9. Honorary Life Members & 10. Presidents
9. Honorary Life members
From early in the life of the Club, Honorary Life Membership has been conferred on members who have rendered outstanding service to the Club, and have been elected as such by a majority of three-fourths of the members present and voting at a general meeting of members. Here, these honorary life members are remembered.
1927 : Chas. Ey and C.H. Franklin
1932: F.C Bromley, Dr. D.R.W. (later Sir Darcy) Cowan, H.R Wheeler and E.A Whitehead
1933: E. Ford
1940: R.H. Paul
1944: H.E.H. Mutton
1955: W.A. Muirhead
1959: Mrs. D. Wheeler and A.C. Lewis
1960: A.R. Burnell
1964: W. S . Mallen
1967: K.K. Angel
1968: E.M. Forbes and Mrs. D.M. Rosenfeldt
1970: D.V. O’Dea
1974: L.G. Rosenfeldt
1975: R.W. Linke
1978: C. Bradley
1981: E.E Chittenden
1982: H. Gray
1987: G.H. Branson
1990: H.E.T. Triplow
1991: R.C. Alldritt
1992: Mrs. J. Gibberd, Dr. R. Brummitt, T.C. Miller and H.J. Uren
1993: M.D. Linn
1994: R.E. Tabe and Mrs. H. Ball
1997: K.S. Christie-Ling
2000: D.G. Jarvis, J.A. Kirkwood and H.L. Roberts
2002: H.K. Cross, R.M. Scholefield, M.G. Tingey and A.R.J. Allen
2007: C. Pryzibilla
2009: Mrs. J.F. Young and W.J. Lane
2013: Mrs E. Scholefield
2017: Glenn Hillock
Profiles of Honorary Life Members elected since 1960
The following brief profiles of those Honorary Life Members, who have been elected since 1960, summarise the important contribution that they made to the success of the Club. Almost without exception they successfully represented the Club in bowls or tennis teams, or both.
Ray Alldritt – Ray was a keen competition tennis player, and Tennis President for 3 seasons and later Tennis Secretary for 2 seasons. A carpenter by trade, he carried out extensive carpentry work to improve the clubhouse over the years, up until not long before his recent untimely death.
Bob Allen – Bob joined the Club in 1955. As the Club’s greenkeeper for over 30 years he produced excellent greens and courts. He was a State Champion and captain and a member of the State Bowls team for many years, but played for Payneham because as greenkeeper he was not permitted to play for the Club.
Keith Angel –Keith joined the club in 1953 as an A Grade tennis player, and turned to bowls in 1958. Soon afterwards he assumed the role of General Secretary, and served in that office for a record of 15 seasons until 1973. He initiated highly successful and profitable pre-season tournaments. For many years he was a top division skipper, and was the Bowls Champion in 1962–63.
Helen Ball – was a staunch club worker at Kensington Marryatville. She played bowls and served for approximately 20 years as House Manager assisting both sections until ill health in her late 1980s forced her resignation in 2010.
Colin Bradley –Colin was the Tennis Secretary for a record 16 seasons, from 1967 to 1983. He enthusiastically assisted in the running of the Club’s Open Junior Tournament. As a Hansard journalist, his meticulous approach to grammar was apparent from Tennis Section minutes. He edited the History of the Club’s first 50 years.
Gwen Branson – Gwen was highly regarded as a bowler, and was Women’s Bowls President for 2 seasons from 1975-76 and then Women’s Bowls Secretary from 1978-79 for 13 seasons, retiring from the position in 1990.
Dr Robert Brummit –Bob was a very active Tennis President, and had the vision to arrange for the Club, under his leadership as Tennis President, to stage an Open Junior Tennis Tournament in the last week of the 1962 summer school holidays, with the tournament continuing until the mid-1990s.
Ted Chittenden –Ted was the General President for three consecutive seasons commencing in the 1960s, during which time Sunday mixed bowling began, a professional bowls coach was engaged, and women bowlers gained representation in their own right on the General Committee following a major overhaul of the Club’s constitution. He was awarded Life Membership in 1981 after 12 seasons as Bowls Section Treasurer.
Keith Christie-Ling – a World War II veteran, Keith joined the tennis section but later transferred to the Bowls Section and became Club Treasurer in 1984 for six years in which time he managed the Club’s finances with great efficiency. His one break in this service was for one year when he served as Bowls President, and then resumed as Club Treasurer in 1991.
Knoyle Cross – as a young boy, Knoyle watched his father play bowls before World War II, and during the War he worked behind the bar as a “bar boy”. After the War he and his brothers joined the Club as tennis players, with Knoyle joining in 1948, and going on to be Tennis President for 3 years, from 1958 to 1961, and an outstanding General President for a record 11 seasons, from 1991 to 2002.
Eric Forbes –Eric was a First World War veteran, who joined the Club in 1947 and served as General President for two seasons, commencing in 1956-57. For 13 years he was a very effective Greens Manager, ensuring that the Club continued to enjoy its enviable reputation of consistently good greens and courts.
Joyce Gibberd – Joyce was a good administrator and strong tennis player, winning the Club singles in 1963, and the doubles on 4 occasions. She was instrumental in Kensington Gardens participating in the Thursday ladies tennis competition from the early 1950s, served on the Tennis Committee, and for many years played a major role in the organisation of the Club’s Open Junior Tennis Tournament.
Harry Gray –joining the Club in 1959, Harry was an enthusiastic and skilled bowler, and became involved in Club administration as a member of the Bowls Committee, Junior Vice President and later General Treasurer for 10 seasons from 1972-73. He helped immensely with the financial administration of the Club. He also had the distinction of being member of the Club team that won the Division 1 State Fours title in 1982, the first time the Club had won that title.
Glenn Hillock - Glenn has been a member since 1988, and served on the Bowls Committee for ten years, as a trustee of the Marryatville Trust for eight years, and on the security roster for 20 years. He operated and managed the bar for ten years. He instigated Night Owls, and for 18 years he donated weekly meat trays for Night Owls and various Club functions.
Eric Jackson –Eric had the honour to be the General President in the Golden Jubilee year of the Club. He was also the author of the very comprehensive Jubilee History covering very first 50 years of the life of the Club.
Deane Jarvis –Deane joined the Club as a tennis member in 1958, and his continuous period of active playing membership is longer than that of any other current member. He has served on various committees and as its honorary legal adviser for many years. He is a former Tennis President and General President, and to the time of writing, is the youngest person in the Club’s history to have held the latter office.
John Kirkwood –John served as General President for 4 years from 1984-85 and had also served as General Secretary in1975-76, and Tennis President for 2 seasons from 1970-71. He was an enthusiastic member of Metro teams for many years, an outstanding contributor to various sub-committees, and a keen organiser of many tournaments and events. He was awarded Life Membership in 2000 for his long service to the Club.
W (Bill) Lane – joined the Club as a bowler, and played as skipper in the top men’s team. He served as Bar Manager for many years. A plumber by trade, his voluntary services saved the Club much expense.
Ron Linke – Ron was appointed House Manager in 1968 and carried out that function competently for many years. In 1975 he was awarded Life Membership for many years of outstanding service. In the same year he was appointed Greens Manager, and was runner up in the Club pairs championship.
M D (Don) Linn –Don owned the large Marryatville bakery (and stables for 17 delivery horses!) on the current Woolworths supermarket site on Kensington Road Marryatville, and was a long time member of the adjacent Marryatville Bowling Club, where he was secretary for five seasons from 1983-84. He was a major benefactor of the Marryatville Club and awarded Life Membership of the Kensington Gardens Bowling and Tennis Club following the merger of the two Clubs.
Wally Mallen – Wally joined as a tennis member in 1928 and transferred to bowls in 1952. He was elected General President in 1938 and 1955, served as Club Treasurer from 1959 to 1972, and was awarded Life Membership in 1964.
Tom Miller – Tom served on the General Committee for from 1975 to 1985 and was appointed Greens Manager for the 1983-84 season. He was elected General President in 1988-89 and served for 3 seasons, and also served in other senior positions, including Men’s Bowls President, Bowls Section Secretary, Chairman of Selectors and member of the Coaching Panel. He made very significant contributions as Chairman of sub-committees to organise and supervise the rebuilding of the Bowling and Tennis sections of the clubhouse.
Vin O’Dea – Vin joined as a bowls member in 1955, and during the next few years was a valued member of Pennant Bowls teams and was then elected to the Bowls Committee. He was Bowls Secretary and the Club’s representative to the Royal South Australian Bowling Association for a number of seasons until 1970, after which he was Bowls Vice-President. He was also the Club’s nominated manager from the commencement of the new Licensing Act of 1967. He also served on various special sub-committees.
Claude Pryzbilla - joined as a bowler in the1950s and was a member of the top men’s team. He was the Bowls Champion in 1975-76. In his 90s he organised play for social bowlers on summer Saturdays and Wednesdays. He died a few years after his 100th birthday.
Harry Roberts – Harry was Club banker including regularly collecting, counting and banking the Club’s bar takings. After 22 years of dedicated service in that capacity was awarded Life Membership in 2000.
Dorothy Rosenfeldt –Dorothy became the secretary of the Women's Bowls Section in 1959-60, and continued in that position for 18 seasons until 1977-78, whereupon she became Women’s Bowls President for two seasons. She was a selector and later the chair of selectors for several years. She was the main person responsible for catering for the men members’ delightful Saturday afternoon teas for many years. She was elected to the Executive Committee of the South Australian Women's Bowling Association, on which she remained for 17 years and where she served as Treasurer for five years and President from 1981 to 1983, the first time a member of our Club had achieved that honour. She and her husband Laurie won the Kenneth Milne mixed doubles trophy. Subsequently, when Laurie was awarded Life membership in 1974, he and Dorothy became the first husband and wife in the Club’s history to concurrently hold Life Membership.
Laurie Rosenfeldt –Laurie was General President in 1958-59 and again for five seasons from 1971-72. He also served as General Secretary in 1954-55 and 1955-56 and from 1976-77 to 1987-88. He was the Club Singles Bowls Champion on numerous occasions, with 40 years between his first and last championships. In 1967–68 he not only skippered the only First Division, State Fours to be won by the Club in its first 50 years, but also finished equal third in the State singles championships. He also represented the State in the 1967–68 and 1968–69 seasons.
Bob Scholefield – Bob spent 9 years as Club Secretary and with Knoyle Cross and Keith Christie-Ling represented Kensington Gardens in the negotiations for the amalgamation with Marryatville. He joined as tennis member, played Saturday morning tennis and for several years played tennis and pennant bowls on the same day. He was Singles runner-up 3 times and winner of Club pairs twice.
Elizabeth Scholefield – Liz joined the Club as a tennis member in1968, and later became a bowls member. She has held many positions including Tennis President and Tennis Secretary for a combined 6 seasons, and she was the first woman Bowls President after the amalgamation of the Men’s and Women’s Bowls Sections. She won 5 Club Singles championship (and 6 runners-up) between 1999 and 2016. She is the only member to have won the Tennis Section’s Mixed Doubles championship (with her son Roger), and the Bowls’ Mixed Pairs championship (with her husband Bob), and modestly attributes her success to her careful choice of partners.
Ron Tabe - was honoured by Life Membership at Marryatville, and with Eric Ball represented Marryatville in amalgamation negotiations. He was elected the second President of the merged club, and appointed the first chairman of the Marryatville Trust – a position he held for many years.
Margaret Tingey – joined the club in the 1940s, served on the Tennis Committee for a number of years, and was a member for around 40 years. A strong tennis player, she played Ladies Thursday midweek tennis soon after it began, and was a keen social player in her later years.
Howard Triplow – Howard was presented with Life membership in 1990 for his contribution as coach for Men’s and Women’s Bowling Sections over his 24 years of membership.
Jon Uren – Jon contributed a great deal as House Supervisor over many years and was Bar Committee Chairman presiding over major improvements to bar efficiency and profits. He was elected General President in 1979, 1980 and 1981 and was awarded Life Membership in 1992 in recognition of his many years of service to the Club, and especially Men’s Bowls section.
Joan Young –Joan was a keen competitor in the midweek ladies and metro tennis competitions for 44 years before changing to pennant bowls. She held the offices of Tennis Treasurer, Tennis President for three seasons from 1987, General Treasurer for five seasons from 2004, and Bowls Treasurer for three seasons from 2014. Her services to the Women’s Midweek Grasscourt Tennis Association and to Tennis Seniors South Australia are recognised by her life membership of those associations. In 2000 she was awarded an Australian Sports Medal.
10. Presidents
GENERAL PRESIDENTS AND CHAIRS OF BOARD
1919–20 – F. Kenneth Milne
1920-21 – Roy L. Phillips
1921-1922 – J. Howard Vaughan
1922-23 – E. Ford
1923-24 – B.V. Scrymgour
1924-25 – R.H. Paull
1925-26 – W.E Richards
1926-27 – Colonel W.C.N Waite
1927-28 – Sir Darcy Cowan
1929-90 – R. Ingleby
1930-31 – J.E. Isaacson
1931-32 – Reg. Matthew
1932-33 - C.E Wright
1933-34 – A.R. (Roy) Burnell
1934-35 – B.S Muecke
1935-36 – H.R. (Horace) Wheeler
1936-37 – A.R. (Roy) Burnell
1937-38 – L.A.W Peacock
1938-39 – W.S (Wally) Mallen
1939-40 – H.E.H (Howard) Mutton
1940-41 – V.R. Weston
1941-43 – F.G (Frank) Byrne
1943-46 – H.R Matthew
1946-48 – A.C. (Arnold) Lewis
1948-50 – G.C. (George) Coleman
1950-51 – G.C. (Gordon) Robertson
1951-53 – A.H. (Arch) Catchpoole
1953-54 – H.C. (Howard) Micklem
1954-55 – T.A. (Alf) Philps
1955-56 – W.S. (Wally) Mallen
1956-58 – E.M. (Eric) Forbes
1958-59 – L.G. (Laurie) Rosenfeldt
1959-61 – A.R. (Alan) Shearing
1961-63 – R.S. (Reg) Williamson
1963-64 – G.H. (George) Fleet
1964-67 – E.E. (Ted) Chittenden
1967-69 – E.S. (Eric) Jackson
1969-71 – D.G. (Deane) Jarvis
1971-76 – L.G. (Laurie) Rosenfeldt
1976-79 – T.J. Mildrum
1979-82 – H.J. (Jon) Uren
1982-84 – M.R. Wagner
1984-88 – J.A. (John) Kirkwood
1988-91 – T.C. (Ted) Miller
1991-2002 – H.K. (Knoyle) Cross
2002-04 – P.D. Agars AM
2004-07 – I.J. Pendrigh AM
2007-09 – L.R. Klau
2009-12 – Dr. B.C. (Bernie) Lindner
2012-14 – G. (Garry) Byron AM
2014-15 – P. (Paul) Reynolds
2015- Current – P. (Phillip) Grant-Allan
MEN’S BOWLS PRESIDENTS
WOMEN’S BOWLS PRESIDENTS
| M E Sutcliffe E A M Wylde A M Atkins A Connell GH Branson D M Rosenfeldt H Muirhead M J Uren H Pitcher J Miller A M Harris M H Sumner M Roberts M Coward L Kruse D Murnane M Frazer M Jennings J Gibb M Ferris | 1966-69 1969-71 1971-73 1973-75 1975-77 1977-79 1979-81 1981-83 1983-85 1985-86 1986-88 1988-90 1990-91 1991-93 1993-95 1995-97 1997-99 1999-01 2001-03 2003-04 |
BOWLS PRESIDENTS POST 2004
| R ((Mick) Micaleff B Blackman Mrs E Scholefield P Garnett G Byron AM P Glazbrook B Carson Ms Cecily Griffiths Mal Hutton | 2004-06 2006-08 2008-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018-Current |
TENNIS PRESIDENTS
| H. K. Cross R. Brummitt D.G. Jarvis D. J. Howell J. Kirkwood R. P. Motteram C.V. Brown R.C. Alldritt G. D. Roberts B. J. Taylor B. Lehane Mrs J. F. Young J. C. Morrissey E. G. Young Mrs E. M. Scholefield Mrs M. Morrissey I. D. Cooper T. Bullock | 1960-61 1961-64 1964-67 1967-70 1970-72 1972-74 1974-76 1976-79 1979-83 1983-85 1985-87 1987-90 1990-92 1992-94 1994-96 1996-98 1998-00 2000-04 |
| J. Lewis | 2004-06 |
| No President | 2006-08 |
| D. Perry | 2008-11 |
| Mrs G. Sumner | 2011-15 |
| N. J. Jones D. Larden | 2015 -18 2018- Current |