Thomas William Soutar (16 March 1893 – 14 June 1981) was a professional athlete and 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 Thomas Soutar, and Margaret Soutar, née Dunne, Thomas William Soutar was born at

Prahran Prahran (), also pronounced colloquially as Pran, is an inner suburb in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, 5 km south-east of Melbourne's Melbourne central business district, Central Business District, located within the City ...

on 16 March 1893. He married Vera Grace Veale (1896-1988), at Subiaco, on 24 November 1923. They had two children, Douglas William Soutar (b.1924), and Mavis Vera Soutar (b.1926).

Athlete

He was a fine middle-distance runner. winning the professional mile handicap at the 1914 Easter Gift Meeting at Stawell; and, during his service with the First AIF, on the basis of having won both the 880 yards and the mile at the

Egyptian Expeditionary Force The Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF) was a British Empire military formation, formed on 10 March 1916 under the command of General Archibald Murray from the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force and the Force in Egypt (1914–15), at the beginning of ...

's 1919 Sports in Cairo, he was selected to be part of the team that represented Australia in the

Inter-Allied Games The Inter-Allied Games was a one-off multi-sport event held from 22 June to 6 July 1919 at the newly constructed Pershing Stadium just outside Paris, France following the end of World War I. The host stadium had been built near the Bois de Vin ...

, held at the

Pershing Stadium Stade Pershing () was a multi-purpose stadium in the Bois de Vincennes in Paris, France. It was used mostly for football (soccer), football matches and hosted the final of the Coupe de France on four occasions. It hosted the Inter-Allied Games in ...

, near Paris from 22 June 1919 to 6 July 1919. ::"In army sports there is no distinction between amateur and professional … During the latter part of the war in 27 championship brigade and divisional events over 440 yards, 880 yards and one mile, Soutar was never beaten …" — ''The (Perth) Mirror'', 16 November 1935.

Football

One of nine new players in the team, Soutar played his only First XVIII match for St Kilda against Carlton, at Princes park, on 29 July 1911. They were required because many of the regular St Kilda First XVIII players were on strike. The other new players were: Alby Bowtell, Roy Cazaly,

Claude Crowl Claude Terrell Crowl (26 December 1892 – 25 April 1915) was an Australian rules footballer who played with St Kilda in the Victorian Football League. He was a member of the First AIF, and was killed in action during the landing at Anza ...

Peter Donnelly Sir Peter James Donnelly (born 15 May 1959) is an Australian-British mathematician and Professor of Statistical Science at the University of Oxford, and the CEO of Genomics PLC. He is a specialist in applied probability and has made contrib ...

Alf Hammond Alfred Richard Hammond (30 July 1887 – 18 July 1961) was an Australian rules footballer who played for the St Kilda Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL).Holmesby & Main (2014), p.357. Football One of nine new players in the ...

, Otto Opelt,

Rowley Smith John Rowland Smith (18 June 1891 – 17 April 1958) was an Australian rules footballer who played with St Kilda in the Victorian Football League (VFL).Holmesby & Main (2014), p.829. Football One of nine new players in the team, Smith played ...

, and Bill Ward — and, including that match, and ignoring

Harrie Hattam Harrie Lewis Hattam (7 July 1890 – 12 January 1947) was an Australian rules footballer who played with St Kilda in the Victorian Football League The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football league in Australia s ...

(16 games),

Bert Pierce Robert Bertram Pierce (8 March 1886 – 14 August 1968) was an Australian rules footballer who played for the St Kilda Football Club in the Victorian Football League The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football le ...

(41 games), and

Bill Woodcock Bill Woodcock (born August 16, 1971 in San Francisco, California, United States) is the executive director of Packet Clearing House, the international organization responsible for providing operational support and security to critical Internet ...

(65 games), the very inexperienced team's remaining fifteen players had only played a total of 46 matches. He trained with Melbourne in the 1920 pre-season, but did not play with them. He played with West Perth in 1920 on his return to Australia from his overseas service in the First AIF.

Military service

He enlisted in the First AIF at

Perth, Western Australia 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 ...

on 9 March 1915; and, leaving

Fremantle, Western Australia Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australian vernacular diminutive for ...

on 2 September 1915 on ''HMAT Anchises'' (A68), and served overseas with the 10th Light Horse Regiment. His post-war

repatriation Repatriation is the process of returning a thing or a person to its country of origin or citizenship. The term may refer to non-human entities, such as converting a foreign currency into the currency of one's own country, as well as to the pro ...

to Australia was delayed when, as part of the A.I.F. Educational Scheme, he attended a course in

bookkeeping Bookkeeping is the recording of financial transactions, and is part of the process of accounting in business and other organizations. It involves preparing source documents for all transactions, operations, and other events of a business. Tr ...

at Clark's College, in Chancellery Lane, London in September/October 1919. He returned to Australia on the '' HT Konigin Luise'', leaving England on 19 December 1919, arriving in Fremantle on 20 January 1920, and was discharged from the AIF on 30 March 1920.

Death

He died, in Western Australia, on 14 June 1981, and has a memorial plaque at

Karrakatta Cemetery Karrakatta Cemetery is a metropolitan cemetery in the suburb of Karrakatta in Perth, Western Australia. Karrakatta Cemetery first opened for burials in 1899, the first being that of wheelwright Robert Creighton. Managed by the Metropolitan Ce ...

.Thomas William Soutar, 16 Nov 1893 - 14 Jun 1981, Karrakatta Cemetery, ''billiongraves.com''.
/ref>

Notes

References

*
Wythe, G., Hanson, J.M., & Birger, C.V. (eds), ''The Inter-Allied Games, Paris, 22nd June to 6th July 1919'', The Games Committee, (Paris), 1919.

Tom Soutar: West Perth's New Skipper, ''The (Perth) Leader'', (Friday, I July 1927), p.7.

World War One Embarkation Roll: Private Thomas William Soutar (1196), collection of the ''Australian War Memorial''.

World War One Service Record: Lance-Corporal Thomas William Soutar (1196), ''National Archives of Australia''.

World War One Nominal Roll: Private Thomas William Soutar (1196), collection of the ''Australian War Memorial'':
note that this, mistakenly, lists his family name as "Goutar" (also, note that there is no entry for him in the nominal roll under the family name "Soutar").
League Football Teams: West Perth, ''The West Australian'', (Saturday, 7 July 1928), p.6.

External links

* * 1893 births 1981 deaths Australian rules footballers from Melbourne St Kilda Football Club players South Yarra Football Club players West Perth Football Club players West Perth Football Club coaches West Perth Football Club administrators Burials at Karrakatta Cemetery Military personnel from Western Australia {{AFL-bio-1893-stub