Photo of two teams: Eltham Cricket Club versus a District combined side taken at Eltham Park at the conclusion of a match between Eltham Club and a team made of players from various District clubs. The photograph was taken by Mr. Beaumont the then well known photgrapher of Hawthorn. Local identities in the photo inlcude Ewan Hugh Cameron, Charles Symons Wingrove who were umpires on the day. Tom Horan a cricketer who had played for Victoria and Australia is also identified in the photo.
Earlier options were that this photograph was of Kangaroo Ground Cricket Club at Eltham. From my research the photograph was taken on 19th February 1887, at the conclusion of a match between Eltham Cricket Club and a team made of players from various District clubs. The photograph was taken by Mr. Beaumont the then well known photographer of Hawthorn.
This photograph was donated in about 1970 to the former Shire of Eltham when they did a community call for information in the lead up to the Centenary of the Shire of Eltham. Some photographs were then published in “Pioneers & Painters: one hundred years of Eltham and its Shire” by Alan Marshall in 1971. The photograph is part of the Shire of Eltham Pioneers Photograph collection; Yarra Plenty Regional Library in partnership with Eltham District Historical Society.
The photograph was donated by Mrs. Jackson who was related to Ewen Hugh Cameron M.L.A. of Kangaroo Ground and therefore supposed to be of Kangaroo Ground Cricket Club.
E. H. Cameron was from Kangaroo Ground and was a very keen cricket follower. He supported all the cricket clubs in the wider district. He was patron of Eltham Cricket Club as well as many others in the district.
On 19th February 1887 a Mr. James Hatton Miller brought 11 cricketers from Melbourne to play Eltham. Miller was a stockbroker who advertised regularly at the time in the local paper the Evelyn Observer and South and East Bourke Record.
At the conclusion of the match the group was photographed by Mr. Beaumont the then well known photographer of Hawthorn. Copies appear to have been sent to all the locals at a later date. The article that appeared in the Evelyn Observer 18 March 1887 p.2 also stated that “all the figures are perfect likenesses, one of which stands more prominently than the others those of E. H. Cameron, M.L.A., and Mr. Thos. Horan, the noted cricketer, and last but decidedly not least, that of Mr. Miller himself.” “The result is the more creditable to Mr. Beaumont as it is well known that a number of figures taken in the open air is very difficult to take successfully.”
In 1922 p.3 it was reported that the photograph included Mr E. H. Cameron, and C. S. Wingrove. It also said that these gentlemen took a keen interest in cricket, and that it was likely that through these gentlemen that the fixture was played.’
Charles Symons Wingrove was Secretary, Engineer and Surveyor of the Eltham Road Board and then the Shire of Eltham from 1857 to 1904. He played in the first known cricket match by the Eltham Cricket Club on 22 February 1862, was President in 1883, 1885 & 1886, Vice President in 1887, and Treasurer in 1884, 1891. It is likely he was an office bearer in other years but there are no reports at the present time of those years. It is interesting that in 1883 whilst being President of Eltham Cricket Club he was also President of Heidelberg Cricket Club.
His sons Frank and Fred played for Eltham. Frank (Francis) played for Victoria against an Australian Eleven on 1-4 January 1876, making 0 and 20, and taking 2 for 58 from 29 over’s.
36 men feature in the photo. E. H. Cameron is 9th from the left in the back row, with Wingrove 11th from the left in the back row.
Cameron and Wingrove were umpires on that day.
As there are 36 men in the photograph, it’s fair to say that both teams would have been included. Kangaroo Ground played their home games on paddocks opened by local landowners there. There are no reports of Kangaroo Ground playing at Eltham, except when playing Eltham.
What added considerable weight to this being the photo taken on 19th February 1887 is that a man named Tom Horan played in that game for Melbourne and is almost certainly the man standing between Cameron and Wingrove.
Thomas Patrick Horan (8 March 1854 — 16 April 1916) was an Australian cricketer who played for Victoria and Australia.
Scoring runs in those days at Eltham (and at other local grounds) was extremely difficult and teams would be bowled out for low scores on many occasions. One person scoring 50 runs was incredibly rare, in fact I can only find 3 occasions where this occurred prior to this game.
Horan scored 103 not out in the game held on 19th February 1887. As he had captained Australia and scored the first century at Eltham, it would be no surprise that Cameron and Wingrove would have been more than happy to be on either side of him. Being a cricket lover, Cameron would have been proud to have been next to Horan and would have kept this as a prized possession.
Photo: Shire of Eltham Pioneers Photograph collection Yarra Plenty Regional Library held in partnership with Eltham District Historical Society (SEPP 0441)
Alan Sheahan 2015 Email: sheehan_alan@hotmail.com
