“… the first man not bred in England to win the great prize of the championship of the world who had won honour for the people of the whole of these colonies”. Words of praise from the then Premier of New South Wales, the Hon. Sir John Robertson…
In 1876, Australia didn’t exist as a nation; we were an unfederated collection of ‘colonies’, not the cohesive modern nation of today with our own history, traditions, institutions and distinctive culture. Those developments were in their infancy; with the first stirrings of nationhood being stoked by people such as the politician William Charles Wentworth, the novelist Marcus Clarke and the extraordinary feats of Trickett. In 1876, Gallipoli and the ANZAC legend were an unimagined (and unimaginable!) horror – a trial-by-fire yet to come.
Trickett’s convincing win was reported in London with a combination of shock and grudging admiration. As it turned out, his victory was the start of a Golden Age for professional sculling in Australia: the world title was held by seven Australians for 22 of the 31 years between 1876 and 1907. When Trickett returned home to Sydney it was reported that more than 25,000 people turned out at Circular Quay to welcome him home.
Trickett, wasn’t just from the ‘colonies’, he was of the ‘colonies’: a Currency Lad, born in Woolwich on the Lane Cove River in Sydney. His father was a former convict and a bootmaker and his mother was Irish. After a remarkable early rowing career in New South Wales a Sydney publican, James Punch, organised a public subscription enabling Trickett to travel to London to challenge for the World Sculling Championship title.
Trickett’s achievement was arguably an important early contribution to a separate and proud Australian identity – including the good-humoured and keenly-expressed battles against the ‘old enemy’.
To learn more about Australia’s First World Champion in any sport, visit the City of Canada Bay Museum at 1 Bent Street, Concord on Saturday, 6th July, where Lyndon Lockrey, Ned Trickett’s Great Great Grandson, will tell us more about the Life and Times of Edward Trickett. We will also be unveiling the latest acquisition to our collection. Everyone is invited. Entry Free. See Poster under coming events for more details.
By far the biggest change in transport occurred with the arrival of the motor car, though it was slow to make its impact initially as its was only affordable by the rich. The first car to hit the streets of Sydney, a 1900 De Dion Bouton, chugged its way along Harris Street, Pyrmont, in April…
This debate was a famous dispute in The Bulletin magazine from 1892–93 between two of Australia’s most iconic writers and poets: Henry Lawson and Andrew Barton “Banjo” Paterson. At the time, The Bulletin was a popular and influential publication, and often supported the typical national self-image held by many Australians, sometimes termed the “bush legend.” Many Australian writers and poets, such as “Banjo” Paterson,…
All female convicts who arrived in New South Wales in the 1820s and ’30s without a husband or job faced a common fate: long days and even longer nights in the Parramatta Female Factory. This imposing sandstone building on the banks of the Parramatta River served as a workhouse, prison and hospital. Residents received food and…
In the last issue of Nurungi we wrote about the bazaar held by the New Station Committee (North Strathfield Station) on 15th June 2018 to raise money for the Concord Soldiers’ Aid and Voluntary Workers Association and feel we should elaborate a little more. An article in the Sun newspaper of 2/6/1918 r eported: The…
This special Memorial in Concord West has taken a powerful step forward in its ultimate goal of attaining recognition as a Military Memorial of National Significance. Federal, State and Local governments are currently collaborating to deliver a business case securing the site’s future and acknowledging its unique place among military commemoration sites. The Kokoda Track…
Sir – last Wednesday afternoon something quite of a novel character might have been witnessed at the Sydney Mortuary. At the time fixed for the dispatch of the funeral train for Rookwood, an omnibus marked “Woolloomooloo” and numbered “32” was driven up, and from it emerged several mourners; a coffin was next taken out of…
