# Varney Monk
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{{Short description|Australian pianist and composer (1892–1967)}}
thumb|upright=1.5|Monk in 1933
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2016}}
{{Use Australian English|date=October 2016}}
'''Varney Monk''' (born '''Isabel Varney Desmond Peterson'''; 18 January 1892 – 7 February 1967) was an Australian pianist and composer, best known for writing the musicals ''[Collits' Inn](/source/Collits'_Inn_(musical))'' (1932) and ''[The Cedar Tree](/source/The_Cedar_Tree_(musical))'' (1934). ''Collits' Inn'' was described by the ''Sydney Morning Herald'' as "an Australian opera".[''The Sydney Morning Herald'', 6 December 1932. p. 15.]
From families of Scottish heritage and musical ability, her father was a solicitor. Soon after her birth in [Bacchus Marsh](/source/Bacchus_Marsh), the family moved to Tasmania.[{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article254736980 |title=Bacchus Marsh her birthplace. |newspaper=Melton Express |location=Victoria, Australia |date=10 March 1934 |access-date=9 February 2020 |page=3 |via=Trove }}] Monk's mother died when Monk was aged 11, and her father died in 1929.
During her career, she wrote more than 150 songs.[[http://www.nla.gov.au/ms/findaids/2294.html Papers of Varney Monk] at [National Library of Australia](/source/National_Library_of_Australia)] Her first song was published when she was 13 years old,[{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article234639812 |title=True Australian Song-Writer |newspaper=Smith's Weekly |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=22 September 1945 |access-date=9 February 2020 |page=13 |via=Trove }}] and by 1934, Monk had won the best song in an Australian Radio Competition with "Some distant day", and the 1933 Broken Hill Jubilee Song Competition.[
{{cite AuDB |first=Helen|last=Bainton|title=Monk, Cyril Farnsworth (1882–1970) |volume=10 |edition= |year=1986 |id2=monk-cyril-farnsworth-7625 |access-date=22 January 2019}}] She had one son and one daughter, and lived in [Mosman](/source/Mosman%2C_New_South_Wales), Sydney, in later life.