Carl Willis (Australian sportsman)
Carl Bleakley Willis (24 March 1893 – 12 May 1930) was an Australian sportsman who played Australian rules football with South Melbourne and University in the Victorian Football League (VFL) as well as first-class cricket for Victoria.
Carl Willis | |||
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![]() The Australian Imperial Forces cricket team in London in 1919 (Carl Willis middle row, 4th from left) | |||
Personal information | |||
Full name | Carl Bleackley Willis | ||
Date of birth | 24 March 1893 | ||
Place of birth | Daylesford, Victoria | ||
Date of death | 12 May 1930 37) | (aged||
Place of death | Berrigan, New South Wales | ||
Original team(s) | Wesley College, Melbourne | ||
Playing career1 | |||
Years | Club | Games (Goals) | |
1912–14 | University | 46 (41) | |
1915, 1920–21 | South Melbourne | 29 (18) | |
Total | 75 (59) | ||
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1921. | |||
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com |
Family
The son of Thomas Rupert Henry Willis (1860-1933),[1] and Mary Wilson Willis (1867-1949),[2] née Bleakley, Carl Bleakley Willis was born at Daylesford, Victoria on 24 March 1893.[3][4]
Education
Willis was educated at Wesley College, Melbourne, and the University of Melbourne, graduating with a Bachelor of Dental Science (BDSc) in December 1915.[5]
Football
He was a regular player for University in his first season,[6] however he was suspended for four weeks after being reported by a steward for punching an opponent.[7] A dentist by profession, he captained South Melbourne in the 1921 season.
Military service
He enlisted in November 1915 and served as a dentist with the Australian Army Medical Corps Dental Detail. He served if France in late 1916, but was gassed, hospitalised and returned to England, taking charge of a dental unit on Salisbury Plain.[8] He rose to the rank of captain in July 1918.[9]
Cricket
His cricket career, which began in 1913-14, continued after he retired as a footballer. Willis represented the Australian Imperial Forces team in 1918 and 1919, and Victoria from 1914 to 1928. He was selected to tour New Zealand in 1920-21 with the Australian team but was unavailable.[10]
Dentist
He practised dentistry in the Melbourne suburb of Malvern until 1929, when he moved to Numurkah in northern Victoria and then to Tocumwal in New South Wales.[11]
Death
He died of pneumonia on 12 May 1930 in Berrigan, New South Wales,[12] and was buried at the Melbourne General Cemetery on 14 May 1930.[13]
See also
- List of Victoria first-class cricketers
- "Pioneer Exhibition Game" in London (1916)
Footnotes
- Deaths: Willis, The Argus, (Friday, 15 September 1933), p.1.
- Death: Willis, The (Mount Gambier) Border Watch, (Saturday, 5 November 1949), p.4.
- Births: Willis, The Argus, (Tuesday, 11 April 1893), p.1.
- Births: Willis, The Australasian, (Saturday, 15 April 1893), p.46.
- University of Melbourne: Degrees Conferred, The Argus, (Friday, 24 December 1915), p.5.
- The University Team, The Leader, (Saturday, 4 May 1912), p.29.
- Greg Growden, Cricketers at War, ABC Books, Sydney, 2019, p. 121.
- Growden, p. 127.
- "St George's Church Malvern" (PDF). storage.cloversites. Retrieved 21 April 2017.
- "The Australian Team". Evening Post. CI (26): 3. 31 January 1921. Retrieved 21 April 2017.
- Obituary: Mr. Carl Willis, The Jerilderie Herald and Urana Advertiser, (Thursday, 15 May 1930), p.3.
- "Death of Carl Willis". The Australasian: 24. 17 May 1930. Retrieved 22 April 2017.
- Carl Willis Buried, The Herald, (Wednesday, 14 May 1930), p.5.
References
- Pioneer Exhibition Game Australian Football: in aid of British and French Red Cross Societies: 3rd Australian Division v. Australian Training Units at Queen's Club, West Kensington, on Saturday, October 28th, 1916, at 3pm, Wightman & Co., (London), 1919.
- Holmesby, Russell & Main, Jim (2007). The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers. 7th ed. Melbourne: Bas Publishing.
- World War One Service Record: Captain Carl Bleackley Willis, National Archives of Australia.
- League Football: The South Melbourne Team, The Weekly Times, (Saturday, 13 June 1908), p.25.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Carl Willis (Australian sportsman). |
- Carl Willis's playing statistics from AFL Tables
- Cricinfo biography