Edward Rennix Larkin (3 January 1880 – 25 April 1915) was an Australian parliamentarian and a
national
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representative
rugby union
Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...
player.
Larkin was the member for
Willoughby in the
New South Wales Legislative Assembly
The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament Ho ...
from December 1913 until his death. He served in the
1st AIF
The First Australian Imperial Force (1st AIF) was the main expeditionary force of the Australian Army during the First World War. It was formed as the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) following Britain's declaration of war on Germany on 15 Au ...
, and was killed in action on the first day of the
Gallipoli Campaign. He was one of only two serving members of any Australian parliament to fall in
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
— the other was
George Braund
George Frederick Braund (13 July 1866 – 4 May 1915) was an Australian soldier and politician.
Life
Braund was born in Bideford, Devon, England and was educated at Bideford Grammar School and migrated with his family to New South Wales, when h ...
, also a New South Wales MLA who fell at Gallipoli.
Early life
Larkin was born at
North Lambton,
New South Wales
)
, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
, to William Joseph Larkin, a quarryman and his wife Mary Ann, née Rennix. His family moved to
Camperdown in Sydney where the young Ted Larkin was schooled at St Benedict's Broadway, run by the
Marist Brothers
The Marist Brothers of the Schools, commonly known as simply the Marist Brothers, is an international community of Catholic religious institute of brothers. In 1817, St. Marcellin Champagnat, a Marist priest from France, founded the Marist Brothe ...
. For his last two years of senior schooling he boarded at
St. Joseph's College, Hunters Hill, where he played in the college's 1896 first rugby XV.
After school he worked in journalism before joining the Metropolitan Police Force in 1903 as a foot-constable, later being promoted to first-constable in 1905.
His premature greying made him appear older than he was.
Rugby union career
He maintained an active involvement in sports after completing his schooling and participated in cricket, swimming and
rugby union
Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...
and played first grade with the Endeavour Rugby Club at Newtown in Sydney. In 1903 he was captain of that club and made his state representative debut for
New South Wales
)
, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
against
Queensland
)
, nickname = Sunshine State
, image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, establishe ...
and then the touring
New Zealand national rugby team before being selected for
Australia in the first Test of 1903 in Sydney in the August, against those same
All Blacks
The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987, ...
. Larkin played at
hooker for the Australian representative side in a pack featuring future rugby league pioneers and
dual-code rugby internationals
A dual-code rugby international is a rugby footballer who has played at the senior international level in both codes of rugby, 13-a-side rugby league and 15-a-side rugby union.
Rugby league started as a breakaway version of rugby in Northern Eng ...
Alex Burdon
Alexander Burdon (31 March 1879 – 13 December 1943) was an Australian rugby union and pioneer professional rugby league footballer - a List of dual-code rugby internationals, dual-code rugby international.
He was one of the founding fathers ...
,
Denis Lutge
Denis "Dinny" Lutge (26 November 1879 – 18 February 1953) was a pioneer Australian rugby league and rugby union player, a dual-code international. He was the second ever captain of the Australian national rugby league team and the first to le ...
and
Bill Hardcastle
William Robert Hardcastle (30 August 1874 – 11 July 1944) born in Wellington, New Zealand was a pioneer New Zealand and Australian rugby union player and an Australian rugby league footballer. He represented both countries in union and Austra ...
. The Australians were soundly beaten 22–3 by the
All Blacks
The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987, ...
.
Rugby league administrator
Larkin knew and sympathised with a number of the senior rugby union players who in 1906-07 became louder in their discontent with the administration of the
New South Wales Rugby Union over rejection of compensation claims for injuries and lost wages. The breakaway in Australia took place in 1908, as it had earlier in 1895 with the
Northern Union in
Northern England
Northern England, also known as the North of England, the North Country, or simply the North, is the northern area of England. It broadly corresponds to the former borders of Angle Northumbria, the Anglo-Scandinavian Kingdom of Jorvik, and the ...
. A gifted public speaker, Larkin had continued to develop a strong sense of social justice during his years in the police force. After the financial failure of the
1908–09 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain
The 1908–09 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain was the first ever such tour for the newly-formed Australia national rugby league team (or 'The Kangaroos'). The tour was to England and Wales and coincided with the first Wallabies Rugby Union tour of ...
and claims of mismanagement by the league's founding fathers
James Joseph Giltinan
James Joseph Giltinan (1866–1950) was an Australian entrepreneur who helped to introduce the sport of rugby league football to Australia. The J. J. Giltinan Shield, which is awarded annually to the National Rugby League minor premiers, was n ...
, cricketer
Victor Trumper
Victor Thomas Trumper (2 November 1877 – 28 June 1915) was an Australian cricketer known as the most stylish and versatile batsman of the Golden Age of cricket, capable of playing match-winning innings on wet wickets his contemporaries found ...
and Labor politician
Henry Hoyle
Henry "Harry" Clement Hoyle (20 November 1852 – 20 July 1926) was an Australian politician and rugby league football administrator of the 1890s and 1900s. A life member of the New South Wales Rugby League, Hoyle is credited with helping ...
, the pioneer code looked to be in jeopardy before it had barely begun.
In June 1909 Larkin left the police force and was appointed the first full-time secretary of the almost bankrupt
New South Wales Rugby League
The New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL) is the governing body of rugby league in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory and is a member of the Australian Rugby League Commission. It was formed in Sydney on 8 August 1907 and was ...
. He was an excellent organizer and had success in promoting the new game evidenced by the crowd of 42,000 who filled the
Agricultural Oval in June 1910 to see the Australia v
Great Britain
Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...
Test. During his administration which lasted till 1913, he convinced the Catholic education hierarchy and the
Marist Brothers
The Marist Brothers of the Schools, commonly known as simply the Marist Brothers, is an international community of Catholic religious institute of brothers. In 1817, St. Marcellin Champagnat, a Marist priest from France, founded the Marist Brothe ...
in particular, to adopt
rugby league
Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 11 ...
as their winter sporting game. To this day, the code benefits from this legacy in New South Wales and Queensland.
[''SJC News'', article by College Historian James Gray p19]
Parliamentary career
In December 1913 Larkin stood as the
Labor Party candidate for the conservative seat of
Willoughby in Sydney winning 51.61% of the vote in a second ballot. He was living at
Milsons Point
Milsons Point is a suburb on the lower North Shore of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The suburb is located 3 kilometres north of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of North Sydney Council.
Mil ...
at the time and became the first Labor
Member of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...
elected from the north side of Sydney Harbour. He was appointed as the government representative on the board of the
Royal North Shore Hospital
The Royal North Shore Hospital (RNSH) is a major public teaching hospital in Sydney, Australia, located in St Leonards. It serves as a teaching hospital for Sydney Medical School at the University of Sydney and has over 600 beds. It is the prin ...
and was vocal in his support for proposal to build a bridge across
Sydney Harbour Larkin was the member for Willoughby in the
New South Wales Legislative Assembly
The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament Ho ...
from December 1913 until his death.
Active service and death
Ted Larkin's promising career was cut short with the outbreak of
WWI
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
on 4 August 1914. Demonstrating a patriotic fervour, Larkin enlisted within ten days of war's declaration and joined C Coy of the
1st Battalion, of the
AIF's
1st Division. In his final address to the NSW Parliament, on 18 August 1914, Larkin said, "I cannot engage in the work of recruiting and urge others to enlist unless I do so myself."
Gray quotes a brief poem published in the ''Sydney Sun'' in 1918 acclaiming Larkin for his virtue in enlisting.
The battalion left Australia in October 1914, arriving in
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...
on 2 December. Larkin's brother Martin also embarked on the Transport A19 Afric for Egypt where Ted, a
sergeant was active in promoting games of rugby league amongst the troops.
The battalion
landed at Anzac Cove at dawn on 25 April 1915 as part of the second and third waves, starting the
Gallipoli campaign. It took part in the desperate struggle for the dominating hill known as Baby 700. The Turks wrested control of the hill and counter-attacked to drive the Australians from the high ground. That afternoon Ted Larkin died from a chest wound in a hail of machine gun fire.
Heads and Middleton quote from the war memoir ''Imperishable Anzacs'' by Harold Cavill: ''"Wounded and dying he lay, yet when the stretcher-bearers came to carry him in, he waved them on, saying 'There's plenty worse than me out there'. Later they found him dead"''. His brother Martin aged 37 also lost his life that day on the heights above
Anzac Cove. Neither body was recovered until the burial Armistice of 24 May but there is no known grave for either of the Larkin brothers and their names are recorded on the
Lone Pine Memorial commemorating 4,934 Australian and New Zealand troops killed in the sector who have no known grave.
In memoriam
Confirmation of Larkin's death didn't reach Australia until June, whereupon a
requiem mass
A Requiem or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead ( la, Missa pro defunctis) or Mass of the dead ( la, Missa defunctorum), is a Mass of the Catholic Church offered for the repose of the soul or souls of one or more deceased persons, ...
was celebrated at
St Mary's Cathedral, Sydney
The Cathedral Church and Minor Basilica of the Immaculate Mother of God, Help of Christians (colloquially, St Mary's Cathedral) is the cathedral church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney and the seat of the Archbishop of Sydney, curre ...
attended by many distinguished citizens including the
Premier and the
Governor of New South Wales. Ted and Martin were both posthumously awarded the
1914–15 Star, the
British War Medal
The British War Medal is a campaign medal of the United Kingdom which was awarded to officers and men of British and Imperial forces for service in the First World War. Two versions of the medal were produced. About 6.5 million were struck in si ...
and the
Victory Medal.
The 1915 Sydney rugby league
City Cup
The City Cup was a rugby league competition involving Australian premiership teams. The post season tournament was a regular feature in the years 1912–1925. City Cups were also played in 1937, 1942 and 1959.
The inaugural city cup was contested ...
Grand Final was held as a testimonial for Ted Larkin's widow and sons and raised £171. The St Joseph's College Old Boys' Union set up the Sergeant Larkin Bursary to help finance his sons fees at the college (at a meeting on 1 July 1915, the following resolution was passed: "That in order to commemorate the signal service of the late Sergeant E.R. Larkin, M.L.A., to Australia, the Union invite the co-operation of the all old boys to provide a bursary at St. Joseph's College for the deceased member's son"). The family eventually declined the offer but the bursary has survived to this day as the Old Boys' Bursary.
On 30 November 1915, in the
New South Wales Legislative Assembly
The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament Ho ...
, the Speaker unveiled a commemorative tablet in honour of Lieutenant-Colonel
George Braund
George Frederick Braund (13 July 1866 – 4 May 1915) was an Australian soldier and politician.
Life
Braund was born in Bideford, Devon, England and was educated at Bideford Grammar School and migrated with his family to New South Wales, when h ...
, Member for Armidale and Sergeant Edward Rennix Larkin, Member for Willoughby who both fell at Gallipoli.
The plaque reads:
Honours and awards
*
1914–15 Star
*
British War Medal
The British War Medal is a campaign medal of the United Kingdom which was awarded to officers and men of British and Imperial forces for service in the First World War. Two versions of the medal were produced. About 6.5 million were struck in si ...
*
Victory Medal
See also
*
*
List of international rugby union players killed in action during the First World War
Footnotes
References
* ''St. Joseph's College News'' 2008 Volume 46, #2 article by James Gray, College Assistant Archivist
* Heads, Ian and Middleton, David (2008) ''A Centenary of Rugby League'', MacMillan Sydney
* Williams, Terry (1993) ''Out of the Blue: The History of Newtown RLFC'', Newtown RLFC, Sydney
* Williams, Terry (2008) ''Through Blue Eyes – A Pictorial History of Newtown RLFC'', Newtown RLFC, Sydney
World War One Service Record: Sergeant Edward Rinnex Larkin (321), ''National Archives of Australia''.World War One Nominal Roll: : Sergeant Edward Rinnex Larkin (321), ''Australian War Memorial''.
External links
Edward Larkin at the AIF Project
{{DEFAULTSORT:Larkin, Edward
1880 births
1915 deaths
Military personnel from New South Wales
Australian military personnel killed in World War I
Australian rugby union players
Australian soldiers
Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly
People educated at St Joseph's College, Hunters Hill
Australia international rugby union players
Australian sportsperson-politicians
Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of New South Wales
20th-century Australian politicians
Rugby union players from Newcastle, New South Wales
Rugby union hookers