Sport in the Hawkesbury

In previous centuries, recreation and leisure time in the Hawkesbury was constrained due to working commitments and economic factors. The residents of the district created their own activities which included a wide range of sporting pursuits and recreational entertainment.

Sport

The Hawkesbury district as always been very involved in the pursuit of sport. Some of the most popular sports include :-

Horse breeding and racing

Breeding horses and horse racing has always been very popular in the Hawkesbury district. A map dated in 1806 mention a "Race Course" and an early account reports of a race in 1810 in Windsor. Mr Benn's Scratch was matched against Mr May's roan poney (sic) formerly Mr Williamson's, to run two miles for a sum said to be considerable and Scratch was the eventual winner. Regular races were held throughout the Hawkesbury district including: Killarney, near McGraths Hill, Clarendon, Wilberforce and North Richmond. The first organised meet took place in 1829. 

Some of the well-known horse breeders in the district included members of the Cox family, Phillip Charley, William Town and his son, Andrew Town.

In 1865 a race course was built from leased Crown Land. A grandstand was also constructed and the first Hawkesbury Grand Handicap was run in 1871 with a purse of 120 sovereigns. 

Cricket

Cricket has been played in the Hawkesbury district since the early nineteenth century. In 1882 a match between the visiting 'All England Eleven' was played against a team selected from players from the Hawkesbury and Nepean. A special train conveyed about a thousand additional spectators to the game held in Windsor. The home team scored 61 with All England replying with 5 for 135. 

Local cricket at Richmond Park in the 1950s

Source : Hawkesbury Library Service

Charlie Nicholls of Freemans Reach was one of the finest players in the Hawkesbury in the 1920s. A promising fast bowler who played Grade cricket as well as representing NSW. The local newspaper reported he retired from Grade Cricket in 1933. 

Football 

Various forms of football have been played in the Hawkesbury. Rugby Union, which had been introduced from England in the 1860s, was the first type of football played in the late nineteenth century in the Hawkesbury. Rugby Union games were played in McQuade Park from at least 1896. 

Windsor Football Club in 1910 

Source: Hawkesbury Library Service 

Another code of football was introduced when a break away group Rugby League was set up in NSW in 1907. The first League team in Windsor was established by 1910. This was a very popular sport, particularly in the post World War 2 period, and the district won many premierships and produced many fine players. Rugby League continues to be a popular sport in the district and the local Windsor Wolves team generating a lot of support. The Windsor Leagues Club officially opened a licensed league club in South Windsor in 1986.

Australian Rules Football evolved in Victoria in the 1850-1860s. Mainly a Victorian game, eventually the code spread to NSW in the twentieth century. The local team club is Hawkesbury Australian Rules Football Club.

Athletics

Various challenges were made during the nineteenth century by persons wishing to show off their athletic abilities. These included running races, rolling downhill in a barrel and running with a pumpkin on your head. One interesting chap was William Francis King (1807-74) who was known as the ‘Flying Pieman.’ William migrated to Australia in 1829. He worked as a schoolmaster at Sutton Forest, then a barman in Sydney & also worked as a pie man. His nickname the Flying Pieman came from a series of extraordinary walking feats. He beat the Windsor to Sydney coach, several times. He walked from St. John's Parramatta to St. Matthew's Windsor and back, a journey of forty-three miles, three days in row. The first trip took eight hours, the second day seven hours and the last day it took him seven hours and twenty-five minutes. Other things he was renowned for was carrying a dog between Campbelltown and Sydney.

Athletic days were held in local parks or wherever there was space. One particular event held in Richmond Park in 1881 included races, hurdles, sack races and a tug of war. A fifty yard backward race as well as a race run on both hands and feet. Schools promoted athletics and a wide range of activities involving students took place. During the mid to late twentieth century many combined school athletics days took place at both Richmond Park and McQuade Park in Windsor.

Sports Days and tea meetings were very popular in the smaller communities around the Hawkesbury and often held for the dual purpose of raising funds for local projects and for the entertainment of the community.

The community at Bull Ridge (East Kurrajong) spent many years raising money to build a much needed School of Arts adjacent to Stanley Park. It was reported in the Windsor & Richmond Gazette in 1913 that a nice gathering assembled at Stanley Park on Monday, 27th January, for the tea meeting. Some of the proceeds were to go towards the project. A number of races were held including a bicycle race, flag race, and needle race. Apparently one lady cheated by having the needle already threaded but still failed to win the contest. Tests of strength were also included such as the wood chopping and ladies nail driving contest. After the tea meeting, about twenty couples continued the festivities by engaging in music and dancing into the night. About midnight refreshments were passed around. Dancing was kept going until 4 o'clock.

Today there are several organisations in the district promoting athletics for juniors. 

  

School athletics carnival at McQuade Park Windsor in the 1950s

Source: Hawkesbury Library Service

Netball

Over the last few decades, netball has grown to be an extremely popular sport in the Hawkesbury area. Played females of all ages in day games as well as night. The district has produced a number of outstanding teams and players, including Liz Ellis who commenced her career playing with Green Hills Netball Club in the Hawkesbury Association. Liz was inducted into the Australian Netball Hall of Fame in 2011.

Tennis 

Lawn tennis has been enjoyed by Australians since the 1870s. Although it was largely male dominated, females began playing the Hawkesbury district from at least the 1890s. Competition tennis commenced in the early twentieth century and night competition tennis was also very popular. The lights were turned on in 1936 on courts near the old Presbyterian church in Windsor. One of the finest tennis players was William "Bill" Walker who won many state and national titles during the 1920-1930s. Today tennis is still very popular and played throughout the district at various locations. Richmond Tennis Centre is the largest site where many significant competitions.

Wilberforce Tennis Team 1895

Source: Hawkesbury Library Service

Other activities

A wide range of other sporting activities took place in the Hawkesbury including bowls, skating, pugilism, tennis, cockfighting and ratting.

Ratting

This sickening diversion involved the placing a dog into a pit confined with and see how many the dog can kill in a certain time. An example from the Windsor & Richmond Gazette in 1888 follows:

Windsor & Richmond Gazette, 1 September 1888, p. 3

Newspapers of the time also advertised that rats were bought in any quantity, from Humphrey Douglas at the Royal Hotel, Windsor, at 2d each. He also sold rats and terriers. Douglas ran a Pit where ratting took place regularly.

Skating 

Skating was all the rage in the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries in Windsor. 

Skating carnivals were regularly held in the 1880s including one conducted by Mr Hesford in 1888 at the Windsor School of Arts. The local newspaper reported that the Skating Carnival on Monday evening was a decided success. The attendance was very good, the weather delightful for such exercise, and the costumes selected by those in attendance were pleasing in the extreme. The hall of the School of Arts was made to assume a brighter aspect than usual by the introduction of a large collection of Chinese lanterns, which were suspended from the ceiling, and made quite a pretty show. 

During the early 1950s Charles Main requested permission to establish a skating rink in the district. Eventually permission was granted and Windsor Roller Skating Rink was erected in Brabyn Street, close to the railway station. Later renamed Windsor Skatel, it was a popular venue, particular for the youth of the district. By the late 1980s interest in skating declined and the business eventually closed in 2003.