The Court Is Short!

Recent reports about the main swimming pool used for the Olympic Games in Paris possibly being two shallow brought back memories of some of the articles that my father wrote in The Argus newspaper. Dad was known as a stirrer and if he thought something was wrong he brought it to the attention of the public, usually in his Why Keep It Quiet? column.

Each year, in the 1950s, we used to spend the summer holidays on my grandparents' farm in Queensland. In January 1956 the Australian Tennis Championships were held in Brisbane so Dad covered the tournament for The Argus. This was the first time that the tournament had been held at these courts and it had not all been plain sailing. I remember Dad, when he returned to the farm, telling the family about a problem that he has discovered with one of the tennis courts.

When I heard about the swimming pool in Paris I decided to investigate the tennis court story so I did a search in Trove.

On Friday 27 January two semi-finals had been played on a court which was two feet too short at one end. The players had noticed the discrepancy but did not make an official complaint. However when some journalists, including my father heard of it they decided to investigate. They were assured by the tournament committee that the groundsman had verified that the court measurements were correct. When the journalists decided to double check for themselves an official tried to prevent them until the Q L T A vice-president said to let them check the measurements.

Measuring the northern end of the court with a foot ruler showed the length to be correct - 21 feet. However the southern end measured 18 feet, eleven inches.

No more matches were to be played on the court so the matter was closed. Dad did comment that the Q L T A had worked hard to make the tournament a success and it was unfortunate that this mistake had occurred.

Almost three weeks later Dad was reporting on another sporting venue problem. In Sydney one of the pools hosting events for Australian Swimming Championships had a hole in a lane wall. This had been known for some time and reported but nothing had been done to rectify the problem at the Enfield Pool. 

When the women's championship races had been held at the pool the women refused to race in lane five to avoid encountering the hole when they made the turn at the end of the lane. The 800 yard race and 1650 yard race, plus the diving were the men's events scheduled to be held at the pool. The local council had been informed of the problem but so far nothing had been done to repair the hole.

 And this was nine or ten months before the Melbourne Olympic Games!

At the beginning of his report on the defective swimming pool Dad had commented - It won't be long before Australian sporting organisations start paying me good money to stop at home.

 ... and now the court is short - The Argus 28 January 1956

Sherlock Strikes Again - The Argus 16 February 1956 

Melbourne Olympic Games - 1956

I recently gave two more talks about the Melbourne Olympic Games where I have met many people with memories and family involvement with the games.

When I showed a slide of a picture of the Opening Ceremony on the cover of the Australian Women's Weekly a gentleman at one talk asked me to stop at the picture and pointed out two white squares in the picture. The two white squares are the Melbourne Olympic Choir.

He was a member of a combined community choir - the Melbourne Olympic Choir - that sang at the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games. Lloyd gave me notes that he had written about his experiences with the choir which consisted members of community choirs throughout Victoria. As well as singing at the Opening Ceremony the choir performed at a number of events including the Closing Ceremony.

Other people at the meeting were Betty who, as a member of the St John's Ambulance Brigade, attended many of the events working with that organisation.

Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences

Presentation books showing pictures of Melbourne and surrounding areas were presented to members of the Olympic Committee who would eventually vote for the city to host the 1956 Olympic Games. Three special invitation books with lambs’ wool covers decorated with jewels were presented to three people including the King of England and the President of the OIC. Other copies were also covered with lambs’ wool and decorated with an enamelled emblem. Copies were also covered with suede plus enamelled emblems. The books were presented to member of the International Olympic Committee in 1948 and also to local supporters of the project. The company that printed the books was Spicers & Detmold in Coburg and one of the ladies present at the meeting was a daughter of one of the printers who made the books.

A copy of the book with the invitation

The Melbourne Invitation Committee extends a most cordial invitation to the esteemed International Olympic Committee to celebrate the XVI Olympiad in Melbourne, Australia, in 1956. 
A second book, published as a supplement to the first book, was published in January 1949 and was posted to all delegates of the Olympic Committee who would decide who would host the Games in 1956.
 
Another lady told us that her mother helped make the presentation cushions used for medal presentations at the Melbourne Olympic Games.
 

Official Report of the Organising Committee for the Games of the XVI Olympiad Melbourne 1956

When we were discussing who attended any events at the Olympic Games one couple laughed and the husband said that he went to the Closing Ceremony because the soccer final was played before the ceremony and he is a soccer fan. Meanwhile his wife stayed home and looked after the baby.

Program for the Closing Ceremony

Another connection to the Melbourne Olympic Games was one lady who said that she trained in athletics with Betty Cuthbert. At the Melbourne Olympic Games Betty Cuthbert won the 100m and 200m and was in the Australian 4 x 100m relay team which also won gold.

Marlene Matthews with Betty Cuthbert

The water polo incident in the Hungary and Russia  match was also mentioned in the game. The book by Harry Blutstein, Cold War Games, covers this unfortunate incident. This incident was later referred to as 'blood in the water'.

Blood in the Water

At the second talk the father of one lady was involved in the printing of the tickets for the Melbourne Olympic Games.

The three talks that I have given have provided additional information about the Melbourne Olympic Games.

Olympic Games 1956 - more memorabilia

In preparation for another talk about the Olympic Games held in Melbourne in 1956 I now have some more memorabilia relating to the Melbourne Games and to my father.

Journalists reporting on the Melbourne Olympic Games were issued with a pass allowing them entrance to all venues during the period of the Games.

The Olympic Village Official Information Book provides basic information about the accommodation for those those staying at the Olympic Village in Heidelberg.

Click on image to enlarge

The information in this booklet provides examples of living in the 1950s with instructions for the use of bath heaters, gas coppers and other appliances. I also thought that it was interesting that steam irons and washing machines were only available in the Women's Quarters.

The Official Guide to the Olympic Games was published by the Organising Committee for the Melbourne Games. The guide contained a brief history of the Olympic Games, information about the Modern Games , venues, a programme of events, ticket prices, maps of venues plus information for tourists including information about transport, restaurants, sights to see, banking, postage etc.

The 1956 edition of The A T F S Olympic Handbook produced by the Association of Track and Field Statisticians was the third edition of this publication. It contains the official world track and field records for events from 1896 until 1952 as well as an all time world list for athletic events stating name,time, place and date event occurred. There is also  list if the world's best performances of all time.

The General Rules and Special Sports Regulations for the XVI Olympiad is a well used publication in my father's collection. It contains a detailed program for all events, maps (including gradients) for events held outside stadiums, general rules relating to the staging of the Games plus detailed regulations for individual sports.

The Melbourne Olympic Games were held from Thursday 22 November to Saturday 8 December. No events were held in Sundays. Programs were produced for each event for each day of competition. So far we have found programs for swimming, cycling and boxing among Dad's collection. I am still looking for the Dad's copy of the program for the Opening Ceremony.

In 1957 a booklet containing Australian Team Reports of the Olympic Games Melbourne 1956 was published. As well as lists of officials there was a general summary report followed by more detailed reports, often with photographs, for individual sports. There was a list of all the Olympic champions for the Games plus a list of Olympic placings by Australian representatives since the first Olympic Games in 1896.


These items, together with information on other posts on the Melbourne Olympic Games in this blog, help tell part of the story of an important sporting event in Melbourne's history.

The Stawell Gift

Living in a family where sport was an important part of our life, I always knew that the Stawell Gift was run each year at Easter.

Since 1878 (except for four years during the Second World War) an athletics carnival has been held in Stawell with the feature race being the Stawell Gift. Since 1898 the event has been held at Central Park.

Central Park, Stawell - Heritage Council Victoria

My father, Ken Moses, was a sports' journalist in the late 1940s and the 1950s and one of the areas of sport that he covered, initially for The Sun News Pictorial then from 1950 for The Argus, was athletics, including the Stawell Gift. This meant that each year he would disappear to Stawell, in western Victoria, for several days. After The Argus ceased publication in January 1956 Dad maintained his interest in the Stawell Gift and continued to visit Stawell for this athletics carnival from time to time.

Searching in Trove for "Ken Moses" AND "Stawell Gift" produced 97 articles that Dad wrote about the Stawell Gift from 1950 to 1955. Some of these references to the Stawell Gift appeared throughout the year in his 'Why Keep it Quiet? column while there are also articles covering the event each year.

In 1955 an article written by Dad was published in The Argus Weekender (9 April 1955) - 'Anything happens at Stawell' where he recounted some of the more sensational events that had occurred  throughout the history of the race. (article)

Using Google I located an article available via PressReader published in the Seymour Telegraph 5 December 2012 entitled 'Full of Life'. The article was an interview with an 86 year old Les Pianta who had been involved in athletics in the 1940s. In the article Les described how he became the Stawell Gift favourite in 1947. "I won alot of races around this area, I got a bit of a name for myself and somehow or other this Ken Moses (Sports Editor of Melbourne's The Sun) got to hear about it and that's how it started." Les did not make the finals. I am sure that Dad would have been amused by the promotion to sports' editor if he had seen this article.

Many years later I worked with a colleague who had been involved with professional athletics as a runner and a trainer and who for many years had attended the Stawell Gift. He spoke of some of the journalists who regularly covered the event and knew of my father. I gained the impression that the Stawell Gift was a special place to be each year.

One afternoon we called into Stawell when exploring part of western Victoria and made a visit to Central Park. I wanted to see the place that was so special to many followers of athletics including Dad. My father had been dead for many years but I was able to visit a place where he had enjoyed working.

In 2025 we once again stopped at the athletics ground in Stawell so that I could have another look at the place that meant so much to my father.

Athletics mosaic

Media / Press Room

Old Grandstand

A number of books have been written about the Stawell Gift:
Murray Macpherson, Twelve seconds to glory: the official history of the Stawell Gift (2014)
Gary Watt. The Stawell Gift almanac: history of the Stawell Gift (2008)
John Perry. The quick and the dead: Stawell and its race through time (2002)

Additional information:
Stall Gift history
Heritage Council Victoria - Central Park, Stawell

A selection of 1940s and 1950s Stawell Gift finals available online:
Stawell Gift final - 1946 - YouTube
Stawell Gift final - 1947 - YouTube
Stawell Gift final - 1951 - YouTube
Stawell Gift final - 1953 - YouTube 

Selection of other years:
Stawell Gift final - 1927 - YouTube 
Stawell Gift finals - 1971-1989 - YouTube

#52Ancestors - Week 46 - Random Fact

One of my bearded ancestors in the last #52Ancestors post, Alfred Percy Lord, joined the local bowling club when he retired to Manly.

In November 1905 Alfred was chosen to play in a private New South Wales team against South Australia in Adelaide. This team also played matches against Victoria. The Adelaide Advertister and newspapers from New South Wales and Melbourne reported the activities of this touring team.

Sydney Mail and NSW Advertiser 8 Nov 1905

Alfred was not the only family member in this team - Harry Moses, the son of my great grandfather's brother, was also a member. Harry was well known in New South Wales as a cricketer and, as well as being a member of the New South Wales team, he played six games for Australia against England. Reports show that he was also a good lawn bowler and, after the tournaments against Victoria and South Australia in the Sydney team, he was selected in the official New South Wales team for another tournament.

Lawn bowls had been played in the colony from at least 1845 when advertisements appeared in newspapers advising of games in various locations. A number of hotels, including several Woolpack Inns, established bowling rinks. The first recognised bowls club in New South Wales was the Parramatta (Woolpack) Club which was established in 1869. Other clubs followed.

In May 1880 it was decided to form a bowling association and the first clubs to join were Parramatta, Annandale and Sydney (City). Other, but not all, clubs joined the New South Wales Bowling Association. The Victorian Bowling Association, with ten clubs, was also formed in 1880.

Inter-colonial matches between New South Wales and Victoria were quickly established. As other states also formed bowling associations inter-colonial matches between these states were also held. The first visit of a New South Wales side to New Zealand occurred in January 1900. In 1900 there were plans to establish the Australasian Bowling Association and in the following year the first accredited team of Australasian bowlers toured in the United Kingdom.

Newspaper reports discovered via Trove describe how the Sydney team travelled to Melbourne and then to Adelaide by train for the competitions. They played a number of matches in each city. Each match appears to have been played on five rinks with teams of four players on each side.

Evening Journal (Adelaide) 24 Nov 1905

The visiting players were well entertained during their visit to Melbourne and Adelaide as can be seen in the following newspaper report:

Critic (Adelaide) 22 Nov 1905

Generally a good time appears to have been had by all.

Alfred and Harry are from different branches of my family tree but they obviously knew each other through the game of lawn bowls.
 

Further reading:
History of Bowls in Australia

New South Wales Bowls to 1900

Centenary: the history of the Royal New South Wales Bowling Association 1880-1980.

#52Ancestors - Week 41 - Sport

Anyone investigating this Family Connections blog will notice, in the Labels column, a special section for Sport. Sport is definitely a theme in my family history. I have always been aware of sport, probably because my father was a sports journalist and sporting events were therefore definitely part of my life. Family history research, however, has also revealed many sporting connections in the family story.

Since the first horse race meeting in Sydney in 1810 there has been family involvement with horse racing including the trainer of Archer, the first Melbourne Cup winner, and owners of Poitrel, winner of the 1920 Melbourne Cup. Family members for generations have played, and continue to play, cricket including Harry Moses who played cricket for Australia in 1887. And then there is golf, another sport that family members have played.

Eleanora Mary Hutton (daughter of my great x2 uncle) for many years was a well known female golfer in Victoria. Nell, as she was known, was born in 1908 and, following articles in Trove, was playing competitive golf from the early 1930s into the 1950s.

An article in the Sydney Sun (23 August 1936) reported that 'Miss Nell Hutton, only in the early twenties, has held the Eastern Club (Victoria) Club championship for the last four years'. Another article in the same paper (2 September 1936) reported that Nell would be a future champion:

If one combed Australia for future champions, one could not do better than pin faith to the prospects of the Victorian, Miss Nell Hutton. Although she went down to Miss Oliver Kay yesterday, Miss Hutton has been quite the most outstanding of all the Australians who took part in the open championship tournament in Adelaide. Ever since she hit off on Monday in the interstate match her game has demanded attention, for she has a command of every club. She is inclined to a 'starter's' complex and rarely warms up right from the start, but her future is quite assured. She plays golf with a smile, spreads encouragement to others less fortunate and her attitude of thorough sportsmanship makes Australia proud of her.

Nell's name frequently appears in the newspaper reports of golfing events throughout Australia during the 1930s. In 1936 she was a member of the successful Australian team which retained the Tasman Cup that year while in 1937 Nell was the winner of the Victorian Women's Amateur Golf Championship.

In 1938 Nell and fellow golfer, Bertha Cheney, left for a golfing holiday in England which included playing in the British Championships.

News (Adelaide) 31 March 1938

Another article on their proposed adventure appeared in the Herald 26 March 1938:

Two clever young golfers, Miss Nell Hutton and Miss Bertha Cheney, both members of Eastern Golf Club Associates, are off in the Orcades on Tuesday for a holiday abroad. They are taking their golf clubs with them, but their holiday is not to be primarily a golfing one, Miss Hutton tells me. "We shall play In the British championships," she said, "and then we shall forget serious golf and go sightseeing." They will get a car and motor through England, Scotland, and Wales, and are planning, too, a trip to Norway. All the golf they will have will be an odd game or two when they reach a town with a course which attracts them, and they happen to feel like playing.

The following year Nell married William Hamilton Smithett, a tennis coach and golfer. Their son, Bill, was born in 1941. From 1946 Nell's name starts appearing again in the sports reports. Meanwhile another member of the family was also learning golf.

Launceston Examiner 5 June 1946

In 1948 Nell was runner-up in the Victorian Amateur Golf Championship but she was announced  the top Victorian female golfer for the season winning the Victorian Women’s Champion of Champions.

For a number of years the winner of the Victorian Women's Stroke Play received the Nell Smithett Trophy. Currently the Horsham Golf Club awards the Nell Smithett Memorial Trophy for a ladies team event. Nell had moved to Horsham and was ladies' champion 1964-1967 and Wimmera Champion in 1965. Nell died at Horsham in November 1969. 

Selection of articles:
Miss Hutton a Future Champion -  Sun (Sydney) 2 September 1936
Tasman Cup Retained by Australia Age 4 September 1936
Miss Nell Hutton's Golf Title Argus 10 July 1937

Nell Smithett Memorial Trophy - Wimmera Mail Times 23 October 2016
Nell Smithett Memorial Trophy competition 2018 

The Melbourne Cup - a family connection

This was the first of six short pieces of writing, with a reflective statement, which was part of the first assessment for Writing the Family Saga.

Horses keep appearing in my family story.

The family association with horse racing began in 1810 when two of my convict ancestors, Simeon Lord and George Guest, raced horses at the first Sydney race meeting. Research shows that other family members have also owned and or trained race horses on their properties while my family currently participates in a small horse racing syndicate.

Horse racing has therefore been a part time interest in the family but imagine having family connections with the Melbourne Cup, the pinnacle of horse racing in Australia. Exploring my family story has shown not one but two links to this famous event.

Australian legend records that Archer won the horse race that was to become the Melbourne Cup in 1861 and again in 1862. Archer’s trainer, Etienne de Mestre, also trained three other Melbourne Cup winners, Tim Whiffler in 1867, Chester in 1877 and Calamia in 1878. Being the winning trainer of horses in this race five times was a record Etienne held until Bart Cummings came on the scene. Recently I discovered that Etienne de Mestre was the grandson of Mary Hyde, my great (x3) grandmother, via her first marriage.

Almost sixty years later another family link to the Melbourne Cup was forged when the race was won by Poitrel in 1920. This horse was owned by Bill and Fred Moses, nephews of my grandfather, George Moses. ‘The race that stops the nation’ therefore holds a special place in the family story.

Reflective statement:
Family history is not just studying the members in the direct family line. Exploring the stories of brothers and sisters of ancestors expands and adds to the flavour of the family story. It was only by exploring the lives of extended family that I discovered the involvement of two branches of the family in Melbourne Cup history. The history of sport, including horse racing, is also an important aspect of Australian social history as well as being part of my family story.

References:
'Sydney Races', Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 20 October 1810, p 2
'Victoria Turf Club Spring Meeting', The Argus, 9 November 1861, p 5
‘A popular victory’, The Argus, 3 November 1920, p 10

Off to the Races

This was the third assignment submitted for Writing the Family Saga. Once again the word limit was 750 words plus a reflection.

As Etienne and his staff walked three horses along the shady bank of the Shoalhaven River, they could not have imagined that they were walking into history. Although Etienne’s horses regularly travelled by ship to Sydney to race, this time they would transfer to another steamship for the journey to Melbourne.

Etienne de Mestre was a successful trainer in New South Wales. On his dairy property, Terara, Etienne had built training stables plus a racecourse. Usually Etienne was content to race the horses in New South Wales. However when a new handicap race in Melbourne was announced, he decided to enter. Rivalry between New South Wales and Victoria was strong, so imagine the prestige if one of his horses won this inaugural race."

Travelling to Melbourne with horses aboard a small steamship, City of Melbourne, was not without risk. Ships did not always arrive safely and several race horses were lost at sea. However it was, realistically, the only way to get the horses to Melbourne.  Before the race, the de Mestre horses were stabled away from public view at South Yarra and trained at St Kilda Beach. Consequently, when Etienne and his horses arrived at Flemington, not many race goers took notice of the horses from the north.

On Thursday 7 November 1861 Archer lined up in front of a relatively small crowd of 4,000 for his first race in Melbourne. News of the death of Burke and Wills reached Melbourne only a few days before, possibly deterred many people from attending the race meeting. 

The favourite for the two mile handicap race was a Victorian horse, Mormon. Although two of the seventeen starters fell during the race, there was no dispute about the winner - Archer defeated Mormon by six lengths.

The following year Archer, returning to Flemington, carried the top weight of ten stone 2 pounds. Archer defeated Mormon by ten lengths. 

Although Archer was entered for the third Melbourne Cup in 1863, his application was rejected as the Separation Day holiday delayed its delivery. Victorian racing authorities therefore prevented Archer from racing at Flemington for a third time.

However, this was not the end of Etienne’s involvement with the Melbourne Cup. In 1867 he trained Tim Whiffler to a win, as well as Chester in 1877 and finally Calamia in 1878. Being a five time Melbourne Cup winning trainer was a record only broken many years later by Bart Cummings. 

The training achievements of Etienne de Mestre make the Melbourne Cup a significant event in the family saga. However, research shows that another branch of the family produced the owners of the winner of the 1920 Melbourne Cup.

William and Fred Moses owned a horse breeding and training property, Arrowfield, on the Hunter River. When one of their horses failed to sell at the 1916 Yearling Sales, the brothers decided to keep him. That horse was Poitrel. Poitrel had a number of defects for a race horse including his upper-jaw being larger than his lower-jaw. The horse’s hooves were also brittle making him an unlikely candidate as a stayer. However, trained by the property’s trainer, Harry Robinson, he had a successful racing career in New South Wales.

Communication had improved by 1920 and, arriving in Melbourne for the Cup, Poitrel’s reputation as a racehorse was well known making him a crowd favourite. His ten stone handicap was only two pound less than the weight carried by Archer in 1862 and five pound less than the weight carried by Carbine when he won in 1890. 

By the 1920s horses from all states participated in the Melbourne Cup – a race that drew huge crowds to Flemington each year. On Tuesday 2 November 1920, more than 110,000 people watched the race. Poitrel initially remained towards the end of the field but eventually wove a path through the other horses, passing his stablemate, Erasmus, 50 yards from the winning post. Poitrel won by half a length. 

According to the newspapers the large and colourful crowd roared their approval as Poitrel won. Although not the favourite, he was heavily backed and the bookmakers consequently did not share the public’s enthusiasm.

As the Governor General presented William and Fred Moses with the Melbourne Cup, they knew that keeping Poitrel was definitely the right decision. During his racing career Poitrel won fifteen times from thirty-seven starts – not a bad record for a horse that no-one wanted.

Etienne de Mestre and the Moses Brothers were not the only members on my extended family tree involved in horse racing. However they are the only ones to have had success at the Melbourne Cup – so far.

Reflection: Sport is a major thread in my Australian family saga. Researching the many branches of the family shows the importance of sport, including cricket, swimming, golf, lawn bowls, hockey, athletics and horse racing, in lives of family members. 

For most family members, sport was primarily a recreational pursuit. However for some it provided a livelihood. Family members, including my father, have also been sport writers. Family participation in sport is therefore an area requiring further investigation.
Trove has made it much easier to find information about events affecting family that may not necessarily be passed down the family by word of mouth. One example is horse racing.

The family connection with horse racing began in 1810 when Simeon Lord and George Guest both had horses participating in the first official racing carnival. Not surprisingly with the dependence in the nineteenth century on horses for farming and transport, opportunities were also taken to race horses throughout the country. Newspapers show family members with training tracks on their properties and racing horses at country race meetings.

Horse racing, particularly the Melbourne Cup, is a national passion. However it was not until I investigated stories of extended family members that I discovered the family connection with this race. I also discovered a story of risk taking – not just in the transportation of horses by sea but also racing a horse no-one wants. 

With the continued involvement of the present generation in sport, including horse racing, this thread in the family saga will continue.

References:
‘Victoria Turf Club Spring Meeting’, The Argus, 9 November 1861, p 5.
‘The Cup Race’. The Argus, Wednesday 3 November, 1920. pp 9 – 10.
Bernstein, D L. First Tuesday in November: the story of the Melbourne Cup. Melbourne: William Heinemann, 1969.
Hutchinson, Garrie. They’re Racing!: the complete story of Australian racing. Ringwood, Viking, 1999.Rolfe, Costa. Winners of the Melbourne Cup: stories that stopped a nation. Fitzroy: Red Dog, 2008.

Horse racing connections

University of Tasmania Family History course - Writing Family History

Week 3 e-tivity - The past interrupted
In this exercise we were asked to write about one moment in the lives of our ancestors. I chose to write about the first race meeting held in New South Wales in 1810. A great (x3) grandfather and a great (x4) grandfather, who probably did not know each other, both had horses taking part in the the three day racing carnival. E-tivities are restricted to no more than 250 words.

Horse racing connections

As we know, family history research can produce unexpected connections. What are the odds of having a third great grandfather and a fourth great grandfather both entering horses in the first race meeting in New South Wales? 

The race meeting at the new racecourse at Hyde Park was a great success attracting large, enthusiastic crowds who gathered to watch three days of racing. Governor Macquarie’s belief that horse racing would provide a place for all colonists to meet may therefore have indirectly impacted upon my family.

Among this crowd was Simeon Lord, a subscriber to the racecourse, who not only attended the races but also entered his horse, Tipsey, in the Ladies’ Cup. No doubt Simeon would have enjoyed watching his horse win the first two mile heat and being placed in the other two, though this effort was not sufficient to win the Cup. 

At the races Simeon may have met another race goer, George Guest, a resident of Van Diemen’s Land who frequently made prolonged trips to New South Wales. George had entered a horse to run on day three of the race meeting and I am sure would have attended the races on other days.

Simeon and George had different business interests and I doubt that their paths would have crossed prior to the race meeting but they certainly could have met at the races. We do know, however, that twenty years later the two families were permanently connected when Simeon’s son married George’s grand-daughter in Hobart.

References:
Posts on horse racing in this blog

NB Horse racing has continued to be an interest in many lines of the family story.

First race meetings in Australia

Melbourne Cup time again. In the past I have added a number of posts to this blog about family connections with the Melbourne Cup and with horse racing in general. Recently I came across articles mentioning Simeon Lord's connection with the introduction of horse racing in New South Wales.

The website of the State Library of New South Wales includes an archived online exhibition - Day at the races: the horse in Australia. In January 1788 five horses arrived in Australia with the First Fleet and by 1810 it was recorded that there were 203 horses in New South Wales. In the early days of the colony horses were rare and expensive and usually only owned by military officers or by free landholders. In October 1810, shortly after Govenor Macquarie arrived in New South Wales, the first official racing carnival was held at the Sydney racecourse, part of the newly created Hyde Park.

One section of the online exhibition states that 'Governor Macquarie inaugurated the first official race meeting at the new Sydney Racecourse. Macquarie saw the racecourse as a perfect neutral meeting place for colonists of all classes: military, convict, emancipist and immigrant.' The racecourse was constructed in August 1810 by members of the 73rd Regiment who came to New South Wales with Macquarie. They 'levelled ground on the eastern edge of the town and marked out the course. The straight commenced at the turn from Park Street into Elizabeth Street, with the grandstand (erected in 1813) and the winning post at the junction of Market and Elizabeth Street, on the present day site of St James Railway Station.' Funding for the project was provided by subscribers.

Searching newpapers in Trove provides details leading up to the first race meeting in Sydney. There is also information about a range of social activities associated with the race meeting.

The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser 21 July 1810 page 1 has a notice about a meeting of the Subscribers to the Sydney Race Course to meet in the Mess Room of the Officers of the 73rd Regiment on Monday at 10 o'clock.

The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser 18 August 1810 page 1 contains a report of a dinner attended by the Subscribers to the Sydney Racecourcse to celebrate the birthday of the Prince of Wales. A number of Toasts were drunk during the evening including to the King, the Queen, the Prince of Wales, the Duke of York and the rest of the Royal Family, Lord Mulgrave and the Navy, Sir David Dundass and the Army, His Excellency Governor Macquarie and the Colony, Mrs Macquarie the Patroness of the Races and the Ladies of the Colony, The Turf etc. The comment was made that 'the evening passed with the utmost convivitality and harmony'.
The report continued:

The RACES are fixed for Monday the 15th of October; and three plates of 50 guineas each will be run for during the week; exclusive of several bye-matches, subscriptions, &c.
This Establishment, altogether novel in this Country, bids fair to acquire celebrity and success from the judicious arrangements under which it has been projected, and the distinguished Auspices under which it has been brought forward, besides the advantages which the Country at large is likely to derive from the improvement of the breed of horses, an object, that in a rising Colony may be calculated upon as conducive to its internal interests and prosperity.
Lieutenant Governor O'CONNELL, Lieutenant Wright, and Mr. Williams are the Stewards elect for the present year.         

The following week John Reddington, the Clerk of the Course, issued a warning in The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser 25 August 1810 page 1:

The Subscribers to the Race Course are requested not to ride the horses over it that they intend to enter for plates or subscriptions at the ensuing races,nor to suffer their servants to train them over it: Any horse that may be seen in training on the Course will not be allowed to start.--By order of the Stewards.

On 19 September a Bachelor's Ball was held by the Subscribers to the Sydney Race Course and was reported to have been a great success. The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser 22 September 1810 page 2.

The Subscribers to the Sydney Race Course held another meeting in the Mess Room of the Officers of the 73rd Regiment on Monday 1 October. The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser 29 September 1810 page 1.

Under the heading, A Card, the following notice appeared in The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser 6 October 1810 page 3 - 'The Subscribers to the Sydney Race Course are informed, that the Stewards have made Arrangements for two Balls during the Race Week, Tuesday and Friday.--Tickets at 7s. 6d. each to be had at Mr. E. Wills's, George Street.'
On page 4 of the same paper - 'The Public are requested not to bring Dogs on the Sydney Race Course; any found thereon after this Notice will be Shot.'

A week before the racing carnival, The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser 13 October 1810 page 2 reminded Subscribers about the two balls then added - 

An ORDINARY for the Subscribers and their Friends each Day of the Races at Mr. Wills's.- Dinner on Table at Five o'Clock.
On Monday the Races commence, and continue Wednesday and Friday. Horses to start each day at one. For general information on the subject of these elegant sports, a Racing Kalendar will be in readiness at nine on Monday morning.-Price 6d.

The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser 20 October 1810 page 2 has a detailed  report of the three day carnival held at Sydney racecourse (Hyde Park) on Monday 15, Wednesday 17 and Friday 19 October. The report for the second day of the race meeting read:

A Cup, value 50 guineas, given by the Ladies of the Colony, for horses of all ages belonging to Subscribers of the Sydney Race Course. The best of 3 2-mile heats. Three year olds to carry 7 st. 4 lb. 4 year olds 8 st. 1lb. 5 year olds 9 st. 2 lb. and aged 10st.
Mr Lord's b. g. Tipsy (Tipsey) 2 yrs old          1 3 2
Mr Oven's ch. m. Bessie 2 yrs old                 2 4 drawn
Mr Williams' r. g. Strawberry 5 yrs old            3 2 2
Capt. Ritchie's gr. g. Chase 6 yrs old             4 1 1
Colonel O'Connell's bl. g. Carlo 6 yrs old        6 dr
Capt. Piper'sch. m. Miss Kitty aged               5 4 4
A good race between Chase and Strawberry the last two heats.
Mr. Wentworth'sb. g. Gig rode by Mr. Bayley, beat Mr. Broughton's bl. g. Jerry, rode by Capt. Ritchie, 3 miles, 40gs. - Gig won easy.

Additional information about the Ladies' Cup was provided:
The Ladies' Cup, which was of very superior workmanship, won by Chance, (Chase) was presented to Captain Ritchie by Mrs Macquarie; who accompanied by His Excellency, honoured each day's Races with her presence, and who, with her usual affability, was pleased to preface the donation with the following short address:
"In the name of the Ladies of New South Wales, I have the pleasure to present you with this Cup. Give me leave to congratulate you on being the successful Candidate for it; and to hope that it is a prelude to future success, and lasting prosperity"

Races at the racecourse at Hyde park continued until the early 1820s. However there were problems in maintaining the surface of the racecourse as shown in Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser 2 February 1811 page 2.

The Non-Subscribers to the Sydney races are hereby strictly forbid driving or riding Horses on the Course, without Permission of the Stewards. It is hoped the Subscribers will see the necessity of keeping on the outer Edge, when they drive or ride round the Course, as the Damage already done to it by Carriages driving near the Posts must be obvious to every person. ( By Order of the Stewards),

The original number of Subscribers was limited to 50 however in 1813 the suggestion was made to hold a ballot allowing gentlemen who were newcomers to the Colony the opportunity to also become Subscribers. Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser 17 July 1813 page 2. Another announcement in this issue of the newspaper stated:

None but Subscribers, or their authorised Servants, being entitled to ride on the Race Course, it is hoped that all other Persons will see the Propriety of avoiding the Course, during the Exercising Season, and thereby do away the Necessity for resorting to other Measures for the preserving the Course to its proper Object.
Gentlemen are requested to instruct their Servants not to ride on the Race Course unless for the Purpose of training, until after the Races, as those who are not in training interrupt the regular Exercise of the Horses destined for the public Amusement of the Race Week.

Simeon Lord's horse, Tipsey, was also entered in the race carnivals held in 1811 and in 1812.

On the first day of the three day race carnival in 1811-  held between 12 August and 16 August - Mr Lord's b. g. Tipsey 4 yrs old came second in the two heats of the Subscription Plate (value 50 gs).
Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser 17 August 1811 page 2.

 The following year when the races were held from 17 August to 21 August, Tipsey (now 5 years) was again entered in the Subscription Plate but, along with a number of other horses, was disqualified. The report added that despite the heavy rains experienced from the Monday to the Thursday, "the Course was much crowded".
Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser 22 August 1812 page 2.

The newspapers provide additional information about Tipsey.
A newspaper advertisement in February 1811 mentioned that two well known geldings, Strawberry and Tipsey, were available for sale. Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser 7 February 1811 page 2.

The following year the Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser 18 January 1812 page 4 reported:

Strayed from Burn's Farm at Botany Bay, about ten days since, a Bay Gelding, black legs, mane and tail, known by the name of Typsey, late the property of Mr. Lord, but now belonging to Major Geils. Any person finding the same and bringing him to Major Geils, will be handsomely rewarded. 

As Tipsey was being raced again by Mr Lord later in the year it would appear that Simeon repurchased the horse.

The book, Horsemen of the First Frontier (1788-1900) by Keith R Binney (2005) includes several pages about Simeon Lord including his involvement with horse racing. (pp148-150).

The Dictionary of Sydney has a short article on the Hyde Park racecourse.

The Australian Racing Report also includes an article on early days of racing in Sydney.

Note. At the end of the report (in The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser 20 October 1810 page 2) about the three days of racing at the Sydney Racecourse in October 1810, the following information was also provided:

And afterwards Boshy's Hack ran against G. Guest's (Hack), a three mile heat, for 10gs - A good match, won by Boshy.

Reports in the Sydney Gazettee and New South Wales Advertiser show that George Guest was in Sydney for at least parts of 1810. It is therefore probable that he was the G. Guest whose horse raced Boshy's horse.

Olympic Games Melbourne, 1956 - memories

This afternoon, as part of History Week,  I spoke at Ivanhoe Library about the Melbourne Olympic Games in 1956, particularly the involvement of my father, Ken Moses, who was a sports journalist on The Argus at the time.

Opening Ceremony ticket

During and after the talk a number of those present shared their memories and experiences of the Olympic Games. Some members of the audience brought along their mementoes of the 1956 Olympics - books plus a ticket to see events on the 23 November. This ticket cost 11/- compared to the £1 / 1/- for the Opening Ceremony ticket shown above.

I had brought one of my father's scrap books plus copies of The Argus published during the games, a copy of the Australian Women's Weekly from December 1956, a selection of programs prepared for individual events for each day of competition and the Official report of the Organising Committee for the Games of the XVI Olympiad Melbourne 1956.

I have a partial collection of copies of The Argus published during the Melbourne Olympic Games but one gentleman brought in a full set of this newspaper published during the games period that his mother had kept.

As the Olympic Village was constructed in neighbouring Heidelberg a number of audience members had memories of growing up near the village.

Raymond Morris Collection, National Museum of Australia

Comments were made about the Olympic Rings which were displayed near the entrance to the village. Apparently these rings are now back on display in the area.

Raymond Morris Collection, National Museum of Australia

One gentleman remembered watching the construction of the village and he used to play on the foundations of the buildings - once the builders went home -  during the early stages of construction. There were also memories of wandering through the village after school - security wasn't a major concern - and waving to and / or chatting to athletes. I was also told that a number of athletes stayed with families in private houses and that the families drove those athletes to the venues to participate in their events.

Winner's medal

One of the ladies in the audience told me that her mother was a seamstress who made the cushions used for the medal presentations at the Olympic Games in 1956.

The Olympic Torch Relay is an important event in the build up to an Olympic Games and I met one gentleman who told me that he had been one of the torch bearers in the 1956 Torch Relay.

This was a great session to share experiences and memories of events that occurred 60 years ago as we remembered the 1956 Olympic Games - an important event in the history of Melbourne.

Other posts on this topic:
Olympic Games Melbourne, 1956 - Media
Olympic Games Melbourne, 1956 - Challenges for host city
Sepia Saturday 316 - Movie cameras
Olympic Games Melbourne 1956 - view post

Olympic Games, Melbourne 1956 - Media

The organisers of the 1956 Olympic Games faced a number of challenges not faced by the organisers of  previous games. Suitable facilities for the general press needed to be organised however the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne was the first to be extensively covered by film, along with some limited television coverage. This created new logistical problems for the organisers.

Press facilities at the MCG

Press covering events needed space for their typewriters or room to take notes using pen and paper. Telephones were provided and some journalists used tape recorders. Reports on the Olympic Games were also presented on radio. The press stand at the MCG was the largest used for the games but temporary press stands also had to be provided at other venues.

Television
Television was launched in Australia just before the Olympic Games. A subcommittee was therefore established to oversee conditions for providing television coverage.
Local television stations in Melbourne could televise events at venues where seating was sold out such as events at the main stadium. Each evening a 16mm film was sent to television stations in Sydney.
Each night was despatched each night to various overseas destinations. Six half hour television programs were made for American syndicated television. Arrangements with airlines were made for quick transportation of film.
A major discussion point was the charges asked for by the Olympic Committee to televise Olympic Games events.

National Museum Australia has this page on TV and the Melbourne Olympics

Film
As described in a previous post restrictions were placed on the use of movie cameras by non-accredited persons as the Australian Olympic Committee had commissioned a French company to make an official film of the Olympic Games. However the restrictions were relaxed as a number of films of the Olympic Games taken by individuals exist. Three of these home movies taken by Bruce Beresford, Mile Leyland and Sir Robert Menzies can be viewed online via the National Film and Sound Archive website.

Camerman from French film company on right

The official film was released in May 1957. The Australian Women's Weekly attended the launch and reported on the event in the 20 May 1957 issue. Members of the Australian Olympic Team attended the premier.

The staging of the Olympic Games in Melbourne was also seen as an opportunity to promote Melbourne, Victoria and Australia to the rest of the world.

The black and white images in this post are from the the Official report of the Organising Committee for the Games of the XVI Olympiad Melbourne 1956. This publication is available online.

Olympic Games Melbourne, 1956 - challenges for host city

Hosting an Olympic Games is a major undertaking and many challenges can arise. In the lead up to most Olympic Games we learn of problems in meeting deadlines, financial issues, construction concerns and sometimes threats to move the games to another location. The recent Olympic Games in Rio de Janerio is a prime example and reports have already begun circulating about the problems in staging the Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2020. The lead up to the Melbourne Olympic Games also experienced many problems.

Argus 11 April 1896

The above statement was the first suggestion that the Olympic Games might one day be held in Melbourne. In 1906 Richard Coombes also informed Baron de Coubertin that Australia should host the Olympic Games.

The Victorian Olympic Council (VOC) was formed on 21 June 1946 and an item on the agenda was Discussion of Olympic Games for Australia. The  Australian Olympic Federation (AOF) endorsed the bid. At the 1948 Olympic Games in London Australian delegates promoted Melbourne as a venue. The vote on the city to host the 1956 Olympic Games was held in Rome in April 1949. There were six contenders - four cities in the USA, Buenos Aires and Melbourne. Melbourne won by one vote.

 The Organizing Committee for the Melbourne Olympic Games was established in November 1949. Eleven subcommittees were also established to assist in the organisation of the Olympic Games. These subcommittees were Technical, Finance and General Purposes, Construction, Housing and Catering, Press and Publicity, Film and Television, Communications, Transport, Reception, Medical and Fine Arts.

Venues
A variety of venues were required in order to host the Olympic Games. These included a main stadium, smaller stadiums / ovals, a pool, velodrome, boxing stadium, venues for fencing, shooting events, modern pentathlon, cycling, basketball plus water sports such as rowing, canoeing and yachting. Due to Australia's strict quarantine laws, equestrian events were held in Helsinki instead of in Melbourne - an issue not mentioned in Melbourne's submission to host the Olympic Games.

Indecision would be a key word to describe the initial planning for the venues for the various sports. There were also prolonged discussions as to the extent the Federal or State Governments would assist in funding the Olympic Games.

Seven sites were discussed as possibilities for the main stadium - the Showgrounds, Carlton Cricket Ground, Olympic Park, Albert Park, St Kilda Cricket Ground, University of Melbourne Sports Oval as well as the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). It was not until February 1953 that the MCG was confirmed as the main stadium. Part of the problem had been the reluctance of the Melbourne Cricket Club to make the ground available as it would disrupt the normal use of the ground.

Alterations needed to be made. The surface of the MCG had to be regraded and a new stand was built after an old stand was demolished following the Royal Visit in 1954. The upgrades would mean that the MCG would be able to accommodate more than 100,000 people. As well as a venue for cricket the MCG was used for Australian Rules Football so it was not until after the 1955 VFL Grand Final that the turf on the ground could be removed and stored, the ground regraded and drainage pipes installed in time for the staging of the 1956 VFL Grand Final. The running track was then laid. During 1955 work banns delayed work at the MCG between August and October.

The second major venue was the Olympic Park Complex. This was to include the building of an Olympic Pool, the Olympic Park stadium, a second oval plus a veledrome. Olympic Park was situated close to the MCG.

Choosing the location for rowing and canoeing also took considerable time. Sites considered included Lake Bullen Merri, Hopkins River, Barwon River, Lake Learmonth and Lake Wendouree. Ballarat Shire did not want Lake Wendouree to be used and it was not until June 1955 that they finally agreed to the use of the lake for Olympic rowing and canoeing events.

Another challenge was to find suitable accommodation for the athletes and officials attending the Olympic Games. Once again a number of locations were considered including Prahran, University of Melbourne, Albert Park Barracks, Carlton and Heildelberg. The decision to build the village at Heidelberg was finally made in September 1953.

While Melbourne decided on the location of new venues and required alterations for existing structures, some members of the International Olympic Committee, particularly Mr Avery Brundage, began suggesting that the Olympic Games should be relocated to another city, probably one of the cities in the USA who had also applied to host the 1956 Olympic Games. It was eventually decided that the 1956 Olympic Games would remain in Melbourne.

Argus 4 February 1953

Boycotts
 Ninety-one countries were invited to attend the Olympic Games in Melbourne. Seventeen countries declined or withdrew for a variety of reasons. The Olympic Games had always been held in the Northern Hemisphere and some countries decided it was too far to travel so declined the invitation or, if they accepted the invitation, only sent small teams.

A month or two before the Olympic Games were due to begin seven countries boycotted the Melbourne Olympics due to political events. Egypt, Lebanon and Iraq boycotted the games due to the Suez crisis in October 1956. The Hungarian Uprising on 4 November 1956 caused Spain, The Netherlands and Switzerland to boycott the games though Hungary still sent a team. The People's Republic of China announced that they were boycotting the games in November 1956 because Taiwan (Republic of China) had accepted an invitation to attend. These boycotts created additional challenges for those trying to organise events and accommodation, especially as they occurred so close to the commencement of the Olympic Games.

The final number of countries attending was sixty-seven.

Australian Women's Weekly 5 December 1956

Despite all these challenges the 1956 Olympic Games were held in Melbourne from 22 November to 8 December and they were declared a great success.

The following article looks at the venues used for the Melbourne Olympics and what happened to them after the games - Mixed Fortunes of Melbourne's 1956 Olympic Venues.

The book, Australia and the Olympic Games, by Harry Gordon (1994) contains chapters on the Melbourne Olympics including "A grenade called Brundage" (chapter 14) and "When the magic came to Melbourne" (chapter 15)

Official report of the Organizing Committee for the Games of the XVI Olympiard Melbourne 1956 is available online.

Search Trove for articles published in The Argus and The Age about the preparations for the Melbourne Olympics as well as the staging of the games in Melbourne from 22 November to 8 December 1956.