Fatty Finn Goes Fishing
An Australian Icon Comes to Iluka
Sydney Wentworth (Syd) Nicholls (1896-1977) was the creator of one of Australia’s favourite comic strips, Fatty Finn (1924-1977). It followed the weekly high jinks of a rambunctious schoolboy and was drawn in a 1920s style which kept the series frozen in time.
Though Nicholls predominantly lived in Sydney throughout his life, the success of his comic meant that he was able to regularly holiday with his family. As an avid fisherman, a small town of only two hundred people at the mouth of the Clarence River caught his eye.
Only accessible by ferry, Iluka was home to a tight-knit community who were soon buzzing with his arrival. While Nicholls became a local celebrity, he would soon choose to share his limelight. Strips inspired by his time in town began appearing in the series, featuring local haunts like the Iluka Fishing Co-op, the old ice works, and Sedgers Reef.
But it wasn’t just the setting that found its way into his comic world. One day, local Poppy Marsh was chatting to Nicholls and suggested he go fishing at the Co-op at high tide – the best time to wet a line. Imagine her surprise when ‘Aunt Poppy’ appeared in a new Fatty Finn adventure months after their little chat!
Over the decades, Nicholls became more of a fixture in town and forged great friendships. Townsfolk kept clippings of the strip themselves, but he also gifted them. One of these comic strips was given to his friend, Ces Sedger, and was hung proudly in the local hotel.
Years later, they would be donated to the Iluka Museum to make sure memories of Nicholls’ time in town weren’t forgotten.
