Arthur Vaux Kewney (1873 – 3 July 1956) was an Australian thoroughbred horseracing official, secretary of the

Victoria Racing Club The Victoria Racing Club was founded in 1864. It was formed following the disbanding of the Victoria Turf Club and the Victoria Jockey Club. A legacy passed from the Victoria Turf Club was the annual "race that stops a nation", the Melbourne Cup, ...

for 21 years.

History

Kewney was born in

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

, England, and served a five-year apprenticeship as clerk to a Liverpool cotton-broking firm. He left England to work as a clerk in

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...

and

New Brunswick New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. It is the only province with both English and ...

but returned home and found employment as a traveller for a firm of paint manufacturers. In 1896 he emigrated to Australia, and was employed by Phoenix Gold Mining Ltd. of

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

as manager and accountant. He had always been interested in the turf, having memories as a lad in Liverpool of seeing Count Charles Kinsky on Zoedone winning the Grand National in

1883 Events January–March * January 4 – ''Life'' magazine is founded in Los Angeles, California, United States. * January 10 – A fire at the Newhall Hotel in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States, kills 73 people. * Ja ...

, and

Voluptuary Voluptuary (1878 – September 1902) was a Thoroughbred race horse that won the 1884 Grand National. He had a varied racing career, competing in flat racing before becoming the first horse to win a Grand National without competing in a pr ...

, ridden by E. P. Wilson, take the same race in

1884 Events January–March * January 4 – The Fabian Society is founded in London. * January 5 – Gilbert and Sullivan's ''Princess Ida'' premières at the Savoy Theatre, London. * January 18 – Dr. William Price atte ...

. With no prior experience he took on the job of secretary to the

Kalgoorlie Racing Club Kalgoorlie is a city in the Goldfields–Esperance region of Western Australia, located east-northeast of Perth at the end of the Great Eastern Highway. It is sometimes referred to as Kalgoorlie–Boulder, as the surrounding urban area include ...

, and was highly successful. He was appointed secretary of the

South Australian Jockey Club South Australian Jockey Club is the principal race club in South Australia. First racing events The first horse racing events in South Australia took place at a well-attended picnic meeting held over 1 and 2 January 1838. In August 1838, ridin ...

in 1919, as a successor to A. O. Whitington, and was responsible for changing

Morphettville Morphettville is a suburb of Adelaide, South Australia in the City of Marion. The northern part of the suburb is bounded by the Glenelg tram line, and fully occupied by the Morphettville Racecourse (horseracing track). The tram barn storage a ...

from a "burrow of conservatism" to a popular venue. Richer pastures lured however, and in June 1925 he was appointed secretary of the V.R.C. as a successor to

H. Byron Moore Henry Byron Moore (11 February 1839 – 22 June 1925) was an Australian businessman, remembered as secretary of the Victorian Racing Club (VRC) for 45 years, from 1881 to 1925, a few weeks before his death. Biography Moore was born in Surrey, En ...

, who retired in May 1925 after a 44-year career with the Club and died a month later. He retired in 1946 at the age of 74. Kewney was noted for his civility and good humor. He was a devotee of racing and followed the progress of horses and jockeys avidly, but was never tempted to lay a bet.

Recognition

The A. V. Kewney Stakes, which has had several changes in grade and distance, was named for him.

Family

Kewney married Emma Olga Bertha Hedemann (died in Adelaide 1971), only daughter of F. C. Hedemann of Coolgardie, Western Australia in

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

on 6 June 1900. *Their son Everard Vaux Kewney (c. 1901–1971) was a student at

Queen's College, North Adelaide Queen's College was a privately owned and run school for boys on Barton Terrace, North Adelaide. It ran continuously from 1891 to 1949, an Australian record for a proprietary boys' school. History In 1885 Rev. Thomas Field (later Canon Field) and ...

. He was handicapper for SAJC from 1948.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kewney, Arthur Australian horse racing officials 1873 births 1956 deaths British emigrants to Australia