Albert Ernest Salkeld (24 May 1876 – 26 May 1917) was an

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

er who played for the

Essendon Football Club The Essendon Football Club, nicknamed the Bombers, is a professional Australian rules football club. The club plays in the Australian Football League (AFL), the game's premier competition. The club was formed by the McCracken family in their A ...

in the Victorian Football League (VFL).

Family

The son of Robert Salkeld (1833-1897), and Annie Salkeld (1837-1919), née Carey, Albert Ernest Salkeld was born at

Clunes, Victoria Clunes is a town in Victoria, Australia, 36 kilometres north of Ballarat, in the Shire of Hepburn. At the 2016 census it had a population of 1,728. History Pre-colonial The Djadja Wurrung people were the first inhabitants of the region ...

on 24 May 1876.

Education

Educated at Christian Brothers' College, Victoria Parade, and at the medical faculty of the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb nor ...

, in 1893, to study medicine. Rather than completing his medical qualification in Melbourne, he went to Scotland, in pursuit of the conjoint medical and surgical qualification available to international medical candidates, known as the "Scottish Triple".

Football

Melbourne (VFA)

Recruited from Melbourne University, he played in one game for Melbourne in the VFA in 1895.

Essendon (VFA)

Following a clearance from Melbourne, played 15 games for Essendon in the VFA in 1896.

Essendon (VFL)

He played for Essendon, as a follower, in the team's first five matches in the new VFL competition in 1897. He was injured, playing for a representative VFL side against a combined Bendigo Football Association team, at Bendigo, on 9 June 1897, and did not play again.

Surgeon

He passed the third year examinations in Scotland in 1898, and concluded his Scottish medical studies in 1900. On 14 December 1904 (Register no.2522), Albert Ernest Salkeld, L.R.C.P. Edin. (Licentiate of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh) 1900, L.R.C.S. Edin. (Licentiate of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh) 1900, L.F.P.S. Glasg. (Licentiate of the Faculty of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow) 1900, was entered into in the New South Wales Register of Medical Practitioners. For a number of years he was employed as a surgeon at the Northern Hospital at Liverpool, in England.

Civil Surgeon

He served as a "Civil Surgeon" with the

Royal Army Medical Corps The Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) is a specialist corps in the British Army which provides medical services to all Army personnel and their families, in war and in peace. The RAMC, the Royal Army Veterinary Corps, the Royal Army Dental Corps a ...

, during the Second Boer War (1899-1902). As a "Civil Surgeon" he was on the S.S. ''Montrose'', that left Point Natal on 15 July 1902 repatriating Australian and New Zealand troops bound for

Albany, Western Australia Albany ( ; nys, Kinjarling) is a port city in the Great Southern region in the Australian state of Western Australia, southeast of Perth, the state capital. The city centre is at the northern edge of Princess Royal Harbour, which is a ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

, and

Wellington, New Zealand Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by metr ...

. Immediately upon his arrival at Melbourne, on 11 August 1902, he was admitted to a private hospital and operated upon for

pleural empyema Pleural empyema is a collection of pus in the pleural cavity caused by microorganisms, usually bacteria. Often it happens in the context of a pneumonia, injury, or chest surgery. It is one of the various kinds of pleural effusion. There are three ...

Military service

He later moved to England and enlisted to serve in the

in World War I. ::"Temporary Captain Albert Ernest Salkeld is dismissed the service n 15 February 1917by sentence of a general court-martial onducted at Guildhall, London on 31 January 1917">Guildhall,_London.html" ;"title="onducted at Guildhall, London">onducted at Guildhall, London on 31 January 1917" — ''British Medical Journal'', 10 March 1917.

Death

He died in London on 26 May 1917. His death was not related to his military service.Cullen (2015), p. 210.

Notes

References

* Cullen, Barbara (2015), ''Harder than Football: League Players at War'', Richmond, Victoria: Slattery Media Group. p. 210. * Holmesby, Russell & Main, Jim (2014), ''The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers: Every AFL/VFL Player since 1897 (10th ed.)'', Melbourne, Victoria: Bas Publishing. p. 782. * Maplestone, M., ''Flying Higher: History of the Essendon Football Club 1872–1996'', Essendon Football Club, (Melbourne), 1996.
Pennings, Mark (2016), ''Origins of Australian Football: Victoria's early History: Volume 4: Tough Times: Victorian Football loses its Way, 1891 to 1896'', Brunswick, Victoria: Grumpy Monks Publishing.

External links

* *
Albert Salkeld, at ''Demonwiki''.

Bert "Baron" Salkeld, at ''Essendon Football Club Past Players''.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Salkeld, Bert 1876 births 1917 deaths Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state) Essendon Football Club (VFA) players Essendon Football Club players British Army personnel of World War I Royal Army Medical Corps soldiers