Varney Monk

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 and The Cedar Tree (1934). Collits' Inn was described by the Sydney Morning Herald as "an Australian opera".

From families of Scottish heritage and musical ability, her father was a solicitor. Soon after her birth in Bacchus Marsh, the family moved to Tasmania. Monk's mother died when Monk was aged 11, and her father died in 1929.

During her career, she wrote more than 150 songs. Her first song was published when she was 13 years old, 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. She had one son and one daughter, and lived in Mosman, Sydney, in later life.