Camperdown Cemetery Newtown in Inner West Council, New South Wales, Australia — Oceania

Isaac Nathan (1792-1864)

Photographed by David Brooks, 2026

1. Isaac Nathan (1792-1864) Father of Australian Music Marker

Inscription.
Isaac Nathan (1792–1864)
Anglo-Jewish Émigré Australian
Father of Australian Music

Singing Master · Composer · Scholar · Ethnomusicologist · Reformer · Secret Agent

“He laid the foundations of creative music, professional concert life, and serious opera in Australia. His spirit is still with us, a formative part of the Australian ethos.” — Peter Sculthorpe

“Harmony is perceivable in all living things; blending itself with the finer and more exquisite feelings of the soul; and bends them to kindness and virtue.” — Musurgia Vocalis

Isaac Nathan Society · Canterbury Jewish Historical Society · Jewish American Society for Historic Preservation · 2026

Erected 2026 by Jewish American Society for Historic Preservation, Canterbury Jewish Historical Society, Isaac Nathan Society.

Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Arts, Letters, Music. In addition, it is included in the Jewish American Society for Historic Preservation. series list.

Location. 33° 53.683′ S, 151° 10.8′ E. Marker is in Newtown, New South Wales, in Inner West

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Council. It is in Camperdown Cemetery Newtown. It can be reached from Church Street, on the right when traveling south. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 189 Church Street, Newtown NSW 2042, Australia. Touch for directions.

Regionally, it is in Oceania,

in Australasia,

in the Pacific Ocean,

in South Pacific,

on the Pacific Rim,

in the Western World,

and in the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once a British colony.

Other nearby markers. At least 4 other markers are within 16 kilometers of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Legacy (approx. 4.7 kilometers away); Captain Matthew Flinders R.N. (approx. 5.4 kilometers away); Mrs Macquaries Chair (approx. 5.5 kilometers away); Marine Parade (approx. 14.8 kilometers away).

Also see . . .
1. Isaac Nathan.

Isaac Nathan (1792 – 15 January 1864) was an Anglo-Jewish emigre Australian musician, composer, musicologist, and music educator, who has been called the "father of Australian music", having assisted the careers of numerous colonial musicians during his twenty-year residence in Australia. He is best known for the success
Photographed by David Brooks, 2026

2. Isaac Nathan (1792-1864) Marker
of his Hebrew Melodies (1815–1840) in London. He became a composer of popular operatic comedies in the Royal Theatres (1823–1833), introduced below. After emigrating to Australia in 1840, Nathan wrote Australia's first operas Merry Freaks in Troublous Times (1843) and Don John of Austria (1847) Nathan also wrote the Australian Melodies, which entangled fragments of Aboriginal songlines with European musical traditions.

Official secret service for the Royal Family

From 1837 to 1839, Nathan was engaged by King William IV to protect the British royal family. He discovered a plot and proposed working as a secret agent to purchased 500 copies of a book called The Secret History before it could reach public readership.

(Submitted on September 11, 2026, by Jerry Klinger of Boynton Beach, Florida.)

2. Isaac Nathan - "Australia's first composer".

Isaac Nathan was born in Canterbury, England in 1790. While in London he met the poet, Byron, setting some of his words to music, worked as a music librarian to King George IV and, according to some accounts, acted as a royal spy. He ran into financial troubles and emigrated to Australia,
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arriving in Sydney in April 1841. Nathan rapidly established himself as a singing instructor, forming a musical society at St Mary’s Cathedral and another later close by at St James’s Church. In 1844 he directed the music at the dedication of the York Street Synagogue. He composed several operas, the most famous of which was Don John of Austria, the first opera to be written, composed and produced in Australia.

(Submitted on September 11, 2026, by Jerry Klinger of Boynton Beach, Florida.)

Credits. This page was last revised on September 11, 2026. It was originally submitted on September 11, 2026, by Jerry Klinger of Boynton Beach, Florida. This page has been viewed 35 times since then. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on September 11, 2026, by Jerry Klinger of Boynton Beach, Florida. • Andrew Ruppenstein was the editor who published this page.