George Edward Dunstan (13 August 1876 – 1946), known as Zif Dunstan, was an Australian illustrator, cartoonist and caricaturist. As an illustrator, Dunstan was most active from the early 1900s to 1914, contributing cartoons and caricatures to a number of Sydney-based illustrated journals during that period. His comic strips, 'Dear Little Willie' for The Sunday Times in 1909 and 'The Adventures of William Mug' for The International Socialist during 1913 and 1914, are considered to be important early examples of the comic strip format in Australia.
Zif Dunstan also worked as a journalist and a vaudeville performer, with a music hall act combining comedy and "rapid sketch work". He became a committed socialist who worked for unionist causes during the 1920s.
Biography
Early life
George Edward Dunstan was born in Daylesford, Victoria, on 13 August 1876, the son of Alfred Dunstan and Emma (née Henshaw).Victorian birth registration: George Edward Dunstan, Daylesford (Reg. No.: 15516/1876).George Dunstan, Design & Art Australia Online website; accessed 28 August 2025. In an interview in 1913, Dunstan categorised his early years at Daylesford as a "pretty hard struggle for existence", working in a number of different capacities: "Grocer's boy, bookseller, messenger for a florist, harness maker, office boy for a builder, house painter, and bootmaker". He recalled having "a very imaginative mind" and was "always drawing pictures, generally gruesome studies of railway accidents". At school he drew caricatures of his fellow schoolboys and teachers, but once "got caught in the act of drawing the head master" with painful results.Zif, Artist, &c., The Mail (Adelaide), 6 December 1913, page 1.
Melbourne
In about 1893, aged sixteen, Dunstan moved to Melbourne and made a living from house painting.
In the latter half of 1898, the imaginary and fanciful writings of Louis de Rougemont, about his exploits in New Guinea and Australia, were receiving widespread newspaper coverage in Australia. Dunstan drew three "purely imaginative" cartoons of the Swiss fantasist and managed to sell them to the editor of Melbourne's The Leader newspaper. The three drawings, signed "G.D.", were published in the issue of 15 October 1898 (his first published drawings). Dunstan later claimed the editor assured him that he would buy subsequent "topical sketches" each week from him. He produced a "page cartoon of incidents at the Caulfield Cup" which he delivered to the newspaper office. However, his "sketch did not appear, or any further efforts on my part".The Astonishing and Unveracious Adventures of Louis de Rougemont, The Leader (Melbourne), 15 October 1898, page 36.
After this setback, Dunstan determined to be an artist and decided to go to Sydney. Carrying his swag and belongings he walked from Melbourne to Albury, taking farm jobs along the way. At Albury he managed to "jump the rattler", riding the train to Sydney without buying a ticket.
Sydney
In Sydney Dunstan earned a living doing poster work, including a short stint with a touring theatrical company doing advance work such as arranging board for the actors, advertising and posters. After his experience with the theatrical company, Dunstan returned to Sydney and undertook a number of different jobs to make his living: "commercial drawing, designing daybills and posters, cutting out linoleum blocks and writing".
In February 1899, Dunstan sold an illustration to John Norton's Truth newspaper, featuring a caricature of George Reid, then premier of New South Wales. The cartoon was signed "G.D.".Imaginary Interviews, Truth (Sydney), 19 February 1899, page 3. The next time he was published in Truth was on 30 September 1900, a satirical cartoon depicting visitors to The Domain and signed "Zif" (a signature he invariably used thereafter).What the Domain will be like..., Truth (Sydney), 30 September 1900, page 8.
George Dunstan and Alice Colliver were married in 1900 in Sydney.Family records, Ancestry.com. The couple initially resided at 93 Kippax Street in Surry Hills. By 1904 the family was living in a narrow workers' terrace at 28 Morehead Street in Redfern. The couple had four children, three daughters and a son, born from 1901 to 1911.
Norton launched his Sydney Sportsman newspaper in October 1900. From about June 1901, Dunstan's caricatures and cartoons began to be occasionally published in the journal, an early example being a caricature of George, a stalwart employee of Tattersall's Club."Zif's" pencil herewith..., Sydney Sportsman, 19 June 1901, page 4; see also: The Tramp on Wheels, Sydney Sportsman, 12 February 1902, page 6. An illustration by Dunstan was used for the cover of Jury magazine for its issue of 12 April 1902. The image was a parody of the well-known 'You Dirty Boy' Pears' Soap advertisement. Dunstan depicted the woman, labelled 'Public Opinion', washing the boy (labelled 'John Norton') with disinfectant. In September 1902, Dunstan had another of his caricatures published in Sydney's The Newsletter.A "Newsletter" Man, The Newsletter: An Australian Paper for Australian People (Sydney), 20 September 1902, page 9.
In early February 1903, 'Zif', described as "the lightning sketcher", made his debut as one of the variety entertainers to perform at the weekly Sunday concert series at the Golden Gate Hall.Mr. W. Young, the sole proprietor..., Sydney Sportsman, 11 February 1903, page 2. In March 1903, it was reported that Dunstan and his wife Alice had been "doing a neat little sketch at some of the music halls", adding that "his rapid sketch work and his wife's sweet singing have won for them a gratifying amount of success".Zif Dunstan has, with his wife..., The Newsletter, 21 March 1903, page 7.
In December 1904, Truth newspaper published six sequential illustrations by Dunstan (each with accompanying verse), titled 'The Prostitute's Progress: From Country Home to Chinese Hovel'. His illustrations were an obvious reference to Hogarth's influential 'A Harlot's Progress'. The subject of Dunstan's morality tale is a "virtuous girl" from the bush who comes to the city and accepts the gift of "a nice frock" from "the tempter"; in the final panel, in a Chinese opium den, "her mis'ry was ended by Death".The Prostitute's Progress, Truth (Sydney), 18 December 1904, page 5; Note: the panels read from top to bottom (not left to right).
In about 1905, Dunstan produced a set of colour postcards named 'In Borrowed Plumes', with themes of political satire, that were published by the NSW Bookstall Company. One example is a caricature of Sir Harry Rawson, Governor of New South Wales, labelled "Sir Harry Rawson in Swagmans Attire".Lot 121: Australia, invaluable website; accessed 29 August 2025. Other postcards in the set depicted Alfred Deakin in a "Prehistoric Silver Tongued Orators' Costume" and George Reid as a knight in armour in "George Lauri's 'Orchid' Costume".Political Postcards, artist postcards – a case study, Ephemera Society of Australia Inc. website; accessed 29 August 2025.Lot#737 Postcards, Leski Auctions website; accessed 29 August 2025.
Dunstan also began to sell cartoons to other illustrated newspapers, increasingly so from about 1905 onwards. He contributed theatrical caricatures and cartoons to The Bulletin and may have written theatre reviews for the magazine as well. His cartoons were occasionally published in The Arrow.Rising to the Occasion, The Arrow (Sydney), 11 February 1905, page 5; "Safe" Robbery, The Arrow, 4 January 1908, page 8.
In about January 1908, Dunstan toured Tasmania with his "lightning sketch" act.Zif Dunstan has returned..., The Worker, 30 January 1908, page 27. In February 1908, he performed his "lightning-sketch turn" as part of a variety programme at Sydney's National Amphitheatre.At present Zif Dunstan's..., The Worker, 13 February 1908, page 27. In April 1908, Dunstan was appointed secretary of the Australian Vaudeville Association.A.V.A. Gossip, Sydney Sportsman, 25 March 1908, page 2.
In 1909 Dunstan was one of three cartoonists, along with Charles Henry Hunt and Hugh Maclean, producing comic strips for Sydney's weekly Sunday Times newspaper (magazine section: 'For Boys and Girls'). Dunstan's comic strip 'Dear Little Willie', about a boy who asks lots of questions, was published over three weeks from 23 May to 6 June 1909.Dear Little Willie, Sunday Times (Sydney), 23 May 1909, page 12; Dear Little Willie, Sunday Times (Sydney), 30 May 1909, page 12; Dear Little Willie, Sunday Times (Sydney), 6 June 1909, page 12.
Dunstan's cartoons and caricatures were occasionally published in the Sydney Sportsman from 1905 to 1910, but during the first half of 1911 until the end of May, they became a regular feature of the weekly newspaper.Examples include: Jack Gavin, Sydney Sportsman, 8 February 1911, page 3; Lucky Jack Leverson, Sydney Sportsman, 31 May 1911, page 7.
By January 1912, Dunstan had begun contributing cartoons and illustrations to The International Socialist newspaper.New Year Gifts to the People, The International Socialist (Sydney), 6 January 1912, page 1. In 1912 Dunstan contributed a full page illustration for a sixteen-page pamphlet by H. E. Holland titled The Crime of Conscription. Dunstan's 'The Seven Ages of a Conscript' (with verse "by W.R.W.") was made up of seven panels, the first depicting the conscript as an infant ("List'ning intently to old soldier's tales") and the last showing a one-legged returned soldier watching a wealthy businessman drive past in his chauffeur-driven car.H. E. Holland (1912), The Crime of Conscription, Sydney: Marxian Press, page 2.
By 1913 Zif Dunstan's cartoons were more frequently published in the pages of The International Socialist. His comic strip 'The Adventures of William Mug' appeared on a semi-regular basis in the newspaper from 19 July 1913 until 26 September 1914. The character 'William Mug' represented the average working man, abused and down-trodden but unable to recognise the virtues of socialism.Zif Dunstan, Lambiek Comiclopedia website; accessed 28 August 2025.Panel by Panel: Part One – Newspaper Strips, ComicOz website; accessed 28 August 2025. Dunstan's 'William Mug' comic strip directed its derision at politicians, big business, conscription, landlords, royalty, the police, the judiciary and snobbish class values, encounters with which the clueless protagonist would proclaim "there's something wrong somewhere".Examples: The Adventures of William Mug, The International Socialist (Sydney), 23 August 1913, page 1; The Adventures of William Mug, The International Socialist, 5 September 1914, page 1. Dunstan's 'everyman' character began to also appear in individual cartoons.Examples: Mug's Dilemma, The International Socialist (Sydney), 4 July 1914, page 1; 20,000 Mugs Wanted, The International Socialist, 22 August 1914, page 1; The Charity Organiser, The International Socialist, 5 December 1914, page 1.
In September 1913, Dunstan departed for New Zealand to perform as a "comedy cartoonist" on the Fuller-Brennan vaudeville circuit.Zif Dunstan's Dream, The Theatre Magazine, 1 October 1913, page 29.
During this period in his life, Zif Dunstan was a committed socialist. By about 1914, his marriage had broken down, with Zif and Alice going their separate ways. In November 1914, a warrant was issued for Dunstan's arrest, "charged with wife desertion", the complainant being Alice Dunstan of 32 Grose Street in Camperdown. He was described as " sketch artist, recently employed at Zaroks Picture Show, Enmore", with a physical description of being "36 years of age, 5 feet 9 inches high, medium build, dark complexion and hair, clean shaven, blue eyes".Sydney, New South Wales Police Gazette and Weekly Record of Crime (Sydney), 18 November 1914 (Issue No. 46), page 555.
Cessnock