John Henry Adamson (6 January 1873 – 2 October 1937) was an

Australian rules footballer 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 ...

who played three games for

South Melbourne South Melbourne is an inner suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 3 km south of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Port Phillip local government area. South Melbourne recorded a population of 11,548 at t ...

in the

Victorian Football League The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football league in Australia serving as one of the second-tier regional semi-professional competitions which sit underneath the fully professional Australian Football League (AFL). It ...

between

1897 Events January–March * January 2 – The International Alpha Omicron Pi sorority is founded, in New York City. * January 4 – A British force is ambushed by Chief Ologbosere, son-in-law of the ruler. This leads to a puniti ...

and

1898 Events January–March * January 1 – New York City annexes land from surrounding counties, creating the City of Greater New York as the world's second largest. The city is geographically divided into five boroughs: Manhattan, B ...

Family

The eldest son of David Anderson (1841–1897), and Elizabeth Calder Adamson (1850–1913), née Hastie, John Henry Adamson was born at

North Melbourne, Victoria North Melbourne is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, north-west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Melbourne local government area. North Melbourne recorded a population of 14,953 at the ...

on 6 January 1873. One of his younger brothers, David Hastie "Bud" Adamson (1874–1914), who also played for South Melbourne in both the VFA and VFL, was the South Melbourne (VFL) team's captain in 1899. He married Jane Ellen "Jennie" Keen (1873–1952), in

Fitzroy, Victoria Fitzroy is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, north-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Yarra local government area. Fitzroy recorded a population of 10,431 at the 2021 census. Pl ...

on 28 March 1900.

Education

He was educated at Albert Park State School.

Football

A forward, he was described as being an excellent

place kick The place kick is a type of kicking play commonly used in American football, association football (soccer), Canadian football, rugby league, and rugby union. Gridiron football Place kicks are used in American football and Canadian football for ...

South Melbourne (VFA)

Adamson played for Napier Imperial, the South Melbourne junior side in the Metropolitan Junior Football Association, before graduating to play for four seasons (1893 to 1896) with South Melbourne in the

Victorian Football Association The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football league in Australia serving as one of the second-tier regional semi-professional competitions which sit underneath the fully professional Australian Football League (AFL). It ...

. Adamson won South Melbourne's VFA goal kicking in 1896. He played on the half-forward flank (with his brother Dave, at full-back) in South Melbourne's 1896 premiership match loss to Collingwood.

South Melbourne (VFL)

He played (alongside Dave) for South Melbourne, against Melbourne, at the Lake Oval, on 8 May 1897, in the team's first-ever match of the VFL's first season.

Cricket

Adamson was also a noted cricketer; he was a

wicketkeeper The wicket-keeper in the sport of cricket is the player on the fielding side who stands behind the wicket or stumps being watchful of the batsman and ready to take a catch, stump the batsman out and run out a batsman when occasion arises. Th ...

who played 6 first eleven games for

Death

Adamson lived in South Melbourne for most of his life and was a member of the local

Masonic Lodge A Masonic lodge, often termed a private lodge or constituent lodge, is the basic organisational unit of Freemasonry. It is also commonly used as a term for a building in which such a unit meets. Every new lodge must be warranted or chartered ...

. He died at

South Melbourne, Victoria South Melbourne is an inner suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 3 km south of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Port Phillip local government area. South Melbourne recorded a population of 11,548 at t ...

on 2 October 1937; and was buried at

Melbourne General Cemetery The Melbourne General Cemetery is a large (43 hectare) necropolis located north of the city of Melbourne in the suburb of Carlton North. The cemetery is notably the resting place of four Prime Ministers of Australia, more than any other nec ...

Notes

References

* Holmesby, Russell & Main, Jim (2014), ''The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers: every AFL/VFL player since 1897 (10th ed.)'', Melbourne, Victoria: Bas Publishing.
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

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Adamson, Jack 1873 births 1937 deaths People from North Melbourne Australian rules footballers from Melbourne Australian Rules footballers: place kick exponents South Melbourne Football Club (VFA) players Sydney Swans players South Melbourne cricketers