Identifying the original 1908 DHBC Foundation members

A place for those keen on vintage and retro bikes - steel is real.
User avatar
marc2131
Posts: 1120
Joined: 03 Jul 2011, 13:14
Location: Ashbury
Contact:

Postby marc2131 » 06 Nov 2017, 10:50

As many DHBC club members would know, this is the earliest picture of the Dulwich Hill Bicycle Club committee taken on the day of its inauguration on 8 April 1908 at the since demolished Masonic Hall on New Canterbury Road, Dulwich Hill. The DHBC were formed as an independent off-shoot of the Marrickville Bicycle Club after a disagreement in 1907.

The inaugural meeting was held at the Dulwich Hill Masonic Hall (since demolished) on New Canterbury Road. It was chaired by Marrickville Council Alderman J. Ness. It was then formally proposed by J.C. Paris and seconded by J Ivan that "a club be formed and ... (that it will) be called the Dulwich Hill Bicycle Club and be affiliated to the New South Wales Bicycle Union". The motion was carried.

A subscription of 5 shillings (approx. 10% of a weeks' wages) was received from the following foundation members:
JC Paris, C Lansdown, L Coleman, P Fitzgibbon, J Hutton, W Turner, J Ivan, K Beach, W Petty, A Rennie, W Field, D Sharp, G Mitchell, W Beard, J Brennan, S Petty, F Shoalback, W Maynard, W Fisher and SB Shortus.

At this same meeting the following club office bearers were elected:

Secretary: JC Paris
Assistant Secretary: J Ivan
Treasurer: A Makin
Captain: G Mitchell
Sub Captain: A Rennie
Handicappers (3): G Mitchell, S Petty, W Beard
Committee: K Beach, C Lansdowne, W Beard, D Sharp, L Coleman
Delegate to NSW Cyclists Union: W Beard
Bugler: A Rennie

1908 DHBC foundation committee, 8 April 1908
DHBCFoundation Day-3.4.1908-hires.jpg
DHBCFoundation Day-3.4.1908-hires.jpg (3.62 MiB) Viewed 11472 times
circa 1914 DHBC committee
DHBC committee c1914.jpeg
DHBC committee c1914.jpeg (873 KiB) Viewed 11470 times
I believe the original photograph was destroyed by accident around 1987 just prior to the publication of club stalwart Sonia Heathcote's (1921-2008) self-published book on the history of the club 'Dulwich Hill Cycling Days' in 1988. I was told a whole batch of material was mistakenly thrown out as rubbish by the spouse of one of the club members because she thought it was just old photographs.

So for now, all we have is the rather small reproduction of this photo from Sonia Heathcote's 1988 book.

The photo is far too unclear to identify the individual subjects. However I have been keeping an eye open for the different people who were involved in the club in it's early days. The club committee minutes from 1908 have been lost. However information has been coming forward over the last 3 years providing information on different people who were involved in 1908. I have made a short list of these people below (unfortunately exclusively men).

I will update this thread as I get more information.

1. John 'Charlie' Paris (1879-1950)
DHBC Founder John Charles 'Charlie' Paris 1879-1950.jpg
DHBC Founder John Charles 'Charlie' Paris 1879-1950.jpg (305.78 KiB) Viewed 11583 times
For more info on Charlie Paris, see this thread: viewtopic.php?f=9&t=4859 and viewtopic.php?f=9&t=4748

2. Edward 'Ted' Pink senior (1891-c1960s)
CE 'Ted' Pink 1910.jpg
CE 'Ted' Pink 1910.jpg (988.48 KiB) Viewed 11583 times
For more info on Ted Pink go to this thread: viewtopic.php?f=9&t=5039&p=59578#p59578

3. Percy 'Jack' Fitzgibbon (1891-?)
Percy Fitzgibbon DHBC 1910.jpg
Percy Fitzgibbon DHBC 1910.jpg (81.1 KiB) Viewed 11583 times
Apart from being a 1908 foundation member, Percy or Jack, as he preferred to be called, was also the DHBC's first club Road Champion.
He had 2 sons, John/Jack (b. 1914) and Ken. Jack joined in the late 1920s and Ken joined in 1933. Ken was a foundation member of the DHBC Juveniles (14-16 years). Percy's grandson, Gary Jenkins continues a long family tradition when he joined the DHBC in May 2017.

4. Arthur Fitzgibbon (1881-?)
(No picture available)

5. Fred (Ferdinand) W Kaltenbach
FW Kaltenbach, 'Referee' 22 Jan 1908 p10.jpg
FW Kaltenbach, 'Referee' 22 Jan 1908 p10.jpg (70.81 KiB) Viewed 11583 times
Fred Kaltenbach was originally a member of the Marrickville Bicycle Club and was seen as an upcoming road racer in Sydney in 1908. Fred was not part of the inaugural DHBC meeting held on 8 April 1908, but probably joined soon after. He was a tailor by trade and owned his own business for many years. He remained in the DHBC for many decades. Within the DHBC he is most famously known for pushing the DHBC committee to support an application to the then NSW peak cycling racing body, the NSW Amateur Cycling Union. In 1947 he pushed to get support for 2 female DHBC members to become affiliated members of the NSW Amateurs Cycling Union. As a result, Madelaine Bollard and Sonia Heathcote were admitted as full members of the DHBC. This may have been a first in NSW. However the Union still disallowed the women from racing competitively.
He lived at 40 Frampton Ave, Marrickville.

User avatar
marc2131
Posts: 1120
Joined: 03 Jul 2011, 13:14
Location: Ashbury
Contact:

Postby marc2131 » 24 Oct 2018, 12:36

It has been said the DHBC's first Vice-President was Ernest Coleman. Born 24 November 1883 in Petersham, and died 16 July 1962 in Strathfield. Ernest also had a younger brother Harold Edward, who was probably in the DHBC too. Ernest was a good rider in his day and won the 26-mile Peerless Bicycle Club race in June 1908, a month after the formation of the DHBC.
Thanks to Sandra Coleman for supplying the club with this fantastic information.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1966873 ... nt_mention

User avatar
mikesbytes
Posts: 6991
Joined: 13 Nov 2006, 13:48
Location: Tempe
Contact:

Postby mikesbytes » 24 Oct 2018, 19:51

Great work Marc. BTW I thought this forum wasn't being used


Return to “Vintage Bicycles”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 1 guest