John Robertson (Australian footballer, born 1892)

For the Hawthorn and Richmond player, see John Robertson (Australian footballer, born 1940).
John Robertson
Personal information
Full name John William Robertson
Date of birth (1892-07-15)15 July 1892
Place of birth Semaphore South, South Australia
Date of death 8 September 1982(1982-09-08) (aged 90)[1]
Place of death Plenty, Victoria
Height 175 cm (5 ft 9 in)[2]
Weight 77 kg (170 lb)
Position(s) Centre half-back
Playing career
Years Club Games (Goals)
1912–1915 Port Adelaide 59
1919–1920 Port Adelaide 3
Total 62
Representative team honours
Years Team Games (Goals)
1914 South Australia 5
Career highlights
Source: AustralianFootball.com

John William Robertson (15 July 1892 – 8 September 1982) was an Australian rules football player for Port Adelaide. His career was cut short due to World War I and the injuries obtained in the conflict.

Family

The son of John George Robertson (1868-), and Elizabeth Lucy Robertson (1865-1940), née Tuttle,[3] John William Robertson was born in Semaphore South, South Australia on 15 July 1892.

He married Ruby Mary Emily Kelsey (1895-1975) in 1919. They had one child: a daughter, Joan Mary Robertson (born 1921).

Football

Port Adelaide (SAFL)

Robertson made his South Australian National Football League (SANFL) senior debut for Port Adelaide Football Club in 1912.[4][5]

Interstate football

He quickly became a leading player in South Australia and was chosen for the South Australian squad for the 1914 ANFC Carnival, held in Sydney.

The best player from each state in the carnival was awarded a gold medal — known as the Referee Medal (after the sporting newspaper The Referee — and Robertson was awarded the South Australian gold medal.[6]

Military service

He enlisted in the First AIF, and served overseas in France during World War One; and was wounded in action.[7][8][9][10] He returned to Australia on the S.S. Swakopmund on 29 July 1919.[11][12]

Death

He died at his residence at Plenty, Victoria on 8 September 1982.[13]

See also

Notes

Wikimedia Commons has media related to John W. Robertson.
  1. ^ "Robertson, John William". Find a Grave.
  2. ^ Service Record.
  3. ^ Deaths: Robertson, The Adelaide Chronicle, (Thursday, 24 October 1940), p.21.
  4. ^ Port Adelaide Team (photograph), The (Adelaide) Chronicle, (Saturday, 28 September 1912), p.32.
  5. ^ The Football Champions (photograph), The (Adelaide) Journal, (Monday, 21 September 1914), p.2.
  6. ^ "Criticism of the Carnival Players". The Referee. Sydney. 19 August 1914. p. 12. Retrieved 25 November 2014.
  7. ^ Nominal Roll.
  8. ^ Embarkation Roll.
  9. ^ Service Record.
  10. ^ 326th Casualty List: South Australia: Wounded, The (Adelaide) Observer, (Saturday, 28 July 1917), p.34.
  11. ^ Returning Troops: The Swakopmund, The (Adelaide) Advertiser, (Saturday, 19 July 1919), p.10.
  12. ^ Torrens Defeat Port, The (Adelaide) Daily Herald, (Friday, 1 August 1919), p.7.
  13. ^ Deaths: Robertson, The Age, (Friday, 10 September 1982), p.15.

References