Sir Albert Edward Chadwick, CMG, MSM (15 November 1897 – 27 October 1983) was an Australian rules footballer in the (then)

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).

Early life

The son of Andrew Chadwick (1854-1906), and Georgina Ann Chadwick (1867-1948), née Prater, Albert Edward Chadwick was born at

Beechworth Beechworth is a well-preserved historical town located in the north-east of Victoria, Australia, famous for its major growth during the gold rush days of the mid-1850s. At the , Beechworth had a population of 3,859. Beechworth's many histor ...

, Victoria, on 15 November 1897. He married Thelma Marea Crawley (1899-1979) in 1924. Their son, Robert Edward Chadwick (1927-1992) also played for the Melbourne First XVIII.

Education

He was educated at

Tungamah Tungamah is a town in the Goulburn Valley region of northern Victoria, Australia. The town is located in the Shire of Moira local government area, from the state capital, Melbourne. Tungamah is situated on the banks of Boosey Creek and at th ...

State Primary School (No.2225).

Football

A tough centre half-back who ran hard and straight, he played the majority of his career with Melbourne Football Club, one season with the

Prahran Football Club Prahran Assumption Football Club (), nicknamed The Two Blues, is an Australian rules football club based at Toorak Park in Orrong Road between High Street and Malvern Road, Armadale, in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The club is currently in D ...

, and one season for

Hawthorn Football Club The Hawthorn Football Club, nicknamed the Hawks, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Mulgrave, Victoria, that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL). The club was founded in 1902 in the inner-east suburb of Hawt ...

Prahran (VFA)

Recruited by Prahran after a chance encounter with the Club's secretary, he made his debut, against North Melbourne, on 24 May 1919, and went on to play in 12 consecutive games for the Prahran First XVIII in 1919.

Melbourne (VFL)

Cleared from Prahran in 1920. He was runner-up to Edward "Carji" Greeves in the inaugural

Brownlow Medal The Charles Brownlow Trophy, better known as the Brownlow Medal (and informally as "Charlie"), is awarded to the "best and fairest" player in the Australian Football League (AFL) during the home-and-away season, as determined by votes cast by t ...

in 1924: with one vote available per home-and-away game, and with Greeves and Chadwick both missing games when playing inter-state football for Victoria, Greeves scored seven votes (i.e., best-on-ground in seven matches) and Chadwick six.

Hawthorn (VFL)

He played for the Hawthorn First XVIII in 17 games (scoring 8 goals) in 1929.

Military service

Having added a year to his age, Chadwick enlisted in the First AIF on 12 February 1916, and went on to serve overseas with the Australian Flying Corps. He was Mentioned in Dispatches in January 1919. He returned to Australia on the ''HMAT Port Sydney'' in April 1919, and was awarded the

Meritorious Service Medal A Meritorious Service Medal is an award presented to denote acts of meritorious service, and sometimes gallantry, that are worthy of recognition. Notable medals with similar names include: * Meritorious Civilian Service Award *Meritorious Service Me ...

in 1919. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, Chadwick served in the

Royal Australian Air Force "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...

. He was discharged on 6 July 1945 in the rank of

Wing Commander Wing commander (Wg Cdr in the RAF, the IAF, and the PAF, WGCDR in the RNZAF and RAAF, formerly sometimes W/C in all services) is a senior commissioned rank in the British Royal Air Force and air forces of many countries which have historical ...

, having held the acting rank of Group Captain while serving as the RAAF's Director of Recruiting, a position which he held from 1942.

After Football

Chadwick was Chairman of the Gas and Fuel Corporation of Victoria, the

Melbourne Cricket Club The Melbourne Cricket Club (MCC) is a sports club based in Melbourne, Australia. It was founded in 1838 and is one of the oldest sports clubs in Australia. The MCC is responsible for management and development of the Melbourne Cricket Ground, ...

president from 1965–1979, and the Melbourne Football Club president from 1950–1962. Highly successful in business, he was appointed a Companion in the Order of St Michael and St George on 1 January 1967, and knighted on 1 January 1974.

Death

He died at his home in

Toorak, Victoria Toorak () is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Stonnington local government area, on Boonwurrung Land. Toorak recorded a population of 12,817 at the 20 ...

on 27 October 1983 and was cremated at Springvale Botanical Cemetery.

Australian Football Hall of Fame

In 1995, Chadwick was inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame.

Footnotes

References

First World War Nominal Roll: Sergeant Albert Edward Chadwick (M.S.M.) (281), collection of the ''Australian War Memorial''

First World War Service Record: Sergeant Albert Edward Chadwick (281), ''National Archives of Australia''

First World War Embarkation Roll: Second Corporal (Lance Corporal) Commander Albert Edward Chadwick (281), ''Department of Veterans' Affairs''

World War Two Nominal Roll: Wing Commander Albert Edward Chadwick (250987), ''Department of Veterans' Affairs''

World War Two Service Record: Wing Commander Albert Edward Chadwick (250987), ''National Archives of Australia''

Fahey, Charles (2007), "Chadwick, Sir Albert Edward (Bert) (1897–1983)", ''Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 17'', Carlton: Melbourne University Press, 2007.
* de Lacy, H.A. (1941)
"Unforgettable Characters in Football: Bert Chadwick and the Side he Re-Made, ''The Sporting Globe'', (Saturday, 23 August 1941), p.5.
* Richardson, Nick (2021), ''Chadwick: A Man of Many Parts'', Slattery Media, * *

External links

AFL Hall of Fame
* *
Bert Chadwick, at ''Demonwiki''

Albert E.Chadwick, at ''The VFA Project''

Bert Chadwick, at ''Boyles Football Photos''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chadwick, Sir Albert 1897 births 1983 deaths Military personnel from Victoria (Australia) Melbourne Football Club players Melbourne Football Club coaches Hawthorn Football Club players Hawthorn Football Club coaches Australian Football Hall of Fame inductees Melbourne Football Club captains Melbourne Football Club presidents Prahran Football Club players Australian rules footballers from Victoria (Australia) Australian Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George Australian Knights Bachelor Australian military personnel of World War I Royal Australian Air Force personnel of World War II Royal Australian Air Force officers Melbourne Football Club Premiership players Melbourne Football Club Premiership coaches One-time VFL/AFL Premiership players One-time VFL/AFL Premiership coaches