Jack Crawford

Jack Crawford was a famous Australian tennis player from the 1930s. He is perhaps remembered best for almost winning the grand slam in 1933. He lost the US Open, the last slam for the year, after tiring in his match against Englishman Fred Perry, which he led by two sets to one. He was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1979 and the Australian Tennis Hall of Fame in 1997. Jack was known to have taken a shot of whiskey between sets if the game was tense. He was Queen Mary's favourite player.

 

Jack Crawford rolling his sleeves down in a match because of the cold (State Library of NSW)

Jack Crawford had connections to Ingleburn. His wife Marjorie Cox, also a tennis player and a State representative, came from Ingleburn. After his heroics in 1933, Jack and Marjorie returned to Australia and, needing time for relaxation after an exhausting schedule, spent some time at Ingleburn with her parents to recover. In early November the following year, Jack played in an exhibition match at the newly opened Ingleburn tennis courts in Memorial Park.

Jack Crawford died on 10 September 1991 and is buried with Marjorie at Denham Court Cemetery.

 

Jack and Marjorie's grave in Denham Court Cemetery

 

 

Written by Andrew Allen

Sources: KERR, David

               Old Ingleburn

               In Grist Mills: Journal of the Campbelltown and Airds Historical Society

               Vol. 21, No. 1, March 2008

 

Wikipedia

 

The One-Legged Tennis Player

The library was  recently made aware of a remarkable photograph of a local man playing in a tennis tournament in 1935... using one leg! The man was Fred Morgan from Campbelltown. The tennis tournament was the Lawn Tennis Country Carnival at Rushcutter's Bay.

Fred would play using a crutch which he used under his left armpit. When serving he discarded the crutch altogether. The newspaper reports described his poise as "superb, and he possessed a service which many players would envy. He hops into the court after his delivery, and effects many fine half-volleys and volleys. Needless to say, his balance is materially affected when his crutch is discarded, and this interferes with his volleying". Apparently his strength was his forehand drive.

Fred Morgan was the son of George and Amy Morgan. It was this family that Morgan's Gate was named after (see an earlier blog post on Morgan's Gate). Not much is known about the rest of Fred's life other than he was born in 1910 in Campbelltown, lived in Chamberlain Street and later moved to Manly where he died in 1952 at the young age of 42. In 1936, he was listed as a hairdresser in Campbelltown.

Thank you to Michael Veness for alerting us to the photograph.

Photograph is from the State Library of New South Wales picture collection.

Written by Andrew Allen