Alfred Ronalds (10 July 1802 – 23 April 1860) was an English author, artisan, and Australian pioneer, best known for his book The Fly-fisher's Entomology.
He was unsuited to the commercial world, however, and instead spent his time developing his scientific, practical, and artistic skills with Sir Francis.
[2] In 1829 he moved to Staffordshire, renting the Lee Grange farm near Lichfield, formerly owned by Francis Perceval Eliot.
After his marriage to Margaret Bond of Tixall in 1831, they settled at the property of Lea Fields near Gratwich, where he focused on fly fishing.
[3] The family relocated to Wales in 1843, first living on the shore of Tal-y-llyn Lake, and then in the parish of Llanelwedd, where Margaret died after giving birth to their eighth child.
[5] Ronalds is the progenitor of 52 grandchildren, 294 great-great-grandchildren and many more of subsequent generations, some of whom have made significant contributions to Australia's development in diverse fields.
[6] Ronalds began fly fishing with his family as a child, learning the craft on rivers near their homes around London.
Copyright and control then passed to Longman for the 5th through 9th editions, and an editor called Piscator was employed who made many changes to the book.
[2] An early record of Ronalds' artistic talent is the "exquisite delineations"[9] of insects and artificial flies that were the heart of his book.