The Perth Polo Club is a

polo Polo is a ball game played on horseback, a traditional field sport and one of the world's oldest known team sports. The game is played by two opposing teams with the objective of scoring using a long-handled wooden mallet to hit a small hard ...

club in

Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, around southwest of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The name "Guildf ...

, a suburb of

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

, Western Australia.

Location

The club is currently located at Kings Meadow on the outer southern side of the historical town of Guildford, on the river flat of the

Helena River The Helena River is a tributary of the Swan River in Western Australia. The river rises in country east of Mount Dale and flows north-west to Mundaring Weir, where it is dammed. It then flows west until it reaches the Darling Scarp. It passes ...

.Official website: History of Polo in Perth
Former grounds include

Claremont Showground The Claremont Showground near Perth, Western Australia is home to the annual Perth Royal Show. In 1902, of land were reserved in the Perth suburb of Claremont for a new showground to replace the Guildford Showgrounds. The Royal Agricultural S ...

, and other locations over time.

History

The club was founded in 1896 and is the oldest polo club in Western Australia. It was set up before the establishment of the Western Australian Polo Association in 1903. The club's founder,

Neil McNeil Neil McNeil (November 23, 1851 – May 25, 1934) was the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Vancouver from 1910 to 1912 and Roman Catholic Archbishop of Toronto from 1912 to 1934. Early life McNeil was born in Hillsborough, Inverness County, Nov ...

, was a railway contractor, timber merchant and landowner who resided at

The Cliffe The Cliffe is one of the first residential dwellings built in the Perth suburb of Peppermint Grove. The house is located at 25 Bindaring Parade, Peppermint Grove and has historical associations with the prominent McNeil, Brisbane and McComb fa ...

Peppermint Grove Peppermint (''Mentha'' × ''piperita'') is a hybrid species of mint, a cross between watermint and spearmint. Indigenous to Europe and the Middle East, the plant is now widely spread and cultivated in many regions of the world.Euro+Med Plantbas ...

.Horace A. Laffaye, ''The Evolution of Polo'', Jefferson, North Carolina: MacFarland & Company, 2009, p. 42 On 17 September 1896, members of the club met at the United Service Hotel for races to be held on 10 October of the same year.'Polo: Perth Polo Club'
''

The Inquirer & Commercial News ''The Inquirer & Commercial News'' was a newspaper published in Perth, Western Australia from 1855 to 1901. In May 1847, Edmund Stirling acquired ''The Inquirer'' from Francis Lochée, who established the paper in August 1840 together with Will ...

'', 18 September 1896 In its early days, the club was patronized by Gerard Smith, who served as the governor of

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

from 1895 to 1900.

Michael O'Connor Michael O'Connor may refer to: Politicians * Michael O'Connor (Australian politician) (1865–1940), Australian politician * Michael O'Connor (Wisconsin politician) (1856–1925), Wisconsin State Assemblyman * Michael J. O'Connor (politici ...

, who served as a member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly from 1901 to 1904, also held office as the club's Captain. In 1902, McNeil was the President, while the Vice Presidents were Edward Wittenoom and T. W. Brown.Polo: Perth Polo Club
''

The West Australian ''The West Australian'' is the only locally edited daily newspaper published in Perth, Western Australia. It is owned by Seven West Media (SWM), as is the state's other major newspaper, ''The Sunday Times''. It is the second-oldest continuousl ...

'', 26 November 1902 Committee members were

Everard Darlot Everard Firebrace Darlot (23 January 1859 – 5 November 1937) was an Australian pastoralist and politician who was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia from 1890 to 1894, representing the seat of Murchison. Darlot was b ...

, D. B. Ord, P. Law Smith, N. D'Arcy and Dr O'Connor. A year later, in 1903, the club held a ball at the Mechanics' Institute. In 1930, a ball held by the club was attended by William Campion, who served as the governor of Western Australia from 1924 to 1931. After World War II, with activity and membership in decline, W.G. Bennett revived the club. Together with Stewart Harkness, he also made the decision to move the club from the Claremont Showground in

Claremont Claremont may refer to: Places Australia *Claremont, Ipswich, a heritage-listed house in Queensland * Claremont, Tasmania, a suburb of Hobart * Claremont, Western Australia, a suburb of Perth ** Claremont Football Club, West Australian Footba ...

to Kings Meadow in Guildford. , the club president was Neville Stewart.WA Polo Association

References

{{Reflist Guildford, Western Australia Polo clubs in Australia Sports clubs and teams in Perth, Western Australia 1896 establishments in Australia Sports clubs and teams established in 1896