Playing Cricket

# 52 ancestors 52 weeks week 41 Sport

John Henry LOADES was the first LOADES to be born on South Australian soil. John Henry was born on the 25 July, 1855 in North Adelaide [2]. The family having only recently arrived in the colony on 25 April 1855 on board the Caroline [3]. John Henry makes the papers as a cricket player regularly through out the late 1800’s.

In 1874 we read of Mr J Loades being both captain of the Excelsoir Team and a good bowler [4]. The article provides us with the understanding the John Henry is a good all rounder as he is both a batsman and bowler and from all accounts appears to be successful. In one article John Henry is described as the prettiest bat in the team and a smart fielder at point and cover [5]. One wonders whether they are describing his batting prowess or his looks.

Cricket in Australia was formalized in 1871 when the South Australian Cricket Association was formed and club games were arranged in1874-75 [7]. Of course cricket was played long before the club cricket was formalized and regularized and John Henry was playing in before and after the introduction of club cricket.  Cricket claimed to reflect civilized values and had broad appeal in South Australia, the clubs developed around workplaces, churches, lodges, schools and local towns and communities [8]. John Henry not only played cricket but was also involved in club management  both with the Excelsior cricket club [9] and the Wirrabara Club [10]. Like many of his time using new paper reports we can determine that John Henry was an active supporter and player of cricket.

 

South Australia has had a strong history of amateur cricket and John Henry LOADES was one of the early players and volunteer officials of the game,

 

 

 

 

[1] State Library of SA (c1882), Cricket match at Mount Gambier. Photograph D7939/P6(T) accessed at https://collections.slsa.sa.gov.au/resource/D+7939/P6(T)

[2] Genealogy SA Birth Index Database John Henry LOADES Adelaide: 5/192 accessed at https://www.genealogysa.org.au/index

[3] State Records SA. Passenger Lists 1845 – 1940, 12/1855 Caroline. accessed at https://www.archives.sa.gov.au/passenger-lists-view/1855

[4] EXCELSIOR V. COBLER’S CREEK. (1874, September 12). South Australian Chronicle and Weekly Mail (Adelaide, SA : 1868 – 1881), p. 6. Retrieved October 11, 2018, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article93952503

[5] CRICKET. (1875, June 8). Northern Argus (Clare, SA : 1869 – 1954), p. 3. Retrieved October 11, 2018, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article92769416

[6] State Library of SA (c1874), South Australia versus Victoria Cricket Match Photograph B+1964.  https://collections.slsa.sa.gov.au/resource/B+1964

[7] SA History Hub. Cricket. accessed at sahistoryhub.com.au

[8] ibid

[9] “THE WEEK’S NEWS.” Adelaide Observer (SA : 1843 – 1904) 22 August 1874: 6. Web. 11 Oct 2018 <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article159478769&gt;.

[10] Advertiser (Adelaide, SA : 1858 – 1889) 29 September 1880: 1 (Unknown). Web. 11 Oct 2018 <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article30806992&gt;.

[11] State Library SA (c1900). Amateur Cricket Match Photograph B+71667. accessed at  https://collections.slsa.sa.gov.au/resource/B+71667