Edward Richard Terry (4 June 1904 – 5 March 1967) was an outstanding all-round Tasmanian schoolboy athlete.
He was an accomplished professional sprinter, and he also played Australian rules football in Tasmania before moving to the mainland and playing with St Kilda in the VFL, and with Prahran in the Victorian Football Association.
Early life Edward Richard "Ted" Terry ("Young Ted") was born in Launceston, Tasmania on 4 June 1904, the son of Edward "Ted" Terry ("Old Ted") (1872–1954) and Honorine Cousel (1878–1964). He was, also, the nephew of Ernest Richard "Mick" Terry. He spent his early formative years in Scottsdale and parts of northeastern Tasmania.St. Virgil's Annual, 1922, p. 38. He had one brother, John, and two sisters, Madge and May.
He married Kathleen Melva Westbrook (1903-1991) in 1929.Births Deaths and Marriages Victoria Marriage Registration No.1354/1929.Births: Westbrook, The (Hobart) Mercury, (Saturday, 5 December 1903), p. 8. They had a daughter, Frances Jill Terry (1931-2025).
Richard Terry Ted's grandfather, Richard Terry (1833–1909), was born in Middlesex, England. He landed in Melbourne in 1852, and in October 1852 sailed to north-eastern of Tasmania, and settled at "Terry Vale" on the banks of the Powers Rivulet, near present-day Goshen, Tasmania, in North-Eastern Tasmania. In 1854, hearing of the discovery of some very rich farming land in the region of today's Pyengana, he moved there. He "selected" 320 acres (130 hectares) of the very best land, and continued to farm it until his death. He was also the proprietor of the Columba Hotel, the only hotel offering accommodation in the district. In 1864, he married Celia Terry (née Rosier) (1843–1925), who was born in Avoca, Tasmania.Both Richard Terry and Celia Terry died in Pyengana.
"Old Ted" Terry Ted's father, Edward "Ted" Terry, born in Pyengana, North-Eastern Tasmania on 21 August 1872, was one of the eleven sons and four daughters of Richard and Celia Terry. "Old Ted" owned the Ascot Hotel, near Branxholm, North-Eastern Tasmania; and, at various times, owned each of the three hotels at Derby, North-Eastern Tasmania. Two of "Old Ted’s" brothers also kept hotels: Alfred (1865–1937), the Commercial Hotel, at Ringarooma, Northern Tasmania, and John (1870–1936), the Scottsdale Hotel, at Scottsdale, North-Eastern Tasmania. Notes From the Country: Pyengana, The Mercury, (Thursday, 4 June 1903), p. 6. Personal, The Mercury, (Friday, 23 July 1909), p. 5.
"Old Ted" also owned a timber mill in Derby, North-Eastern Tasmania. "Young Ted's" brother John worked at the timber mill; and "Young Ted" also worked for his father at the timber mill for some time both immediately before and immediately after World War II. "Old Ted" died, in Derby, on 12 May 1954.Death Notice: Edward Terry, The Mercury, (Friday, 14 May 1954), p. 15.
Uncle "Mick" Terry Ted's uncle, Ernest Richard "Mick" Terry, was born in Pyengana on 17 August 1881. In his prime as an athlete, "Mick" Terry was not only a fine sprinter and middle-distance runner, he was also the champion axeman of the Australian Commonwealth,His cousin, Charles Terry – one of the first to die of typhoid in North-Eastern Tasmania in 1903 (aged 22) — a powerful, strong man, was also an outstanding axeman. Derby, ‘’The Mercury’’, (Wednesday, 25 February 1903), p. 6. Launceston, ‘’The Mercury’’, (Saturday, 25 April 1903), p. 6. Topics of the Day, ‘The Advertiser’’, (Friday, 24 April 1903), p. 4. Country News, ‘’The Mercury’’, (Saturday, 25 April 1903), p. 6. "Mick’s" brother George (1882-?), was also a competitive axeman.Advertising: Athletics: Colebrook Sports, ‘’The Mercury’’, (Tuesday 8 November 1904), p. 5. and he held a number of world records for the 12-in, 15-in, and 18-in standing blocks.Tasmania: A Chopping Record, ‘’The Brisbane Courier‘‘, (Monday, 21 November 1904), p. 4. Sports at Campania, ‘’The Mercury’’, (Monday, 21 November 1904), p. 6. The Eltham Carnival, ‘’The Bush Advocate’’, (5 December 1904), p. 5. He often competed very successfully in private handicap woodchopping contests.For example, in Launceston, on Thursday, 31 December 1903, he won a £25 18-in standing block handicap match against two other prominent axemen, to whom he had given 23 seconds and 40 seconds start respectively.Wood-Chopping, The Argus, (Friday, 1 January 1904), p. 7.
He later became an athletics coach. He moved to South Africa in 1909, as the coach of "The Blue Streak" Jack Donaldson,Kieran, J., "The Passing of the Blue Streak", The New York Times, (Wednesday, 18 October 1933), p. 28; Kieran, J., "The Man from Many Places", The New York Times, (Wednesday, 24 August 1932), p. 15. He was short-listed to coach the German team in the 1916 Summer Olympics;"Terry for Coach of Germany – Goes to Kraenzlein", The Referee, (Wednesday, 5 February 1913), p. 9. however, the 1916 Olympic Games were later cancelled due to World War I. He was the coach of the South African Olympic Athletic Teams in 1924 and 1928. He was an athletics coach for the Australian Olympic Athletic Team in 1932. He died in Durban, Natal, South Africa on 7 July 1964.
Schoolboy athlete Ted Terry attended St Virgil's College, a Christian Brothers' college, in Barrack Street, Hobart;The University; Junior Public Examination, The Mercury, (Friday, 14 January 1921), p. 8. and, whilst there, was an outstanding all-round schoolboy athlete. He excelled at track and field athletics, cricket, football, tennis, swimming, gymnastics, rowing, and handball.Anon (1954).O'Neill, P., "Fine Athletic Record of St. Virgil's, Hobart", The Sporting Globe, (Wednesday 28 June 1939), p. 15.
Handball Given that St. Virgil's was Christian Brothers' college, handball was very strongly promoted amongst the students, driven by the Brothers' view that handball "affords an excellent preparatory training for football, as it calls into play all the resources of the physical man".St. Virgil's Annual, 1922, p. 7. Handball is one of the best ways for a potential Australian Rules footballer to acquire the optimum level of hand–eye coordination, ambidexterity, smoothness and flexibility, and sense of where one is in time and space (e.g., Bill Serong who played in three Grand Finals for Collingwood, went to the Christian Brothers' College in Victoria Parade, and was the Australian handball champion in 1974, aged 38).'Lynx', "Footballers' Pastime: History of Handball", The Herald, (Saturday, 20 March 1920), p. 2.
Terry became the school's handball champion, and won the College's handball championship's gold medal in 1921.St. Virgil's Annual, 1921, p. 29.
Tennis On Saturday, 19 November 1921, playing for St. Virgil's College against Hutchins School, Terry lost his only singles match, but won his two doubles matches (those two wins were the only wins for St. Vigil's on that day).School Championship, The Mercury, (Monday, 21 November 1921), p. 2. On Saturday 15 April 1922, Terry was beaten in the final of the Associated Schools Tennis Singles' Championship.St. Virgil's Annual, 1922, p. 15.
Swimming At the 1919 Southern Tasmanian Secondary Schools' Annual Swimming Carnival, he came third in the under-15 50 yards freestyle.Secondary Schools' Carnival, The Mercury, (Monday, 10 March 1919), p. 8. In 1922 he was St. Virgil's open-age swimming champion.St. Virgil's Annual, 1922, p. 13.
Cricket He was the first St Virgil's batsman to score a century, which he did in 34 minutes against the attack of Arthur Owen Burrows (1903–1984) — who would later bowl in tandem with Laurie Nash for Tasmania – and Alan Bispham "Block" Brownell (1904–1981), two of the best bowlers that Tasmania has ever produced; and, in his last year at St Virgil's, he topped the school's batting and bowling averages.
Rowing He was stroke of the school's crew in the Head of the River (this would usually indicate that he was the best oarsman); and, in October 1921, he weighed 10 st 13 lbs (69.5 kg).Today's Secondary Schools' Race, The Mercury, (Saturday, 22 October 1921), p. 12. Rowing, The Mercury, (Monday, 24 October 1921), p. 8.
Athletics Over the years he regularly competed for St Virgil's in the 100 yards sprint, 220 yards sprint, 440, 880, and mile races as well as the 130 yards hurdles and the high jump.
1919 At the 1919 St. Virgil's College sports day, held on Thursday 20 March 1919, he won the open mile (at the age of 14), the under-15 100 yards, 220 yards, 440 yards, and high jump (he jumped 4 ft 7in).St.Virgil's College,The Mercury, Thursday 20 March 1919), p. 2.
At the 1919 Hobart Associated Secondary Schools' Athletics Carnival, held on Tuesday, 8 April 1919, competing for St. Virgil's, he ran equal third in the under-15 100 yards, second (by inches only) in the under-15 220 yards, second in the under-15 440 yards, and also came second in the under-15 high jump (jumping 4 ft 4in).Athletics, The Mercury, (Wednesday, 9 April 1919>), p. 8.
The 1919 Tasmanian Associated Schools' Athletics Carnival had seven schools competing: four from the south (St. Virgil's, Hutchins, Friends', and Leslie House School), and three from the north (Scotch, St Patrick's, and Church Grammar School). Running for St. Virgil's, Ted Terry ran fourth in the under-15 100 yards, second in the under-15 220 yards, and second in the under-15 440 yards, as well as coming sixth in the under-15 high jump.Tasmanian Associated Schools, The Mercury, (Monday, 14 April 1919), p. 2.
1920 At the St. Virgil's sports day, held on Thursday, 25 March 1920, three months before he turned 16, he won the open 100 yards, came second in the open 220 yards, second in the open 880 yards, and third in the open mile.St. Virgil's College Sports, The Mercury, (Friday 26 March 1920), p. 2.
1921 At the 1921 Southern Tasmanian Associated Schools' Athletics Carnival, he won every race he entered, from 100 yards to the mile; he won the senior 100 yards, 220 yards, 440 yards, 880 yards, and mile, as well as the 120 yards hurdles; "he had a great reception, and was carried shoulder high to the pavilion by his school mates".School Sports: Southern Associated Schools: Fine Performances by Terry, The Mercury, (Thursday, 21 April 1921), p. 2. Athletics, The Mercury, (Saturday, 23 April 1921), p. 5.
Despite Terry's outstanding individual success, St. Virgil's did not win the carnival; and, as a consequence, he was not permitted to compete at the Tasmanian State Secondary School Championships, because it was set up to be a competition between the best southern and the best northern school, rather than between the best southern athletes and the best northern athletes.Read, E.A., "Letter to the Editor", The Mercury, (Wednesday, 4 May 1921), p. 6.
1922 T.A.A.A. Track Championships On 1 April 1922, Terry took part in the Tasmanian Amateur Athletics Association's Annual Track Championships that were held at the Cricket Ground. The Tasmanian championships that year were especially significant due to the presence of a South African team, which included a number of eminent South African sprinters, including 1920 Olympic silver medallist in the 4x400 relay, J.K.A. Oosterlaak, J.W. Bukes and H.P. Kinsman (who would later represent South Africa at the 1924 Olympics and the 1928 Olympics). Kinsman did not compete in the championships due to injury.At least by December 1921, Kinsman was being coached by "Mick" Terry: "The Sprinter", "Amateur Athletics", The Evening Post, (3 December 1921), p. 14.
Terry won the Secondary Schools' 100 Yards championship (by 3 yards in 10.6 secs), won the 200 yards Cadet Championship (by 5 yards in 25 secs) and, running off scratch, came second in the Secondary Schools' 440 Yards' Handicap, by 4 yards, having given a 20-yard start to the winner.
Then, Terry went on and proved his worth as a sprinter, running against grown men in the senior 100 yards championship, when he ran second in his heat, 2 yards behind Oosterlaak, who won in 10.4 secs.