TH Smith; and the 1859 Rules document

[Ross Smith]

Firstly a note about Thomas Henry Smith.

I believe research into his family history has shown him to have been born in 1830.
A couple of days ago at the Launceston Library a glance at microfiche index for deaths in South Australia revealed an entry for a Thomas Henry Smith who died: 18 March 1885, aged 55. Is this the TH many have been looking for ? It may be remembered that the football history letter written by Smith to The Australasian in 1876 was addressed from Adelaide.


Now to the other matter for debate:
The "1859 Rules" document is touted by some websites and publications as being written at a Melbourne FC meeting conducted at the Parade Hotel on 17 May 1859.

Contrary to what is stated by them, the document is undated and unsigned, therefore I ask - is it not possible that it was written years - indeed, decades - later ? In fact, are the set of rules those from the 17 May meeting anyway ? Is it not possible they are from other meetings held over the ensuing weeks ?

Has any forensic research has been conducted on the physical document itself,
does it for example have a watermark visible ?

Rather than carrying seven separate and individual signatures,
all words in the document appear to me to have been written by the same hand.

Comparison with examples of writing by Wills visible in Greg de Moore's recent biography seem to negate possibility that TW was author of the rules document.

This matter of authorship warrants further investigation. Especially as an article dated 12 August 1980 quotes Ian Johnson as saying two documents had been found some months earlier, both written in the same hand. One is the 1859 item, the other apparently lists the 1860 rules. [the news cutting which is in the Jack Donnelly collection at Queen Victoria Museum & Art Gallery has 12/8/80 written on it, and shows byline of Rod Nicholson. The reverse of the cutting has a look about it which suggests Herald and I think that is who Nicholson was writing for at that time.]

Given that most of the names on page one of the 1859 document have either an initial or Christian name shown, why is Smith shown without any ? A writer at that time would have known him or of him at least.

If indeed Smith had disappeared from public memory as quickly as some 20thC writers have surmised, then perhaps this lack of detail about TH Smith reveals a clue to the history of the document. It is not written in 1859 after all, but some as yet undetermined time later.

[Mark Pennings]

Ross,

That's interesting stuff on T.H. Smith. I think historians like Gillian Hibbins would be interested in that information. I don't know if you have looked at her recent book 'Sport and Racing in Colonial Melbourne', as I'm pretty sure there's some extra stuff on T.H. Smith in there.

As for the original rules - I think you are absolutely right to question whether that is the original document (I agree highly unlikely). I think this is a suspicion that the MCC has shared and I don't think you'd get much of an argument from it if you raised this matter with them. There has been the idea that it is in fact a copy of the original document, which would explain the absence of Christian initials for Smith. As you say, if he had signed the document himself he would have added those initials. It would seem that the copyist could not make out those initials when transcribing from the original (if indeed the original was transcribed).

mp

[Gillian Hibbins]

I am glad there is some interest into Thomas Henry Smith and hope this will be reflected in interest in the other three founders of the Rules apart from Tom Wills.

Birth date: On his 10 May 1860 application to Scotch College for his job as classics master he gave his age as 34.

I did research in Adelaide following the address on his 1876 letter using the directory of Adelaide in the later 1870s and early 1880s.
In the 1880-1886 Directory there was a teacher at Coryton park Mt. Crawford, formerly an estate called Glen Para and still in existence. I contacted the owner who replied that as far as he could discover there was no employee of that name there
at that time. In the death index for the 1890s there
four TH Smith’s and death certificates reveal three of those were infants and the other a farmer of Coomooroo. There were no TH Smiths listed in the marriage index between 1842 and 1906. So the Launceston entry is most interesting and a
death certificate should be followed up. I have the details of his father.

John Elder researching Smith as the headmaster of the Model School could not find him listed by the State Record Office of South Australia in their educational files or in the files of St. Peter’s or Pultney Grammar School files.

RE the 1859 Rules. On the 21 May 1859 the Argus on page 4 wrote The Rules determined upon at a
meeting of the committee held on Tuesday last will be strictly adhered to and this was republished in the Ballarat Times two days later. I see no reason to doubt their authenticity. The rules were changed shortly after (within the month) in a minor way and I do not have time , it being Christmas eve, to check whether these rules reflect that small change or not. Will get back to you on this. There was a rules meeting in May 1860 to consider the efficacy of the Rules
and if any changes were required; it provided some robust debate.

RE the initials missing from Smith. While the other three on the rules committee and Jerry Bryant whose pub it was at which they met, were cricketers of some note, Smith was not and could well have not been known by them, except Tom Wills who had umpired the Scotch College Melbourne Grammar match in 1858 in which Smith had played (probably why he was on the committee).
Also he was known as Red Smith, I think, from the colour of his hair and that also may have hidden his actual name.

The writing of the document would seem to have been done by James Thompson; he was the Secretary of the Club. Also examination of Wills’ and Hammersley’s signatures from elsewhere shows they do not match.
A comparison of the writing and Thompson’s writing on the entry/exit registers at Trinity College in Cambridge are very similar as seen and copied by me. It is obviously not Smith’s as he would have added his initials.

I have done much research on Smith and visited his birth town of Carrickmacross in Northern Ireland, the site of his grammar school, the local churchyard and also Trinity College, the University of Dublin,
where he did his degree. There was perhaps some uncodified football at the College although the College’s Club was not formed until 1853 by which time Smith would have left.

Can I suggest that you read chapter 8 and 9 in my book Sport and Racing in Colonial Melbourne which deals with all of this in some detail. It is available in the La Trobe Library, a number of suburban libraries or is available from the publisher, Lynedoch Publiciations 40 Brighton Street Richmond 3121 at $50 plus postage, cheaper that the retail price of $60.00.

Happy to discuss this further but no time today, later in January would be better. Gillian Hibbins

[Mark Pennings]

Ross,

Locating that death notice for T.H. Smith could be a winner. I don't know if you have the time to check that certificate. It was interesting to get those extra details from Gillian as well. As always, she's very meticulous and researches better than most. The 1859 Rules obviously also have an interesting tale attached to them. May be worth an article in Sporting Traditions.

btw, Gillian Hibbins has just written an interesting article about the Origins of Australian Football in the latest Sporting Traditions, Vol. 25, No. 2, November 2008.

Season's Greetings to all.

Mark Pennings

[Gillian Hibbins]

The origin of Assuie rules in 1859 is described in the first chapter of the official history of the AFL - (the Red Book) '150 years of Australian football'. I would be delighted to hear from anybody who has seen any reference to football played in the 1850s or 1860s in regional Victoria, in a primary source such as a newspaper, diary or letter of the time, etc. Gillian Hibbins

[Ross Smith]

Thanks Mark and Gillian for those responses. Have enjoyed reading the extra information provided. And will certainly be purchasing a copy of Gillian's book. Am a member of ASSH so have seen the article in ST. Nice exposition of the myths !

The Launceston Library should be able to advise on the registration number and code required to request a copy of Smith's death certificate from South Australia. Wonder how much detail will be on it, thus enabling confirmation that it is the person we are looking for ?

Will respond in more detail next week.

Cheers
Ross Smith

[Gillian Hibbins]

I have applied for the death certificate of Thomas Henry Smith and will supply the details when they are received.
2 February 2009 Gillian Hibbins

[Gillian Hibbins]

The death certificate of Thomas Henry Smith is not very helpful although it gives his profession as 'tutor' which fits with Smith's educational background and his age as 55 which could also fit. His usual residence was in Pultney Street. He died of pneumonia in the Adelaide Hospital and the informant was a William Rossiter, cabinet-maker. No details of parents, unfortunately, are given.