Alex Robertson (Australian rules footballer)

Alexander John Robertson (4 January 1887 – 6 August 1915), a geologist and mining engineer, was an Australian rules footballer who played for the University Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL) in 1910.

For other people named Alexander Robertson, see Alexander Robertson (disambiguation).

Alex Robertson
Personal information
Full name Alexander John Robertson
Date of birth (1887-01-04)4 January 1887
Place of birth Bundalaguah near Sale, Victoria[1]
Date of death 6 August 1915(1915-08-06) (aged 28)
Place of death Gallipoli, Ottoman Turkey
Original team(s) University Metropolitan
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
1909 University 10 (0)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1909.
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

He served in the First AIF, and was killed in action at Gallipoli, Ottoman Turkey.

Family

The son of James Lang Robertson (1858-1929), M.A.,[2] and Annie Robertson (1859-1944),[3] née McArthur,[4] Alexander John Robertson was born at Bundalaguah, near Sale, in Gippsland, Victoria, on 4 January 1887, where his father was the headmaster of the local State School.

He married Violet Ann "Dear Wah" Chapman (1885-1917) in 1911.[5] Violet, who had left for England not long after Robertson's death, and who had served for almost two years with the Voluntary Aid Detachment at Coulter Hospital, in London, and had just qualified to serve in France as an ambulance driver, was killed in a riding accident, in London's Hyde Park, on 30 November 1917.[6][7][8][9]

Education

He was educated at St. Andrew's College, Bendigo, where he was dux of the school,[10] and at the University of Melbourne.[11] He was a resident of Ormond College.[12][9]

While at the university, in addition to his courses in Science and Mining Engineering, he rowed, played cricket, played football, and competed in the long jump for Ormond College;[13] and, as well, represented the university at both rowing,[14] and at football.

Awards
  • 1908: Full blue for football.[9]
  • 1909: Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.).[15][16]
  • 1909: Final Honor Scholarship in Geology, Palæontology, and Mineralogy.[17]
  • 1909: Professor Kernot Research Scholarship in Geology.[18]
  • 1912: Master of Science (M.Sc.).[19]

Football

He was part of the Melbourne University team that played in the annual match against Adelaide University on 19 August 1908.[20]

Playing for the University in the Metropolitan Junior Football Association (MJFA),[21] he made his debut for the University's VFL team, playing on the half-back flank, against Richmond on 8 May 1909. He played 10 senior matches, and was one of the best University players in his last match, the season's final round, in the draw against Fitzroy, that was played in a quagmire at the Brunswick Street Oval on 4 September 1909.[22]

His studies at university and his employment in Queensland prevented him from playing for the University's VFL team in 1910.

Western Australia

Having spent twelve months as a lecturer in science and mining at the Brisbane Technical College, he moved to Western Australia to work as an assistant mineralogist and surveyor with the Geological Survey of West Australia in 1911[23] — and, later, still with the Geological Survey of West Australia, he also assumed the duties of a chemist and analyst.[24][9][25][26]

He was admitted as an inaugural member of the Convocation of the University of Western Australia in 1913.[27][28]

Military

He enlisted in the First AIF on 10 May 1915, and served overseas in Egypt and at Gallipoli.

Death

He was killed in action at Gallipoli on 6 August 1915.[29][30]

Lieutenant Alexander John Robertson … had joined the 11th Battalion only two days before his death, and was engaged in holding a trench which had been captured from the Turks.
The latter made a counter attack in force, and Lieutenant Robertson, to inspire confidence in the men under his command, sprang into a recess, and raising his head and shoulders above the parapet, fired his revolver into the foremost of the enemy, and continued to do so until he was shot.
His commanding officer says, "He died a gallant Australian soldier."[31][32]

See also

Footnotes
  1. "Alexander John Robertson". Find A Grave.
  2. Deaths: Robertson, The Argus, (Monday, 6 May 1929), p.1.
  3. Deaths: Robertson, The Argus, (Friday, 16 June 1944), p.2.
  4. Announcements: Marriages: Robertson—McArthur, The Australasian, (Saturday, 13 January 1883), p.11.
  5. Marriages: Robertson—Chapman, The Leader, (Saturday, 5 August 1911), p.56.
  6. Deaths: Robertson, The Argus, (Tuesday, 4 December 1917), p.1.
  7. Social Gossip, The Warwick Examiner and Times, (Monday, 17 December 1917), p.5. In Memoriam: Robertson, The Argus, (Friday, 29 November 1918), p.1.
  8. Mrs. Robertson's Death, The (Perth) Daily News, (Monday, 3 December 1917), p.7.
  9. Photographs and Lives of the Fallen: Lieutenant Alex J. Robertson, The Varsity Engineer: War memorial Number 1914-1919, Committee of the Melbourne University Engineering Society, (Melbourne), c.1919, pp.88-89.
  10. School Speech Days: St. Andrew's College and Corporate High School, The Bendigo Advertiser, (Friday, 19 December 1902), p.4; About People, The Bendigo Independent, (Tuesday, 6 January 1903), p.2; Matriculation Examination, The Ballarat Star, (Tuesday, 10 January 1905), p.2.
  11. Roll of Honour, The Argus, (Tuesday, 2 November 1915), p.8.
  12. Roll of Service Overseas 1914–1918: Roll of the Fallen: Robertson, Alexander John 1905, The University of Melbourne Record of Active Service of Teachers, Graduates, Undergraduates, Officers and Servants in the European War, 1914–1918, University of Melbourne, (Melbourne), 1926, p.40.
  13. Athletics: Amateur, The Weekly Times, (Saturday, 29 May 1909), p.21.
  14. Boating, The Weekly Times, (Saturday, 30 October 1909), p.33.
  15. University Commencement: Presentation of Degrees, The Argus, (Monday, 3 May 1909), p.7; New Graduates of Melbourne University: A.J. Robertson, B.S., The Punch (Melbourne), (Thursday, 13 May 1909), p.15.
  16. Note that, in his "Application for a Commission", dated 10 May 1915 (see Service Record), he stated: "Completed courses at University of Melbourne, for Master of Science (M.Sc.) & Bachelor of Mining Engineering (B.M.E.)".
  17. University of Melbourne, The Age, (Saturday, 20 March 1909), p.13.
  18. Personal, The Australasian, (Saturday, 8 May 1909), p.37.
  19. Melbourne University: Conferring of Degrees, The Age, (Tuesday, 24 December 1912), p.8; Personal, The West Australian, Friday, 10 January 1913), p.8.
  20. Inter-University Match, (Thursday, 20 August 1908), p.11.
  21. University, The (Melbourne) Herald, (Friday, 16 April 1909), p.2.
  22. Hard Work at Fitzroy: An Exciting Finish, The Argus, (Monday, 6 September 1909), p.5.
  23. Geological Survey of West Australia, The Coolgardie Miner, (Friday, 14 April 1911), p.3; The Geological Survey of West Australia, The Murchison Advocate, (Thursday, 2 November 1911), p.3.
  24. Civil Service Classifications: Appeals of Engineering Staff, The West Australian, (Wednesday, 19 August 1914), p.3.
  25. The Late Lieutenant A. J. Robertson, The West Australian, (Saturday, 30 October 1915), p.7.
  26. Note that, in his "Application for a Commission", dated 10 May 1915 (see Service Record), he stated that his "Present Civil Employment" was "Mining Engineer & Geologist, W.A. Mines Dept.".
  27. The significance of "inaugural", and "1913", is (a) 1913 was the year that the university (founded in 1911), first began teaching students, and (b) 1913 was the year of the Convocation's constitution; Meeting of Convocation; An Excellent Attendance, The Western Mail, (Friday, 7 March 1913), p.47.
  28. University of Western Australia, The Kalgoorlie Western Argus, (Tuesday, 4 March 1913), p.9; Public Notices: University of Western Australia: Members of Convocation, The West Australian, (Thursday, 20 March 1913), p.1.
  29. Western Australia: The Roll of Honour: Ninety-Eighth Casualty List, The West Australian, (Wednesday, 27 October 1915), p.7.
  30. Deaths: Killed in Action: Robertson, The Argus, (Monday, 11 October 1915), p.1; Deaths: Killed in Action: Robertson, The Argus, (Tuesday, 12 October 1915), p.1.
  31. Social Notes, The (Melbourne) Leader, (Saturday, 16 October 1915), p.50.
  32. Belford, W.C., "The Story of the Eleventh Battalion: Chapter IX: The Trenches at Anzac", The Western Mail, (Thursday, 24 February 1938), p.9.

References
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