loftus.
Hopkins produced a major illustration on the occasion of the return of the New South Wales troops from Sudan, consistent with the general attitude of skepticism about the enterprise given coverage in publications such as The Bulletin. Hopkins' drawing was titled 'The Roll-Call. – The Return of the N.S.W. Contingent'. It was included as a supplement to The Bulletin issue of 20 June 1885 (a day after the troops arrived in Sydney) and as a full-page illustration in the magazine the following week."The Roll Call", The Bulletin (Sydney), 20 June 1885, page 5 (note: the supplement was not included in the scan for this issue)."The Roll-Call" and The Roll-Call. – The Return of the N.S.W. Contingent, The Bulletin (Sydney), 27 June 1885, pages 5, 24. Hopkins' parodic illustration was inspired in its composition by another contemporary event, the purchase by the National Art Gallery of New South Wales of a copy of The Roll Call, Elizabeth Thompson's revered Crimean War painting.The Contingent, Sydney Morning Herald, 24 June 1885, page 7.The "Roll Call", Sydney Morning Herald, 3 June 1885, page 5. Hopkins' version of 'The Roll Call', depicting William Bede Dalley on horseback reviewing the troops on the dock, satirises the "futility of the expedition" and incorporates numerous details intended to "deflate the heroism of the cause". A drunken soldier falls from the line as Governor Loftus, as Dalley's adjutant (and a known poultry fancier), calls the roll with eggs in his pocket and a hen between his feet. Injuries to the troops include a bandaged toe and finger, while the Herald correspondent points to a bullet hole in his leg. In the background the transport vessel is laden with public contributions, including a grand piano and a cello, a barrel of rum and crates of whiskey, jam, lollies and scent. In the foreground a large K.C.M.G. medal hangs from the neck of 'The Little Boy at Manly'.Marguerite Mahood (1973), pages 182-183.
Hopkins later described how, in his early years at The Bulletin, there was "a vacancy... for a myth that was willing to make itself generally useful" as a "personification of Australia". He described 'The Little Boy at Manly' figure as typifying "the well-meant impetuosity of a young colony in espousing a cause that was well able to take care of itself". Hopkins continued to occasionally use the image in his cartoons and in time 'The Little Boy at Manly' "got promoted to the position of office myth, which he seemed to grow into naturally, and so filled a long-felt want".Hop, His Confessions (part seven), The Lone Hand, 1 June 1914, pages 18-19.A. L. Brient, 'Origin of a Symbol', The Argus (Melbourne), 2 October 1948, page 10.
Pre-Federation
In the following decades 'The Little Boy from Manly' became a routinely used symbol in The Bulletin of both the colony of New South Wales and Australia's emerging nationhood, featured in illustrations by Livingston Hopkins as well as other artists. A cartoon in The Bulletin by Phil May in February 1888 depicts the little boy as 'Young New South Wales', expressing his disapproval of the intense colonial rivalry between New South Wales and Victoria and focussing on recent comments by the retired politician and opponent of federation, Sir John Robertson.The Same Old Tune, The Bulletin (Sydney), 25 February 1888, page 11.Bede Nairn (1976), Sir John Robertson (1816–1891), Australian Dictionary of Biography website, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University; accessed 30 May 2025.
A full-page illustration by Hopkins, published in July 1889, represents the 'Little Boy' as Australia (more than a decade before Federation). The cartoon, titled 'The Divine Right to Bleed (An Object Lesson for Young Australia)', depicts an aged and decrepit Britannia with a vampire bat (labelled "Royal doweries") attached to her arm. With Hopkins' illustration equating blood and money, Britannia remarks to the boy: "It is a rather pleasant sensation when you get used to it, as you will find when you come to share in the 'glories of Empire'".The Divine Right to Bleed, The Bulletin (Sydney), 13 July 1889, page 11.
When Henry Parkes died in April 1896 Hopkins produced a full-page cover illustration for The Bulletin of a weeping 'Little Boy from Manly' before a large volume labelled 'Parkes'. The veteran New South Wales politician had been an energetic proponent of the federation of the six colonies of Australia, a cause consistently promoted in the pages of The Bulletin.Finis!, The Bulletin (Sydney), 2 May 1896, page 5.
After Federation
In December 1913 the character 'The Little Boy from Manly', representing Australia, featured in the revue Come Over Here. The character, also referred to as 'Young Australia', was played by the female child actress, Baby Cremer. The revue opened at Her Majesty's Theatre in Sydney on 20 December 1913 and was performed over the holiday season."Little Boy From Manly", The Sun (Sydney), 14 December 1913, page 15.Society Doings in Sydney, The Australasian (Melbourne), 27 December 1913, page 41.
From about 1916 the Sydney-based company, Meggitt Limited, manufacturers of linseed oil, linseed meal and stock foods from their Parramatta factory, began to incorporate images of 'The Little Boy from Manly' in their advertisements, drawn by the artist David Low.Meggitt Limited, The Argus (Melbourne), 27 February 1923, page 4.The Meggitt Family and Parramatta, Parramatta History and Heritage website, City of Parramatta Research & Collections, City of Parramatta; accessed 23 March 2024. Low produced a large number of cartoon images for the company's advertisements.The Little Boy from Manly, Leski Auctions website; accessed 9 April 2024.Meggitt's Story, The Bulletin, 29 January 1930, page 46. By the early 1920s illustrations for the Meggitt Ltd. advertisements were being produced by Syd Nicholls.See example: Winter Feeding for Maximum Production, The Bulletin (Sydney), 7 July 1921, page 2.
During the 1920s Bulletin artists continued to use 'The Little Boy' images as representations of a young Australia in their political cartoons.Examples by Tom Glover: Mostly About Melbourne, The Bulletin (Sydney), 26 October 1922, page 10; The Shadow and the Substance, The Bulletin, 20 December 1923, page 16.
Hopkins' death
Soon after Livingston Hopkins' death in August 1927 an article was published in Smith's Weekly recounting Ernest Laurence's version of the events that led to the artistic creation by Hopkins of the concept of 'The Little Boy from Manly'. Laurence, whose boyhood monetary contribution prompted the conception, had attended the funeral of the celebrated artist and related the details to the journalist who wrote the article.John Sandes, 'A Little Boy From Manly', Smith's Weekly (Sydney), 3 September 1927, page 17.
Gallery
Notes
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References
External links nla.pic-an6426507 Cartoon A jubilee featuring the Little Boy from Manly, National Library of Australia. itemID=844353 Cartoon The Roll Call - or The Contingent's Return with the Little Boy from Manly in right foreground (1885) by Livingston Hopkins, State Library of New South Wales.