Melbourne Punch (2 August 1855 – December 1925) was an Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

n illustrated magazine founded by Edgar Ray and Frederick Sinnett, modelled closely on Punch

Punch (magazine)

Punch, or the London Charivari was a British weekly magazine of humour and satire established in 1841 by Henry Mayhew and engraver Ebenezer Landells. Historically, it was most influential in the 1840s and 50s, when it helped to coin the term "cartoon" in its modern sense as a humorous illustration...

of London which was founded just fifteen years earlier.

Ray and Sinnett published the magazine 1855–83, followed by Alex McKinley 1883.

Staff artists included Nicholas Chevalier

Nicholas Chevalier

Nicholas Chevalier was an Australian artist.-Early life:Chevalier was born in St Petersburg, Russia, the son of Louis Chevalier, who came from Vaud, Switzerland, and was overseer to the estates of the Prince de Wittgenstein in Russia. Nicholas' mother was Russian...

 1855–1861, Thomas Carrington 1866–1887.

Contributing artists included J C Bancks

Jimmy Bancks

James Charles Bancks or Jimmy Bancks was an Australian cartoonist best known for his comic strip Ginger Meggs....

, Luther Bradley

Luther Bradley

Luther Bradley is a former professional American football player who played four seasons for the Detroit Lions. He later played with the Chicago Blitz, Arizona Wranglers and Houston Gamblers of the USFL...

, O R Campbell, George Dancey, Ambrose Dyson

Ambrose Dyson

Ambrose Dyson , often known as Amb Dyson was an Australian illustrator and political cartoonist, born at Alfredton, near Ballarat, Victoria, 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 and...

 and his brother Will Dyson

Will Dyson

]William Henry Dyson was an Australian illustrator and political cartoonist.-Early life:Dyson was born at Alfredton, near Ballarat, Victoria, Australia, the son of George Dyson, then a hawker and later a mining engineer, and his wife Jane, née Mayall. Dyson was educated at state schools at...

, S T Gill, Alex Gurney

Alexander George Gurney

Alexander George "Alex" Gurney was an Australian artist, caricaturist, and cartoonist born at Pasley House, Stoke, Devonport , England.-Family:...

, Hal Gye, Percy Leason

Percy Leason

Percy Alexander Leason was an Australian artist who was a major figure in the Australian tonalist movement. As a painter and commercial artist his works span two continents.-Early life and training:...

, Emile Mercier

Emile Mercier

Emile Mercier may refer to:* Émile Mercier , French archer and olympian* Emile Mercier , Australian cartoonist...

, Alex Sass, Montagu Scott, Alf Vincent and Cecil "Unk" White

Unk White

Cecil John White , known under the penname Unk White, was an Australian cartoonist born in Auckland, New Zealand.He came to Sydney in 1922 with the artists Joe and Guy Lynch and was soon immersed in the bohemian scene there....

.

Editors included Frederick Sinnett 1855–1857, James Smith 1857–1863, Charles Bright 1863–1866, William Jardine Smith, John Bede Dalley

John Bede Dalley

John Bede Dalley was an Australian journalist and novelist, editor of Melbourne Punch.Dalley was born in Rose Bay, Sydney, the second son of William Bede Dalley and Eleanor Jane, née Long. He was born at Sydney and was educated at St Aloysius' College...

 1924.

Writers included Butler Cole Aspinall, Charles Gavan Duffy, R.H. Horne, James Smith, Thomas Carrington and Nicholas Chevalier.

It was involved in the creation of The Ashes

The Ashes

The Ashes is a Test cricket series played between England and Australia. It is one of the most celebrated rivalries in international cricket and dates back to 1882. It is currently played biennially, alternately in the United Kingdom and Australia. Cricket being a summer sport, and the venues...

 cricket trophy in 1883.

It incorporated the Melbourne Bulletin in 1886, after which it became more involved with "society" news.

A cartoon titled "BAIL-UP!" in 1900 was possibly the first published use of the Kelly Gang

Ned Kelly

Edward "Ned" Kelly was an Irish Australian bushranger. He is considered by some to be merely a cold-blooded cop killer — others, however, consider him to be a folk hero and symbol of Irish Australian resistance against the Anglo-Australian ruling class.Kelly was born in Victoria to an Irish...

 in a satirical context.

It was acquired by The Melbourne Herald

The Herald (Melbourne)

The Herald was a broadsheet newspaper published in Melbourne, Australia from 1840 to 1990.The Port Phillip Herald was first published as a semi-weekly newspaper on 3 January 1840 from a weatherboard shack in Collins Street. It was the fourth newspaper to start in Melbourne.The paper took its name...

in 1924 and amalgamated with Table Talk in 1926.

An annual, variously titled Punch Almanac, Melbourne Punch Almanack, Melbourne Punch's Office Almanack and similar, was published for a time.