Tennis in Templestowe in the Early Days
Society member Diana Mayne has generously compiled this article giving us a wealth of information
on the early days of tennis in the Templestowe area. This information will be of great interest to
members particularly those who were born and have lived in Templestowe and surrounds.
In 1912 the first two public tennis courts were built on the east side of Ruffey Creek adjacent to Parker Street, on land now occupied by Templestowe Bowling Club. They were constructed by the local com- munity, mainly orchardists and dairy farmers, using farm equipment – Clydesdale horses pulling ploughs, scoops and graders. Initially the ground was cleared of vegetation, ploughed, then levelled using scoops and a horse drawn blade, and finally rolled to produce a hard dirt and gravel surface to play on. In 1914, a third court was constructed in like manner in the newly proclaimed (1910) Templestowe Recreation Reserve in Porter St, on the eastern side of the cricket ground. The Parker St courts were asphalted by the Shire Council in the early 1920s, and the third court, which was usually referred to by players as the ‘Top Court’, probably later. It cer- tainly had an asphalt surface by the 1930s.
1920's on the "Top Court". Ethel Aumann, sister of Fred and Bertha from the Carl Aumann orchard in Serpells Rd.
A moderately substantial pavilion was built on the east side of the Parker St courts by carpenter Ted Sheahan (from the Templestowe Hotel family) on his return from WW1. He was the Secretary of Templestowe Tennis Club. At some stage, a shed (not grand enough to be called a pavilion) was erected beside the Top Court to serve the needs of the players there (store the net, have afternoon tea, sit in the shade while watching play). The front of it features in early 1920s photographs, with ladies playing on the dirt surface in long dresses or skirts and men in trousers. Not everyone wore white. The Templestowe Reserve court was officially opened on 30th October 1914 by the wife of the Federal Member for Kooyong, this electorate taking in a large swathe of eastern Melbourne at the time. It was recorded thus in the “Box Hill Reporter” in its 6th November edition.
Templestowe Tennis Club
“The Templestowe park tennis club held a ‘basket pic- nic’ in the recreation reserve on Friday afternoon October 30, the occasion being the official opening of the new court, which ceremony was ‘performed’ by Lady Best. Residents of the district attended in large numbers, and a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon was passed. The club president (Mr. W. J. Ross) introduced Lady Best, who unfurled a large Union Jack presented to the club by Mr. Ross, and as the colours were hoisted to the head of the flagstaff, the gather- ing joined in the National Anthem. In welcoming the guests present and referring to the events which led up to the possession of a tennis court by the residents of Templestowe, the president contended that not only those residing in Lower Templestowe, but the whole of the district should recognise that they had an interest in the park and should try to improve it. Lady Best in declaring the court open for play, apologised for the absence of Sir Robert Best, and congratulated the club on being in possession of such a valu- able adjunct, hoping that the court would conduce to the enjoyment of the residents. She then untied the blue and white ribbon, being the club colours, suspended across the court, which was received with three hearty cheers. The popular secretary of the club, Mr. E. P. Sheahan, on its behalf, thanked Lady Best for her attendance. Several games were played during the afternoon, and the court promises to become a centre of healthy enjoyment for the members.”
Templestowe tennis pavilion group c1920. The tennis courts were on the position of the present bowling green. c1920. DP0529 Tennis pavilion and players, on the site of the present bowling green, Swilk Street, Templestowe. Mr Searby, the Head Master of Templestowe Primary School (1914-1928), is the elderly gentleman at the back, and Miss Dora Bogle is the young lady at the left hand end of the front row with the hat. Olive Williamson and Isabel Margaret ['Girlie'] Williamson are also in the front row, being respectively 2nd and 3rd from the left hand end of the row. Dora Bogle's sister Gladys is also in the front row being fourth from the left hand end. Ted Sheahan, who was a carpenter, built the tennis pavilion as his first job after his return from military duties during WW1. Ted Sheahan is in this photo and is in the back row, third from the left, between the two ladies wearing hats. It is believed the photo was taken on the opening of the pavilion in 1920. Pauline Hartman identified Gladys Bogle, following publication of this photo in the Sunday Herald Sun on 15 April 2012. Gladys Bogle married Tobe Pump. The Templestowe Park Tennis Club celebrated its centenary with a function on Sunday 29 April 2012, when its commemorative book entitled 'A Century of Tennis in Tempy' was launched by the mayor of the City of Manningham, Cr Geoff Gough.
The photograph was taken at the opening of the pavilion in 1920 and third from the left in the back row is Ted Sheahan, the builder of the pavilion. The older man with the hat at the back is Robert Searby who was headmaster of the Templestowe Primary School and retired in 1928. The only other people definitively identified are the three ladies on the left in the front row. From left to right, they are Miss Dora Bogle from a Doncaster orchard on the south side of Manningham Road, Miss Olive Williamson (born 1899), from an orchard on the southwest corner of Manningham Road and Ayr Street, and her cousin Isobel (called 'Girlie') Williamson (born 1900) from a High Street orchard. (Notes from Century of Tennis in Tempy)
Ted Sheahan’s pavilion at the Parker St courts was officially opened in 1920. There is no surviving report of this occasion, but an excellent photograph exists show- ing 25 people at the front of the pavilion, about half in tennis clothes, with Mr Robert Searby, the headmaster of Templestowe Primary School, at the centre of the back row. It may well have been him who officiated.
These three courts, and a few private courts, served the tennis playing community until 1960-early 1961, when they were replaced by two en-tout-cas courts in the northwest corner of Templestowe Reserve, and Templestowe Tennis Club relocated there. Fences were removed, and Templestowe Bowling Club (which had started in 1948) extended over the Parker St courts with an enlarged bowling green and car park. The pavilion, however, was left standing until Ted Sheahan died in 1967. The Top Court was converted to two cricket nets, and the shed demolished.
A note on Templestowe Reserve is appropriate here – to acknowledge the hard work and foresight of council- lors of the late 1950s and early 1960s, particularly Councillor Swilk (who has had a very short street named after him!). By December 1959, the Council had acquired the Hawtin dairy farm after protracted negotiations, and the Reserve was enlarged from just over 4 acres to 12 acres. This made room for much improved community facilities for the rapidly growing population, including scouts and guides, remote control motor sports, eventu- ally 7 tennis courts, an enlarged main oval, a second oval, and a football / cricket pavilion (which was replaced in 2009). The first tennis clubhouse was completed in 1964 and later enlarged twice (all financed by the mem- bers), and in 2018 it was renovated at Council expense.
Names of families using the three original courts will be familiar to many whose roots are in this area. During the 1920s and 1930s, families from the western part of Templestowe and Lower Templestowe were the main players at the Parker St courts. They included: WILLIAMSON, HODGSON, CLAY, BOGLE, SHEAHAN, SMITH (High St orchard), CASHEN, LANCASTER, MAHONEY and Marie FINN (from Finn’s Hotel). The main families using the Top Court were predominantly from the eastern side of Templestowe, and include: PETTY, AUMANN, BEALE, CHIVERS, UEBERGANG, CLAY, RASMUSSEN, CROUCH, JENKINS, CARRICK, FITZSIMONS, MUNDY, READ, ROTH, SERPELL and SMITH (from dairy farms east of where Williamsons Road now runs). The most talented player, by repute, was Percy Rasmussen, who could have ‘gone far’!
After WW2, the Top Court no longer entered Saturday afternoon teams for competition, so the keen competitors transferred to the Parker St courts. The Top Court, however, continued to be a valuable community asset, especially for young people playing social tennis and ‘having a good time’. (Some of the stories from these days are fascinating!)
With the subdivision of farms and orchards and sub- sequent transformation of Templestowe into a residential suburb of Melbourne in the 1960s, tennis took a new turn. Along with the growth of the tennis club and two more courts added, the acre block developments from the 1960s to the 1980s saw over 100 private tennis courts being built, just in the suburb of Templestowe, probably a world record for one suburb! Some were never used, but most were, and many of the families owning these courts joined clubs including Templestowe Park Tennis Club (the new name since the 1970s). When Templestowe had too many teams for its own courts, the overflow could always be relocated to play on the private courts of club members.
Back to the “Old Days”, many of the families playing tennis were also prominent in the Templestowe Cricket Club and Templestowe Football Club. For example, Albert (‘Alby’) Petty, an orchardist from the east end of Porter Street (a cousin of the Monckton Road Pettys), was a remarkable sportsman. He featured in Templestowe Football Club’s 1929 Premiership team photograph as a youth. He was a good cricketer and became President of Templestowe Cricket Club during the 1950s. A good ten- nis player, he was President of Templestowe Tennis Club from 1952 to 1965 and was made a Life Member in 1967. He also played bowls and golf. He was a major contribu- tor to the community in other ways as well – Secretary of the Memorial Hall Committee, one of the organisers of the Cup Day gymkhanas held at Templestowe Reserve until the mid 1960s (the manure left behind was not appreciated by cricketers the following Saturday!), and was involved in fundraising for the Box Hill Hospital Auxiliary from which he also received Life Membership.
Early Templestowe was indeed a remarkable community.
Source: Diana Mayne writing in 2020-03 DTHS Newsletter
Members of the Doncaster Tennis Club. The Doncaster Tennis Court was at the rear of the Doncaster Primary School, and the north-east corner of Federal Park. Unfortunately, none of this large group of people is identified. | Other Information: Joan Seppings Webster mentions Federal Park, Council Street Doncaster, in an article in the Doncaster Mirror, 30 July 1986. DP0312
Templestowe Tennis Pavilion Group
A visitor, Mrs Pam Ryan set Ron Rundle of "Black and White Printing" a difficult task recently. Ron, who is the photographer we use to reproduce photos from our negative collection was asked to enlarge the shadowy photo of the man in the centre of the above photo. Mrs Ryan is doing a family history and the man was the headmaster of the Templestowe State School. The resulting photo was nothing short of amazing. It came up very clearly and Mrs Ryan was thrilled with the result.Source: 1999-12 DTHS Newsletter
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