Lewis Gordon Blackmore (21 May 1886 – 23 July 1916) 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 with

Essendon Essendon may refer to: Australia *Electoral district of Essendon *Electoral district of Essendon and Flemington *Essendon, Victoria **Essendon railway station **Essendon Airport *Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League United King ...

in the Victorian Football League (VFL).

Family and early life

Blackmore's father,

Edwin Gordon Blackmore Edwin Gordon Blackmore (1837–1909), was Clerk of the Legislative Council and Clerk of Parliaments of the colony of South Australia. Blackmore was educated at King Edward VI. Grammar School, Bath, Somerset. He served with the Taranaki Rifle ...

(1837–1909), an Englishman from Bath, the son of a doctor, had fought as a volunteer in the "Maori Wars" with the Taranaki Rifle Volunteer Corps from 1863 to 1864, and had moved to South Australia and had established himself in Adelaide. He was a co-founder of the Adelaide Club, the Adelaide Hunt Club, and served the Clerk of the South Australian Legislative Council from 1886 and, later, served as the Clerk of the Federal Parliaments. Blackmore's mother, Eleanora Elizabeth Farr (1847–1901), was the eldest daughter of ven. Archdeacon

George Henry Farr The Ven. George Henry Farr, M.A., LL.D. (2 July 1819 – 7 February 1904) was a British born Australian Anglican priest; headmaster of St. Peter's College from 1854 to 1879. History Farr was born in Tottenham, London, a son of John Farr, and was ...

(1819–1904), M.A., LL.D. and Julia Warren Ord. Blackmore had four older brothers, Gordon Patteson Blackmore (1872–1941), George Edward Blackmore (1874–1936), James Gairdner Blackmore (1876–?), Edwin Ord Blackmore (1879–?), two older sisters, Jane Gordon Drummond Blackmore (later, Mrs. Granville Sharp) (1881–1942), Eleanor Mary Blackmore (1884–1891), and one younger brother, John Coleridge Blackmore (1888–?). His older brother Quartermaster Sergeant George Edward Blackmore (No.85), had served in the Boer War with the Third South Australian Citizens' Bushmen Contingent.

Education

He attended St Peter's College, Adelaide, and moved to Melbourne Grammar School in 1903. He was a prefect at Melbourne Grammar, and played cricket and football for the school's First XI and First XVIII in 1904. and 1905. In 1906, Blackmore entered

Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...

, and began a study of engineering at the University of Melbourne. While at the university, he was awarded a "

full blue A blue is an award of sporting colours earned by athletes at some universities and schools for competition at the highest level. The awarding of blues began at Oxford and Cambridge universities in England. They are now awarded at a number of other ...

" in cricket.

Footballer

Recruited from Melbourne Grammar School, when still a student there, he played on the forward line, and kicked four goals from five shots in his first senior game against St Kilda, at the Junction Oval on 2 September 1905. He played in the next two games, the last match of the season, and the first Semi-Final, both against Fitzroy. Fitzroy won both matches. Blackmore kicked one of Essendon's four goals in each of the matches. He played in the second, third and fourth games of the 1906 season, and in the second game of the 1907 season.

Soldier

Prior to his enlistment he was farmer and grazier, working with his brother, John Coleridge Blackmore, at Wattamondara, near Cowra, in New South Wales. He enlisted in Adelaide on 23 September 1914; seven weeks after the declaration of war. On 21 December, having finished his basic training, he was promoted from Trooper to Lance Corporal; and, on that same day, as part of the 6th Light Horse Regiment, A Troop, A Squadron, he embarked from Sydney on board ''HMAT Suevic (A29)''. After further training in Egypt, he was sent to Gallipoli, where he was wounded in action (on 14 July 1915); among other injuries he had a broken right arm. He was evacuated to Malta; and whilst there, in the September, he contracted "enteric fever" (typhoid). He was immediately sent to Cardiff, Wales, in the UK to recover and, once he was well enough to do so, he returned to his unit, in Egypt, in January 1916.

Death

Second Lieutenant Blackmore was killed by machine gun fire in France, just after midnight, whilst taking part in an attacking advance as part of the 1st Infantry Battalion during the

Battle of Pozières The Battle of Pozières (23 July – 3 September 1916) took place in northern France around the village of Pozières, during the Battle of the Somme. The costly fighting ended with the British in possession of the plateau north and east of the v ...

on the morning of Sunday, 23 July 1916. He was hit in the forehead by a machine gun bullet and died instantly, at 30 years of age. His body was never identified, and the precise location of his grave is unknown. He is commemorated at the

Villers–Bretonneux Australian National Memorial The Australian National Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux is the main memorial to Australian military personnel killed on the Western Front during World War I. It is located on the Route Villiers-Bretonneux (D 23), between the towns of Fouillo ...

, in France.Second Lieutenant Lewis Gordon Blackmore
''Commonwealth War Graves Commission''.

Footnotes

References

* Holmesby, Russell & Main, Jim (2007). The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers. 7th ed. Melbourne: Bas Publishing. * Main, J. & Allen, D., "Blackmore, Lewis", pp. 21–22 in Main, J. & Allen, D., ''Fallen – The Ultimate Heroes: Footballers Who Never Returned From War'', Crown Content, (Melbourne), 2002.
World War One Embarkation Roll (79), Private Lewis Gordon Blackmore
collection of the ''Australian War Memorial''.
World War One Nominal Roll, Second Lieutenant Lewis Gordon Blackmore
collection of the ''Australian War Memorial''.
World War One Service Record: Second Lieutenant Lewis Gordon Blackmore
''National Archives of Australia''.
Red Cross Wounded and Missing Records: Second Lieutenant Lewis Gordon Blackmore
collection of the ''Australian War Memorial''.
Roll of Honour: Second Lieutenant Lewis Gordon Blackmore
''Australian War Memorial''.
Roll of Honour Circular: Second Lieutenant Lewis Gordon Blackmore
collection of the ''Australian War Memorial''.
Lewis Gordon Blackmore – Gallipolli and Pozieres, ''pozieresremembered.com.au'', 31 May 2016.

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Blackmore, Lewis 1886 births 1916 deaths Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state) Essendon Football Club players Australian military personnel killed in World War I People educated at St Peter's College, Adelaide People educated at Melbourne Grammar School