George Edward Downs (25 July 1856 – 2 April 1936) was an Australian Test cricket umpire.

Life and career

Downs was born and died in

North Adelaide North Adelaide is a predominantly residential precinct and suburb of the City of Adelaide in South Australia, situated north of the River Torrens and within the Adelaide Park Lands. History Surveyor-General Colonel William Light of the colo ...

, where he lived all his life. He went to school there at

Whinham College North Adelaide Grammar School, later Whinham College was a private school operated in North Adelaide, South Australia by John Whinham (3 August 1803 – 13 March 1886) and his family. History John Whinham The founder of the school was born at Sh ...

. He worked as a carpenter and undertaker. Downs played senior Adelaide cricket before becoming an

umpire An umpire is an official in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The term derives from the Old French nonper, ''non'', "not" and ''per'', ...

. He umpired 19

first-class matches First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officiall ...

between 1892 and 1903. His only Test was at the

Adelaide Oval Adelaide Oval is a sports ground in Adelaide, South Australia, located in the parklands between the city centre and North Adelaide. The venue is predominantly used for cricket and Australian rules football, but has also played host to rugby ...

in March 1892, when

W. G. Grace William Gilbert Grace (18 July 1848 – 23 October 1915) was an English Amateur status in first-class cricket, amateur cricketer who was important in the development of the sport and is widely considered one of its greatest players. He played ...

captained

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

to an innings victory over

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. Downs was also prominent in the early days of

Australian rules 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 ...

football in Adelaide. He was one of the founders in 1874 of the

Victorians In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardian ...

team of North Adelaide, which competed in the SAFA. He captained them for eight seasons before the club folded at the end of the 1884 season. They won the premiership under his captaincy in 1877. He captained the Victorians against a team from

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

in 1877, in South Australia's first interstate football match. Two days later he played for a combined South Australian team against Victoria. He married Fanny Howard in North Adelaide in November 1881. He died at home in April 1936, aged 79. Fanny and two sons and two daughters survived him; one son predeceased him. Fanny died in 1954, aged 96.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Downs, George 1856 births 1936 deaths Sportspeople from Adelaide Australian rules footballers from South Australia Australian Test cricket umpires