(b Melbourne, 21 April 1915; d Brisbane, 19 April 1985). Australian folksong collector and poet. After graduating in modern languages from Cambridge University, Manifold became active in Baroque music circles in London. He served with the intelligence corps during World War II. His first book of poems was published in New York in 1946 and soon afterwards he wrote a handbook on the history and repertory of the recorder, The Amorous Flute (London, 1948). On his return to Australia he completed the innovative study, The Music in English Drama, from Shakespeare to Purcell (London, 1956), which for many years was the standard reference book used by English theatre companies. His major musical contribution began in the 1950s when he started to collect Australian folksongs. These songs were published in broadsheet editions as Bandicoot Ballads (Lower Fern Tree Gulley, Victoria, 1955) and The Penguin Australian Song Book (Harmondsworth, 1964). He also wrote two studies on Australian folk music entitled The Violin, the Banjo & the Bones (Melbourne, 1957) and Who Wrote the Ballads? (Sydney, 1964), a fine partly speculative investigation of the origins of the tradition. Further information on his career can be found in R. Hall: J.S. Manifold: an Introduction to the Man and his Work (St Lucia, Queensland, 1978).
RODNEY HALL