SA Football the early years 1843-1899

'Stonker' Quick

This man was a trainer with West Torrens from 1898-1958
That is an incredible 61 year association with the one club

Thats the only info I have on Stonker

Heres an article I found about the West Adelaide Football Club

* The club was formed out of the remnants of the old West Torrens Football Club from the Adelaide and Suburban Association in 1887 but also included a number of promising junior players and several country recruits
Playing its first match in the SAFA on May 7th, that year the team wore a red, white and blue guernsey and caps and blue knickerbockers but failed to score against Norwood
The first 2 years in the association were difficult for the club, it only won 1 game out of 31 and was forced to forfeit three matches because of insufficient players
In many matches spectators donned the clubs guernsey as players and the clubs secretary and trainers made several appearances
Fortunately the situation was remedied with the full implementation of district football in 1899 although there were tough times ahead
Mr H J Pascoe a member of the committee and a delegate to the SAFA was one many who stuck to the club though even in its darkest hours when he found himself with three men at his disposal and a credit balance of 6 shillings and 2 pence.*

The efforts of Pascoe, and others, was rewarded when West Adelaide had its golden years of 1908-1912

Gawler Foootball Club
Is listed as a member of the opening SAFA season of 1877
They played spasmodically and are not listed on any Premiership ladders of 1877 that I have found

The club played games in the 1860-70s
They lost a game 3-0 to Adelaide in 1869
Gawler was in the 1877 SAFA set up , and are listed as a junior club

This appears to be the first game that the club participated in at SAFA level

20/6/1877
Gawler v Adelaide
Venue Gawler Parklands
Gawler 1
Adelaide 1
Adelaide scored after about 15 minutes
Shortly after Gawler scored the equaliser

Gawler played at least one other game, been beaten by Woodville by 1 goal

Gawler did not resume in 1878, and later re joined the SAFA in a second stint in 1887
This is how the club fared in its comeback
1887 -6th of 7
1888- 6th of 7
1889- 5th of 6
1890- 6th and wooden spooners

Gawler then quit the comp for a second time

One ponders how things may have panned out if Gawler succeeded in the early SAFA comps
If they could have lasted to the Electorate re jigging of 1899 , whether that would have made the club more competitive ?
If Gawler did make the grade and continued on from the 19th century, would we have had a Central Districts football Club these days ?

William Magarey
Perhaps the biggest name to derive from the 19th century
Has been described as a clever fencer, sound lacrosse player a wrestler and a skillful prize winning Heavyweight boxer
When he was 20 years old he became a Lawyer
By 1897 Magarey became the Chairman of the Association and was an influential tribunal delegate, and later became President of the SANFL until 1929
Its been written that Magarey was keen to eradicate rough play, and to increase the Umpires profiles
In 1925, Magarey stated that he thought the Medal had done something to make the game cleaner

In 1898 Magarey set in motion the concept of a Medal for the Best player in the SAFA , a legacy that continues on currently in the SANFL
Magarey had stated he did not want his name on the original Medals
The Medals in those days were often worn on Watch Chains

The first Magarey Medal is said to be designed by the Gawler Place Jeweller , Lou Suhard ??
Lou played in the first Norwood team in 1878, and played until 1880
In another publication I have read that Magarey personally designed the Medal after researching catalogues of English sporting medals

There were 2 Magarey Medals presented in the 1800s
1898 Alby Green [Norwood]
1899 Stan Malin [Port Adelaide]

http://images.slsa.sa.gov.au/mpcimg/68500/B68480.htm


Jubilee Oval was used for SANFL football, Harness Racing & i recall seeing a picture of Jubilee Oval on another site a few years ago that had Rugby goal posts up at the time, i believe it is where the Adelaide University is basically the corner of Frome Road & Victoria Drive where the Smith lawns are located

Jubilee Oval
April 1926

It appears this venue was used for a variety of Sports
Trotting meetings in 1926 were being held at Wayville, but crowd attendances were a disappointment of that time
There was a meeting held the night before Good Friday 1926 at Jubilee Oval
On the card was Trotting races and would you believe Ostrich races !
Here is an apt article on Ostrich races

* On the night , racing was delayed to allow over 500 people still queuing to be admitted when the first race was due to be start
Crowds overflowed the stands and mounds as they waited eagerly for the birds, which could be best described as stubborn, to perform
The 5 stage struck birds who were not in the mood to race that night , were harnessed to four wheeled contraptions with pneumatic tyres called spiders
The crowd was amused by the antics of the birds, which were all given names
Ben was the winner, covering the distance without mishap , but three of the birds fell, whereupon bystanders rushed onto the track to assist
When one ostrich dislodged his driver, careering out of control along the track, spectators jumped the fence to stop the bird
When frightened Ostriches drop to the ground and sit on their haunches and this is exactly what happened this night
Many spectators were upset by the pitiful study
The spectators who watched with boisterous mirth as the 5 stricken birds were induced to race were much criticised, but Ostrich racing did not end with this event
The following week the spiders were abandoned in favor of lightweight boys riding the Ostriches
Avoiding the fiasco of the week before , the crowd asked via a megaphone not to wave any article around the arena while the birds were urged along a straighter course by handlers.
Although the crowd numbers were not as large on this occasion, the second Ostrich race was successful enough to encourage races in the future.*

What the ...
I wonder if Ben , the first Ostrich winner , was flying home at the finish

robranisgod wrote:

Scrappy wrote:

Scrappy wrote:What have the following 5 players got in common ?



C Barnes
E Jones
P Keckwick
E Mckenzie
J Reedman

I can think of at least 3
But there is one specific answer Im looking for

All 5 players were playing for South Adelaide
All 5 players transferred to other clubs due to the Electorate Football clause

The answer I was looking for was this :
They all captained another club after leaving South Adelaide
Jones and Reedman captained North Adelaide
Barnes Norwood
Mckenzie West Torrens
Keckwick Sturt

South Adelaide lost a staggering 7 players to North Adelaide , but still won the 1899 Premiership

That North Adelaide won the 1900 Premiership , beating South Adelaide, does not surprise me
North 4-3 beat South 1-8
Jonah was the North Captain
Reedman the Vice Captain

Its been reported that the Electorate System evened up the Comp
The big 3 of the time was Norwood, South Adelaide and to a lesser extent Port Adelaide
It appears they were drawing upon the cream of the available talent
Something needed to be done to entice new teams into the comp
West Torrens and West Adelaide joined in the late 19th century
Sturt in the very early 20th century

When North Adelaide supporters look back they should acknowledge the efforts of Charles Nitschke
Nitschke, a North Adelaide secretary, was an instigator of the electorate system mooted in 1897, and fully operational by 1899
His efforts were rewarded with North Adelaide winning the 1900 Premiership

I wish you were on the SANFL Hall of Fame, Scrappy. North tried for years to have Charles Nitschke elected to the Hall of Fame, but to no avail. As another aside, his son HC (Slinger) Nitschke played two test matches for Australia and was a very prominent race horse owner. His most famous horse would have been Dayana winner of four derbies in 1972-73. He also owned an Adelaide Cup winner, Far Away Places which won the Adelaide Cup in the early 1960s.

Don't get me started He founded the Medindie Football Club as a 15 year old Prince Alfred College student in 1881 , and held just about every position at the club in the following 40 years until his untimely death in 1922. As a SAFA delegate he pushed time and time again for the electorate system to be introduced only to be voted down by the big clubs. The only reason it eventually got up was that William Griffiths of Norwood was convinced after a private conversation with Nitschke that unless something changed soon the SAFA would be left with three clubs, so he (along with Norwood) bit the bullet and broke away from Port and South and introduced the electorate system.
Nitschke also was responsible for inter-colonial (state) matches starting again in 1899 after the idea looked gone. He was also a financial supporter of Junior football in the state in those vital early years, and was the key person in setting up the Junior Association in 1892. He was North's first life member of the SAFA and only the second one ever.
But Hall of Fame ???? naaaaahhh !!!!

1/7/1879
Victoria v South Australia
East Melbourne Ground
20 players per team
Result Victoria 7-14 South Australia 0-3

This is the very first Interstate match played
Ends up being an emphatic victory to the Vics

A massive crowd of about 10,000 attended
It was expected to be a close match,with South Australia having about half a dozen players with experience in the Victorian competition but that was not the case

After 12 minutes Coulthard entered the record books being the first Victorian to score a goal in these matches
The first South Australian goalscorer just didnt happen [but did in a return match 4 days later]
Coulthard also scored the second goal with a kick that went 70 yards
Reports say that the team work of Victoria was superior to the South Australians

This was the line up for South Australia



R Absalom
W Bracken
T Blinman
E Colbey
M Considine
R Coonan
W Davis
J Downs
G Giffen
T Green
A Harrison [Vice Captain]
C Hughes
L Kauffmann
K Kennedy
A Mcmichael [Captain]
B Mehrtens
A Pettinger
J Pollock
L Suhard
J Traynor
S Turner
J Woods

It was a squad of 22 trimmed down to 20 for the game
Others who were unable to make the trip


Dedman
Knill
A Mehrtens
Topsy Waldron

It is reported that the Skipper McMichael and Pollock were the best 2 players for South Australia

There was a game played 4 days later on 5/7/1877
Victoria 4-9 South Australia 1-4
At least South Australia scored a goal in this game

The Vics won the first 7 Interstate games
In 1890 South Australia broke its maiden status winning in Melbourne
Victoria 4-6 South Australia 6-8

State games finished in 1894 and did not resume until 1899
Leaping Lindner has already mentioned that Charles Nitschke was a big reason why these games resumed

Adelaide Football Club

Adelaide was one of the pioneer clubs having started playing games as early as 1860
The Adelaide 'red and blacks' disbanded in the mid 1890s
The team originally comprised of 3 teams within the Adelaide banner
Players South of the River Torrens, North of the River Torrens, and the Collegians played matches against each other, and against other clubs leading up to the SAFA starting in 1877

Adelaide has been described as a stylish team
The club won one Premiership in 1886 , but the club struggled soon after
The signs were there in 1888 that the end was near, as the club is said to have had management problems

In 1890 Adelaide suffered the ignominy of forfeiting a match against Gawler

They joined up with Eastbourne, a team that were premiers in the East Suburban Association in 1892
Their first game was against the powerful Norwood team
Norwood creamed Adelaide 12.27 to 1.3 and that was a catalyst for Adelaide ending up as a club soon after
In April 1894 Adelaide finished up in the SAFA
An attempt was made that winter to rejig the club, but it didnt eventuate

John Creswell
A very very very active and up'stand'ing participant in the 19th century
John started his career in the SAFA playing for South Park
He has been described as a quick backman with a good kick and a clean dodger
Creswell was the secretary of the South Park football club from 1876-1879
He officiated as an umpire in at least the first SAFA season of 1877
He was also a founder and early secretary of the newly established SAFA comp

Creswell played cricket for Norwood
Was a long standing secretary of the SACA from 1883-1909
The Adelaide Oval Bradman stand was built in 1990
A few people on this site often sit in the Bradman Stand to see cricket played these days
Prior to that the stand was called the John Creswell stand

In 1885 he organised the Wanderers tour, which was a representative team of Aborigines to play games in Adelaide


John Creswell was an erstwhile promoter, and also instigated another first in 1885
John was an organiser of the first SAFA night game played at the Adelaide Oval
the game was played under electric lights, with 6 lights in use
These 6 lights unfortunately did not sufficiently light up the whole of the oval
Spectators found it hard to view the match
At one stage there was a malfunction of sorts and a blackout for a short period
That Creswell could procure or even contemplate an event of this magnitude was quite remarkable for the times
About 8,000 people attended this historic match

Adelaide Oval
Adelaide V South Adelaide
Adelaide 1-8 defeated South Adelaide 0-8

A football painted white was used !
The first half might have been OK, but by the second half the paint came off
Players football visibility became an obstacle in that second half
On a few occasions players collided with each other, fortunately no players were seriously injured
The game commenced at about 8:00pm and was called off at about 9:30pm

There were earlier games played at night in 1863 and 1864 by the teams within the Adelaide Football club as well
But this initiative of night football in a SAFA competition in 1885 was indeed an historic occasion

if it's the same bloke i reckon Creswell was either in Athletics or Dog Racing (something like that) as another interest in his life......i recall hearing this at the Adelaide Oval one night at a David Hookes roast, great night that was many years ago now

Bayman you are correct the Dog racing
Heres an extract I just researched on John Creswell
* He was a poultry fancier and a lawns bowls player, with his own green.
He was an authority on Greyhounds and his dogs won many coursing events; for ten years from 1895 he managed the company that built and controlled the racing arena at Plympton.*

There were Trotting and Pony races at Plympton in those days
There were also race meetings held at Jordan Park [Edwardstown] in this era

About 100 years prior to these meetings at Plympton and Edwardstown the first gigis arrived in Australia
26/1/1788 the ship Lady Penrhyn brought horses to Australia
For some of us punters this is the real Australia day anniversary !

Plympton would be what is now known as Weigal Oval, Baseball, Soccer are a couple of sports played there now, it is adjacent to the old Glenelg train line & has a Trotting track around the outside & several good horses over the years have been trained there, the most recent would be Carlisle Queen & Tiger O'Reilly from the George Smith Stable....for those that know where Mooringe Avenue meets Marion Road, you can see one of the old stations & semblances of the train line as it leaves Marion Road heading for Glenelg, Weigal Oval is about 150 metres the other way

I drove past Weigal Oval today !
I have great memories of this oval
I used to see my pacers trialled at the track in the 1970s
I was also a Amatuer league Boundary Umpire there in early 70s

And to think just less than 100 years before John Creswell had a hand in creating the sporting complex
And I also recall sitting in the John Creswell stand at Adelaide Oval, which was named after Creswell in 1923
The legacies of John Creswell end up being part of my life

Creswell also took part in the formation of the Adelaide Bowling Club , and became the secretary
He also had a kennel of Greyhounds at Knightsbridge , which is now Leabrook

Is there any sport John Creswell was not involved in !

Woodville
Were in the first season of 1877, but ended up being a one hit wonder , and ceased as a club before the season of 1878
The team finished fifth in 1877 and were expected to finish much higher
It is reported there were some internal problems within the club, and for the talent within the club , 5th was an unflattering finish

The dissension at the Woodville club brought about a turn of events and another SAFA team was formed
Woodville treasurer and player Tom Letchford placed an ad in the paper as a form of expression of interest to play for a new football club
This ad was placed :
* Footballers desirous of forming a Norwood Football Club are requested to meet at the Norfolk Arms on Tuesday next at 8:00pm*


Tom Letchford, George Giffen and some others from Woodville found a new home
This marks the origins of the Norwood Football Club as we know it today

And may I add rather quirkily that 'Wood'ville became Nor'wood'

1868 -1877 From about 1868 Woodville were a club
1938 -1940 A team named Woodville played in the Port Adelaide District Association
1940-1958 A team named Woodville played in the South Australian Amateur League
1959-1963 Woodville played in the SANFL reserves Competition
1964-1990 In the SANFL comp
1991 + Now playing as the Woodville West Torrens Football Club in the SANFL

History may have been a lot different these days had Tom Letchford and a few of his cohorts stayed on at the Woodville Football club of the 19th century

Norwood

Joined the SAFA comp in the second season of 1878
The Norwood cricket team was a very successful team of the times
It was a consideration of the times that a Football team also become an entity for the area
Norwood Cricket club must have been one hec of a team judging by results

Heres the results of the A grade Cricket comp 1873-1899
1873-74 Norwood
1874-75 Kensington
1875-76 Norwood
1876-77 Norwood
1877-78 Norwood
1878-79 Norwood
1879-80 North
1880-81 Hindmarsh
1881-82 Norwood
1882-83 Norwood
1883-84 Hindmarsh
1884-85 Norwood
1885-86 Norwood
1886-87 Norwood
1887-88 Norwood
1888-89 Norwood
1889-90 Norwood
1890-91 Norwood
1891-92 Norwood
1892-93 South
1893-94 South
1894-95 North
1895-96 North
1896-97 Norwood
1897-98 East Torrens
1898-99 East Adelaide

The Norwood Cricket club formed in about 1865 to 1897
It was an outstanding team and won numerous Challenge Cups pre 1873-74 season
Norwood won the 1896-97 Premiership, the last under the Norwood Logo
The Electorate System put in place in 1897 , was the end of the club
East Torrens took over from Norwood and won a flag in its first season

As we can judge the Norwood Cricket Club was the best cricket team leading up to the formation of the Norwood Football Club
The district was ripe for a new team, and with the efforts of some former Woodville personnel , the Football Club formed in 1878

The early 1878 meetings at the Norfolk Hotel kick started the club
At a second meeting in 7/3/1878 there was talk about what colours to adopt
Some wanted the old Woodville colours[unknown, does anybody know ?]
But the end result was to have the red and blue colours of today
Ex VFL Melbourne player and recruit Lou Suhard , who later became a Jeweller, was an advocate of the red and blue colours, and a key figure in the clubs foundation attire

Norwood games were played at the East Parklands, which was known as the East Adelaide Cricket Ground
Norwood played at East Parklands, Kensington and the Jubilee venues in the 19th century, and eventually ended up at Norwood Oval in 1901

18/5/1878
South Adelaide V Norwood
Adelaide Oval
South Adelaide 0 Norwood 1

An attendance of about 1000 attended Norwoods inaugural SAFA football match
The 1877 Premier was up against a club that had recruited well locally and from Victoria
There was some controversy, this match started about 30 minutes late because of an objection raised by South on the valid or invalid inclusion of William Dedman
Dedman had played for South in 1877, and lined up for Norwood
This was a very physical game , lacking in the skills

One player who excelled in this game was Norwoods star ex Woodville footballer George Giffen
It is now folklore that George Giffen kicked Norwoods first ever goal in the SAFA
This second half goal ends up being the winning and only goal scored in this tough encounter
This must have been remarkable to see
Giffen only wore the right boot, his left boot was eventually not worn because it caused a cut into his left foot !
Giffen was an out'stand'ing and revered footballer and a handy cricketer to boot

This game was a catalyst of things to come
Norwood won the 1878 Premiership, and went on to win 6 in a row
The efforts of big Tom Letchford to be one of the instigators of this new club ends up being a dream come true for him
Letchford played for Norwood from 1878-1881

Jack Coward 1878-1879
Played for Norwood in this game in 1878
Ironically a book published in 1992 the Men of Norwood, The red and blue blooded, was written by that writer and articulate media personality Mike Coward
Are they related ?

12/5/1877
I believe this to be the very first official SAFA game played
Adelaide V Bankers
Venue : Old Adelaide Ground ?
Adelaide 4-3 Bankers 1-0

Some descriptions of the match
Was attended by the great John Acraman who at this junction was the President of the Adelaide Club
Johns son ? , played well for Adelaide in this encounter
There was a strong breeze in prevalence , and the teams agreed to change ends during the match
The more experienced Adelaide team dominated on the scoreboard and at half time had kicked 3 goals, the inexperienced Bankers were held goaless
Bankers faired better in the second half and eventually lost 4 goals to 1
It appears the match involved too many stoppages
Adelaide is described as being organised, the Bankers as plucky but under prepared for the match [club was formed a month earlier]

The Bankers end up having a poor season results wise
They only scored 4 goals for the season
The first goal ever kicked for the Bankers Club was by Lindsay
He also won the clubs goal kicking for the season with 2 goals !

Im not sure who scored the first goal for Adelaide
The goal scorers are listed as
Wyatt
John Young[I wonder if he was a young talent, the ex Woodville player played well this match ]
Morley Acraman [another son of the great John Acraman?,the former Kensington player , kicked 7 goals during the season]
Richard Twopenny [Will do a profile on this man later ]
Might end up being Wyatt as he was listed first of the 4 players

The game was played on 12/5/1877 but was a re scheduled game
It was meant to take place at the Old Adelaide Ground on 5/5/1877
It was post phoned as the ground was unfit to play on due to the weather

Adelaide finished 3rd in 1877
Bankers finished with the wooden spoon losing all 14 games
Looks like the Bankers might have lost 'interest' and never participated in the comp ever again

This was a report in the Advertiser at the end of the 1877 season about Bankers
Article written by Marlborough, ends up a real huff and a 'puff' writing
* Strongly implied that the Bankers club was of an embarrassment , and expressed the hope ""that no efforts will be made to establish it next season""*

Joe Sharp
Played for the Victorian Club, and was a member of the Victorian Foundation team of 1877
Found this snippet on the Redleg Site

The reminiscences of Joesph Sharp
"' I started playing football in about 1874 as a member of the Old Vics team which played at the foot of Montefiore Hill.
In those days there were also Ports, Woodvilles,South Adelaides and Kensingtons.
The Vics played with a round ball and were famous for their little marks.
We never dreamt of punting a little mark, but drop kicked in order to obviate the charge that the ball had been thrown: there was no pushing behind, but all good square jolting
Arthur Diamond who used to write verse and patter for theatre pantomines, composed a song to the tune of Killarney which the Norwoods sing to this day.""

Arthur Diamond was Norwoods secretary in 1878
This was the Diamond Verse

Then we met the sprightly Vics
With their little marks and kicks
People thought twould be a fix
Too much for the Norwoods
But like the Souths, the Vics were licked
Traynor for us one goal kicked

Joe goes on to say this about the'powerfull' Norwood team of the times:
* When the Norwoods came into the arena they had a hot team culled from the different clubs
AJ Diamond and JR Osborne were the leading spirits, with the 'powerful' patronage of the greatest and most cosmopolitan supporter of athletics I have ever known- Sir Edwin Smith - whose generosity in connection with my pet sport, rowing, and other organisations which I was connected, was remarkable
I cannot call to many names at the moment but I do recall AS Young, Tom Letchford [who gave me the best ''buster'' I ever experienced on the Norwood Ground on the East[Parkalnds] LH Suhard [who came over with a Melbourne team and remained here] George Giffen [swift ,strong and kicked like a horse] Joe Traynor, Julian and Ted Wood, Barrett, Harry Burnett, George Liston, Fred Tyrell and Tom Blinman.*

Dont know when Joe Sharp made these insights, but it appears it was some time after the events of the 1870s
Joe is described as a wingman who kicked well
It is said Joe played well as a backman as well
Joe played in the first SAFA Victorian teams of 1877

Sir Edwin Smith gets mentioned a fair bit in those times as another out'stand'ing sporting contributor in South Australia
Kind of an honour for me to sit in the Grandstands named after him at the Adelaide and Norwood Ovals over the years

This keeps on being a great read.

Well done, scrappy, keep them coming.

Richard Twopenny is mentioned, i wonder if he is a relation of Angus Twopenny

Richard Twopenny
Born in England, arrived in Adelaide in 1876
As a teenager Twopenny scored a job as a journalist in Adelaide
Twopenny soon got acquainted with Football , and for one so young surprisingly had a big influence in the setting up of the first SAFA season of 1877

19/4 1877
Twopenny chaired a meeting to form the rules for a SAFA competition at the Prince Albert Hotel

30/4/1877
There was a meeting with the delegates of the new clubs for the first season
Mr Twopenny had his 2 bobs worth to say about bouncing
He was involved in a bouncing discussion with the eminent Charles Kingston
This is how it went :
* A question arose upon the running with the ball or bouncing every 5 or 6 yards.
Mr Twopenny spoke very warmly in favor of running with the ball, urging that it was a sine qua non of genuine football, and that from English experience, he could vouch for there being no disputes when the rule was played; whereas bouncing the ball had led to endless rows here, and left a great deal to much to the umpire
Mr Kingston on the other hand said that experienced Victorian players bore witness to there being no disputes with the bouncing rule, and he therefore opposed Mr Twopennys view *

The 19 year old Richard Twopenny must have created an impression, and was elected as the secretary of the SAFA , and later Treasurer

Twopenny was a real busy body and left the colony in 1878, but left an indelible mark on local football
It is said he was also an instigator of Interstate matches against the Vics

Charles Kingston went on to become the Premier of South Australia
Kingston was criticised for his philandering lifestyle, and fathered a few illegitimate children in his time
As recently as 2008 his body was exhumed
Two people who had claimed Kingston was related , wanted evidence to prove to the effect

Twopenny played in the first season of 1877
He played in that first game between Adelaide and Bankers [refer previous post on that game]
Twopenny has been described as a vocal individual , who captained Adelaide, a good ball handler, and kicked well
He created an impression in his debut season and scored 5 of the 31 goals scored by his team[he later kicked 4 goals in another game against the hapless Bankers]
Twopenny kicked a drop kick goal in Adelaides first ever SAFA game of 1877
Twopenny had a distinctive look in his playing days, he wore glasses

At some stage Twopenny ended up in New Zealand where he became a Newspaper editor
He also became a writer of note, and wrote a more than interesting book called Town In Life Of Australia , where he partly writes about the cities of Adelaide, Melbourne, and Sydney, some of it thought to be quite provocative

This is an extract from the book on his views on his tales of 'Two' cities
*The most important feature about Sydney is that there is a thoroughly untidy look about this place
It is a perennial state of deshabille: whereas Melbourne nearly always has its dress-clothes on
In keeping with the wretched pavements , the muddy crossings, and the dust, are the clothes of the people you meet in the streets
Nobody seems to care much how they dress, and without being exactly countrified in their apparel, the Sydneyites succeed in looking pre-eminately dowdy.*

One senses Richard Nowell Twopenny was a very impressionable man of the times
And judging by some of the content, I would love to read his book

bayman wrote:Richard Twopenny is mentioned, i wonder if he is a relation of Angus Twopenny

Quite possibly. In Richard Twopenny's obituary it states that he had a brother who remained in Adelaide. Given the unusual surname it would be likely that Angus is a descendant of Richard's brother. I attach the link to the obituary :

http://oa.anu.edu.au/obituary/twopeny-richard-ernest-nowell-984

Sir Samuel Way

Born the same year of Adelaide in 1836 in England
Migrated to Australia in 1853


Samuel Way became the first President of the SAFA Football league of 1877
He was also a Chief Justice from 1876-1915

There is the Samuel Way building in Adelaide in Victoria Square where the Courts and a Taxi Rank is , and near the Central Market
I remember it being a retail store called Moores before that
I can still visage the large stairs that I climbed as a kid

Scrappy wrote:George Giffen
Clem Hill
Ernie Jones

These are the 3 players I consider to be South Australias best cricketers that played SAFA football in the 19th century
You could write a book on these guys ....

If I posted all the exploits of the Big 3 It would take a long long time

Heres the Cricket stats on the Big 3
Will start with George

George Giffen [Norwood + West Adelaide]
RH batsman, RH off spin + RH medium
Tests :
1238 runs @ 23.35
103 wickets @ 27.09
First Class
11758 runs @ 29.54
1022 wickets $21.31

Played first for Norwood in 1878 and kicked the first goal for the club
Known to be a brilliant runner, and a superb kick
First cricketer to take 10 wickets in an innings in Australia
The first player to make 10,000 runs and take 1,000 wickets

George wrote a autobiography called With Bat and Ball
Oh to get my claws on that book

Today I have obtained this book Bat and Ball
This is an original book published in 1898
I could not conceal my excitement at getting this treasure
And there it was in Gerrys At the Toss Of A Coin shop at Brighton
I merely asked by chance if Gerry had a copy of this book
And he did indeed
To have a 114 year old book in my possession is a bit of a thrill