sketcher and harbour master, was born in England, a godson of the eminent cartoonist George Cruikshank, who was said by the family to have helped Forsyth with his drawing until the lad went to sea at the age of fourteen. With his wife, Maria, Forsyth came to Fremantle, Western Australia, in 1866. Initially employed as a water police constable, he became assistant pilot at Rottnest Island in 1869. In 1874 he was appointed harbour master at Fremantle, a position he held until dismissed in 1886. He held office in the Fremantle Lodge of Oddfellows in 1874 and was first commander of the Fremantle Naval Volunteers (1879-84).
Three oval pen, ink and watercolour sketches (Fremantle City Library), variously signed G.A. Forsyth, G.A.F. and G.F., depict Harbour Master’s House and Court House, Fremantle WA (1870), Government House, Rottnest Island, West Australia (1870) and Pilot House, Rottnest (c. 1870). The Western Australian Museum holds two watercolours: a view of the Richmond Hotel at Fremantle initialled 'G.A.D.F.’ and an unsigned sketch of one of the first pilot cutters at Fremantle (donated by Forsyth’s great-grandson).
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- Writers:
- Staff Writer
- Date written:
- 1992
- Last updated:
- 2011
