SOUTH AUSTRALIAN MYSTERIES OF THOMAS HENRY SMITH

One of the 4 men who wrote the rules for Australian Football

and, just maybe, the instigator of Port Adelaide Football Club

Detailed research by Owen Smith…..Interpretations by Norm Bennett

-THOMAS HENRY SMITH (1830-1885) was an Irish Australian who was an energetic enthusiast, particularly in the fields of football and education.

-In 1858, whilst Classical Master at Scotch College, Melbourne, he was involved in the earliest recorded games between colleges.  He was one of 4 school masters who played in a match between Scotch & Melbourne Grammar.

-He was soon given the name “Football” Smith, or “Red” Smith  due to his ginger hair. He was described as “a rattling fine player and a splendid kick but of a very peppery temper”.

-A founder of the Melbourne Football Club, a distinguished player and captain of the team in the 1861 & 1862 seasons (for all matches except two). He was also a keen cricketer.

He was one of four men who wrote the first ‘Laws of Australian Football’.

These Laws, adopted in May 1859, are still the basis of the game’s rules today.

-After serving briefly as Classical Master in a series of schools and Headmaster of a The National Model School, he had a period as School Inspector in the Bendigo area, but was eventually suspended.

(For further detail, see page 6 of Owen’s article in ‘THE YORKER’ Issue 39, Autumn 2009.)

There is no record of him being married & there are no photos known.  

MYSTERY No1: When did Thomas come to South Australia?  To football historians, Smith seemed to “disappear” to South Australia, probably in 1868 or 1869  and appears likely to have resided in the Alberton/Port area. The last-known Melbourne record of him is 1868.

MYSTERY NO 2: It seems more than coincidental that on 13th May 1870, The South Australian Register newspaper reported that the Port Adelaide Cricket Club (which seems to have been in the doldrums, not playing in a competition) adopted the title of PORT ADELAIDE CRICKET and  FOOTBALL CLUB. John Hart jun. was President. The first football practice on 14th May was in the grounds of Capt. Hart’s Glanville Hall.

My hunch is that Thomas, as a founder of the Australian Footy Rules & of MFC, and a cricketer as well, was in the thick of starting football in the PA Cricket Club.  Indeed, THOMAS HENRY SMITH may well have been the initiator of Port Adelaide Football.

MYSTERY NO 3: Did he ever play for Port Adelaide?  From 1870-1881, a Thomas G. Smith is listed as having played for Port Adelaide FC. I believe this is a different Tom Smith than Thomas Henry.  Why?  Because a) Thomas Henry liked to be known as Thomas Henry or Thos H.     

 b) Thos H. was 40 years old by 1870, plus he was engaged from 1873-1876 in starting (&/or being involved in) schools in country regions, such as Moonta, Wallaroo, Kapunda and Gawler.  

Therefore, I doubt if he ever played footy for Port.

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Thomas H. was employed by the Central Council of Education in SA from time to time but, as far as Owen Smith is aware, the regional Grammar Schools he started, or taught at, were independent, private, affairs. Thomas tended to last in most jobs for about a year before moving on to another.

While at Kapunda, he was player, Captain & Secretary of the Light Football Club, named after the Light River which passes by to the west of the town.  Evidence of his keenness to start footy clubs.

(There was already a Kapunda Football Club…founded in 1866 by 18 copper miners -see Kapunda FC website- hence the need for another name).

Whether he started the Light club is not known but I wouldn’t be surprised if he did.

Whether the club lasted beyond Smith’s tenure is also unknown. He loved starting ventures.

He left Kapunda town in early 1876.  During this period, in August 1874, he was also appointed Maths Professor at the South Australia Institute. The position soon closed due to no students.

Letters sent from Port Adelaide and Alberton suggest that Thomas kept contact with those locations. Perhaps, as a single man, he had lodgings in the area from the years 1869 to 1872/3, and it may have been his city ‘digs’ for longer, because of letters sent in 1874/5.

Maybe he attended some of Port’s footy matches. Your guess is as good as mine.

Records of what happened in the years after he left Kapunda in 1876 are very sketchy but we do have clues. In many ways it looks like a tale of unfulfilled ambitions, alcoholism and poverty. Thomas seems to have had a volatile personality and may well have ‘trodden on a lot of toes’. He probably had few close/long-term friends as he moved from place to place.   

MYSTERY No 4: We continue the story in 1880 when the Adelaide Almanac and Directory for South Australia of 1880, ’82, 84 & 86, has a listing: Smith, T.H. teachr, Corryton Park, Mt Crawford………The question is,“Is this the same Thomas Henry who left Kapunda in 1876?” I believe that it is. 

 T.H. may well have been given accommodation in exchange for tutoring, either on the site and/or at the local Williamstown school.

Our next records of a Thomas H Smith are in Adelaide Hospital records of 1884/5.

Is this the same Thomas Henry Smith?            It seems very likely.

Admitted 8 April 1884 aged 54 years.            Admitted 3 January 1885 aged 54 years.      

Born Ireland arrived on ship HERALD             Born Ireland- arr HERALD..34 yrs in colony

Last address- Hindley St                                 Last address – Pulteney St

Occ- Comml Agent  religion C/E.                    Occupation- Phrenologist  religion C/E

Alcoholism      discharged 15/4/1884            Uraemia    discharged 15 January 1885.

He probably lived in lodgings around Adelaide city in 1884/5 because of his serious illness to be near Adelaide Hospital where he died in March 1885.

Admitted 16 March 1885   aged 55 years.     Born Ireland    arr HERALD. In colony 35 years

Last address Pulteney St      Occupation:- Tutor

Died 18 March 1885       Morbus cordis       Pneumonia

Some indication of a frazzled state of mind & critical illness may be seen in the way he describes his occupations differently for each hospital visit.

Death Certificate details:

18 March 1885           Thomas Henry Smith   55 years     Tutor     Pulteney St

Adelaide Hospital         Informant: William Rossiter, Cabinetmaker, Adelaide.

(In 1874, the same year that Smith had his Grammar School at Wallaroo, there was an ad in the Yorke’s Peninsula Advertiser and Miners’ News for Rossiter and Davis, Cabinetmakers, Builders, Undertakers, etc. in Moonta. Looks like T.H.’s connection with the Rossiter family may have continued in Adelaide)

-Thomas is thought to have been buried in a pauper’s grave in West Terrace Cemetery

Thomas’ letters suggest he may have been a member of the Temperance League.  He also refers to a Rev Mr Green (possibly Canon Green of Port Adelaide) who was going to collect some books for him from the SA Institute; and he talked about “my friend Mr Stuckey”.

So, was Thomas an instigator of Port Adelaide Football Club?

Whilst the evidence is quite strong it is, admittedly, circumstantial.

We may never know for sure, but I lean towards a ‘YES’, because it all fits together.

Norm Bennett

Vice-President

Port Adelaide Historical Society Inc

I, Norm Bennett take full responsibility for all interpretation, speculations and discrepancies, whereas Owen’s research is meticulous.