Samuel Boyd Gravenall (18 July 1885 – 8 March 1948), variously known as "Sam Gravenall" and "Boyd Gravenall", 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 St Kilda 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 ...

(VFL).

Family

The son of Samuel Boyd Gravenall (1862-1941), and Ida Tily Gravenall (1868-1945), née Browne, Samuel Boyd Gravenall was born on 18 July 1885. He married Jane "Jennie" Godolphin Oats (1888-1940), at

Prahran, Victoria Prahran (), also pronounced colloquially as Pran, is an inner suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 5 km south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Stonnington local government area. Prahran recorded a po ...

on 6 July 1910. They had three children: Betty (1913-), and Donald William Gravenall (1917-1990), who became a respected swimming coach, and Barbara Ida (1927-1956).

Education

He entered Melbourne's Wesley College at the age of 14, having won a Government scholarship.

Football

From

Wesley College, Melbourne , motto_translation = Dare To Be Wise , slogan = A ''True'' Education (2010 – Present) , established = 18 January 1866 , type = Independent, day & boarding , gender ...

, Gravenall was a forward and had his first season at St Kilda in 1903. He didn't appear for the club again until 1906 and the following year went to Western Australia, who he represented at the inaugural Melbourne Carnival. After 41 games for

North Fremantle North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north'' is ...

he returned to Melbourne, where he was employed as a sports master at Wesley College. He played for St Kilda in 1910, and served as the team's captain.

Lawrence Adamson

Due to his strongly held views on the values inherent in amateur sport, and his disdain for the increasing professionalism of the Victorian Football League, Wesley's headmaster,

Lawrence Adamson Lawrence Arthur Adamson, CMG, (20 April 1860 – 14 December 1932) was a schoolmaster of Wesley College, Melbourne, Australia. Early life Lawrence Adamson was born at Douglas, Isle of Man, the second son of Lawrence William Adamson. LL.D., ...

, who'd been educated at

Rugby School Rugby School is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) in Rugby, Warwickshire, England. Founded in 1567 as a free grammar school for local boys, it is one of the oldest independent schools in Britain. Up ...

in England, controversially refused to allow Gravenall to continue to play VFL football in 1911. As a consequence, Gravenell retired as a VFL footballer at the end of the 1910 season; however, he did continue to play football, playing with

Collegians Football Club Collegians Football Club (nicknamed the ''Lions'') is an Australian rules football club based in the Melbourne suburb of Albert Park. Formed in 1891, it is the second-oldest club in the VAFA, after Melbourne University Football Club Mel ...

, the Wesley College Old Boys' team, in the Metropolitan Amateur Football Association (MAFA).

Coaching

He coached

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 ...

for 12 games in the

1922 VFL season The 1922 VFL season was the 26th season of the Victorian Football League (VFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Victoria. The season featured nine clubs, ran from 6 May until 14 October, and comprised a 16-game ...

, and for the 1927 season coached WAFL club Subiaco, who had played off in the previous three grand finals but only reached fourth. He was the coach of the New South Wales team at the August 1933 Australian National Football Carnival, held in Sydney; and "there is little doubt that had … Mr. S.B. Gravenall, himself an interstate player, … had the full team together for a longer period, its performance would have been even better than they have been".

After football

A larger than life character, in 1928 he was sentenced to six months in jail for contracting a debt of £125 without reasonable or probable grounds of being able to pay it. In 1941, he was working in London as an

Air Raid Warden Air Raid Precautions (ARP) refers to a number of organisations and guidelines in the United Kingdom dedicated to the protection of civilians from the danger of air raids. Government consideration for air raid precautions increased in the 1920s an ...

Death

Gravenall died in London in 1948.

Footnotes

References

*Holmesby, Russell and Main, Jim (2007). ''The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers''. 7th ed. Melbourne: Bas Publishing.

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gravenall, Sam 1885 births 1948 deaths People educated at Wesley College (Victoria) Australian rules footballers from Melbourne Australian Rules footballers: place kick exponents St Kilda Football Club players Essendon Football Club coaches North Fremantle Football Club players Subiaco Football Club coaches Australian prisoners and detainees Civil Defence Service personnel