Shadrach Garfield James (30 November 1917 – 20 November 1973) was an

Indigenous Australian Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...

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.

Family

Shadrach Garfield James was born in Echuca on 30 November 1917 as the son of Indigenous Australian activist Shadrach Livingstone James and Maggie James, née Campbell. James was a cousin of Sir

Doug Nicholls Sir Douglas Ralph Nicholls, (9 December 1906 – 4 June 1988) was a prominent Aboriginal Australian from the Yorta Yorta people. He was a professional athlete, Churches of Christ pastor and church planter, ceremonial officer and a pioneering ...

and this reference states he was born in

Wahgunyah Wahgunyah is a town in northeastern Victoria, Australia. The town is on the southern bank of the Murray River, opposite Corowa, New South Wales, in the Shire of Indigo. Wahgunyah is north east of the state capital, Melbourne and west of Albury ...

, Victoria.

Playing career

In 1938, James kicked 115 goals for the Mooroopna in the

Goulburn Valley Football Association The Goulburn Valley Football Association (GVFA) is an Australian rules football competition that was first established in 1888 in the Goulburn Valley of Victoria, Australia, with the foundation clubs being Cobram, Muckatah, Nathalia, Numurkah, ...

, including another 13 during the finals for a total of 128, in which he played Mooroopna's 1940 losing grand final side. In 1939, Brockledby kicked 34.24 - 228 against Cookardinia, with "Shady" James kicking 19 goals to eclipse Brocklesby's previous best of 14 goals by Vin Smith. James kicked five goals for Brocklesby in the 1939

Albury & District Football League The Albury & District Football League was established at a delegates meeting in Culcairn in 1930 from the following Australian Rules Football clubs - Albury Rovers, Culcairn, Henty and Holbrook and folded after the 1957 football season. History Th ...

premiership. All up, James kicked 82 goals in the home and away series plus 16 goals in the finals, for a total of 98 goals in 17 games in 1939. James commenced training with Fitzroy in 1940 with a number of other players from the

and played 18 matches for

Fitzroy Fitzroy or FitzRoy may refer to: People As a given name *Several members of the Somerset family (Dukes of Beaufort) have this as a middle-name: **FitzRoy Somerset, 1st Baron Raglan (1788–1855) ** Henry Charles FitzRoy Somerset, 8th Duke of Beau ...

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 1940 and 1941. James, a left footer, was the fourth Indigenous Australian to play for Fitzroy. In 1943, James' brother, Rupert was signed up to

. In 1946, James was club secretary and coach of the All Blacks Football Club in the Central Goulburn Valley Football League and kicked nine goals in their grand final win against Toolamba. James went onto play with various club's throughout the Goulburn Valley and North East Victoria and played football well into the late 1940's, as he played in Wangaratta's 1948 losing

Ovens & Murray Football League The Ovens and Murray Football Netball League (O&MFNL) is an Australian rules football and netball competition containing ten clubs based in north-eastern Victoria, the southern Riverina region of New South Wales and the Ovens and Murray are ...

preliminary final side.

References

1917 births 1973 deaths Indigenous Australian players of Australian rules football Fitzroy Football Club players Mooroopna Football Club players Australian rules footballers from Victoria (Australia) {{AFL-bio-1917-stub

Family

Playing career

See also

References