12 replies to this topic

[TerryS]

After reading recent thread on 1905 Adelaide hillclimb, and recent mention of 1904 Sandown race, I was wondering when the first car race in New South Wales was.

After some searching I may have come across this possibility, but I only propose and could be earlier.

From Clarence and Richmond Examiner of 27 February 1900:

"Motor Car Races in Sydney
That's what the League of Wheelmen are going to give us on the Agricultural grounds on the 5th, 8th and 12th of next month. Motor car racing, though well established in the old world, is a decided rarity here, and hence the League expects a considerable addition to the ordinary attendance and a corresponding increase in revenue. Besides the two Jaliu tandems which are already in Australia, and which are stated to be working admirably, there will be seen on these evenings three of the celebrated Dion Bouton automobiles and two petite voitures, which have been recently imported by a well-known Sydney firm. It is said that similar machines are regularly seen in the races between Paris and Bordeaux, and that as a rule they average on the road the incredibly high rate of over 35 miles per hour."

[Tim Murray]

Here are a couple of threads discussing early motor racing in Australia:

South Australia's first motor race meeting

Aspendale - birthplace of Australian motor racing?

The March 1900 races in Sydney appear to be the earliest races mentioned in those threads.

[TerryS]

Here are a couple of threads discussing early motor racing in Australia:South Australia's first motor race meetingAspendale - birthplace of Australian motor racing?
The March 1900 races in Sydney appear to be the earliest races mentioned in those threads.

Tim, what I raised was the possibility of first NSW race.

In article I quoted above it say racing is a"decided rarity here" indicating there may have been earlier races.

So I would welcome any news of those.

[gkennedy]

I do not know what or when was the first car race in NSW, and I doubt that there will ever be a definitive answer, but I offer this that it may lead somewhere to a possible answer.

 

About twenty years ago, I spent some time pursuing records of the various inter-City and interstate record runs in the early days of the motor car in Australia, and found records of times and events in NSW going back to 1898. This was prompted by a personal interest in Boyd Edkins (as in 'BoydEd', who started as an agent for Vauxhall, Humber and  Darracq cars in Sydney in 1908, and was a big part of these early "races"). The earliest record I found for NSW was a drive in 1898 from Sydney to Bathurst by Herbert Thomson in his self-built steam-powered car at an average speed of 7.5mph. That was not a race, but it was amongst the earliest Australian records set, and was at the forefront of a period of record-breaking that became races, with cars actually racing each other between various cities. It's fascinating (well, it is to me) what went on, with various ruses such as becoming mail carriers to have a reason to be racing.The earliest such 'race' I found in NSW was an outright race in March 1905, sponsored by Dunlop, and organised by Dunlop executive Harry James. The same Harry James who organised what may well be amongst the first car 'races' in Australia at Aspendale Victoria in 1904. 23 cars set off from Sydney in a race to Melbourne. The records show that 17 cars from 23 starters made it to Melbourne, without a definitive winner. In my searching, I recall finding records of various hill-climbs in NSW from around the same period (late 1890s - early 1900s), but as they weren't my interest at the time, I didn't collect that info. There again, hill-climbing is motorsport, but can it be defined as racing?

 

I collected a heap of stuff from my searching, but most of these road events are somewhat vague with dates and results, with none claiming to be the "first". There were probably car races on purpose built circuits in NSW, such as Victoria's Sandown, rather than road races, going back a few years earlier, but maybe not. Records of such events in Australia - and in this case NSW, from around 120 years ago were certainly neither well-recorded nor well kept.

[Lee Nicolle]

They mention a vehicle having done 83 miles in 60 min,,,115 years ago. now you are a speed freak at above 62!  We have progressed in a 115 years!!

[Ray Bell]

The 1905 event was a trial, not a race...

I suspect newspaper reports then will be just like now, not knowing the difference.

[gkennedy]

It was a fine line between "trial" and "race". Of course there is a difference, and the organisers then did call it a trial and not a race. It was certainly referred to as a race by many at the time, however, I found journalists and writers in more recent times who found it hard to split between the two definitions. Bill Tuckey in 1964 in 'The Book of Australian Motor Racing' said of that event "More of an outright race over public roads than a trial", and also (referring to the same event) "The two trials and the Aspendale demonstration had started motor racing".

 

Ray, as a motorsport journalist, and someone with a great knowledge of the history of Australian motorsport, could you offer your opinion on what was the first car race in NSW?

[GMACKIE]

I would suggest the first car race in NSW took place when the driver of the 1st car in NSW met the driver of the 2nd car in NSW.

[gkennedy]

Yep, that'd be pretty close, Greg.

Now all we have to do is find out when. Who and where would help too - but like I said, these records were neither well-recorded, nor well-kept.

[Ray Bell]

Originally posted by gkennedy
It was a fine line between "trial" and "race". Of course there is a difference, and the organisers then did call it a trial and not a race. It was certainly referred to as a race by many at the time, however, I found journalists and writers in more recent times who found it hard to split between the two definitions. Bill Tuckey in 1964 in 'The Book of Australian Motor Racing' said of that event "More of an outright race over public roads than a trial", and also (referring to the same event) "The two trials and the Aspendale demonstration had started motor racing".
 
Ray, as a motorsport journalist, and someone with a great knowledge of the history of Australian motorsport, could you offer your opinion on what was the first car race in NSW?

You are too kind...

For a start, as far as a 'great knowledge' of the sport goes, I would pale alongside people like, for instance, John Medley and Brian Lear. They spent regular days going through newspapers at the NSW Public Library together looking for even the most minor newspaper reports on such events over decades.

I believe my forté is that I quickly grasp the path to find information, whether that be knowing the right person to ask or where to go looking.

And that I am silly (or indulgent) enough to spend the time looking and to do so fastidiously. To that end I possess a full set of AMS and Racing Car News from late 1963 to 1986.

For instance, the other day when Daniel asked about 'accident-prone drivers' who competed in Gold Star races, I saw that as an interesting topic and started looking at it.

To truly do that question justice, I would say, would take a full week of intensive study of magazine reports, books and so on, along with tallying the results and compiling the statistics. And I quickly figured out that some crashes would not have been noted so the results would possibly be flawed anyway. But in reality, anyone who really would figure in the end result would have been noticed throughout their career and therefore their accidents would have been reported.

I put about four hours into looking into that stuff and I've basically only covered some odds and ends plus the first three years of the Gold Star, though it will get easier and quicker as I now know exactly where to find the race dates so I won't have to look at so many race reports, and I'll get into the era where I have the Racing Car News reports.

I doubt, therefore, that I know as much as you do, given your stated interest and investigation, that I know as much about this as you do.

And you have reminded me that perhaps I should go back to my Bill Tuckey book for a bit of a refresher!

[gkennedy]

Well, like Brian Lear and John Medley, you do have a great knowledge of Australian motor racing. I wouldn't know who pales into insignificance next to who, but you all have great knowledge in different areas, and I enjoy the posts from all of you, as well as those of others here. My interest exceeds my knowledge, and I found Terry S's original question intriguing. My earlier search of Boyd Edkins' life (although it only included one day at the Mitchell Library) wasn't connected to that question, but it might have led to some possible answers. I have since done some more investigating (internet only, so far), and I can't find anything in NSW that could be called a 'car race' earlier than the report Terry found from February 1900. You wouldn't think that the first organised car race in NSW would have been at Grafton, when it would have been far more likely to have been closer to more population and cars, but you never know. FWIW, I'm now having a little look along a different path. My great-grandfather, John Gilbert, apart from being the Mayor of Newcastle back in the early 1900s, was in partnership with his brother as 'Gilbert Bros, Buick Dealers' (as well as motor body builders, cnr Hunter and Langford Sts., Newcastle). I know they had an interest in motorsport (such as it was in Newcastle at the time), and I might turn up something to set me looking further. So far, the closest thing I've found is him driving in some hillclimb event up Brown Street hill in Newcastle (there's those hillclimbs again), just a very short distance from King Edward Park, (and a few short blocks from the new Supercar layout). As usual, the records aren't good. I don't even know the year - I'm guessing around 1910. Anyway, it's all interesting.   

[Ray Bell]

Actually, the way I read that report it's about a race or series of races in Sydney...

The report, however, is in the regional paper.

[MarkBisset]

Thanks Terry for starting such an interesting thread, the primotipo articles i wrote on Sandown and the Norton Summit Hillclimb have very much piqued my interest in 'what is the first car race in Oz?'

I have had a fossick in both the SMH, and tried 'every trick in my Trove book' to find a result of the League of Wheelmen races in March 1900 you have turned up. Like Ray i am sure they are Sydney, probably at the Showgrounds in Moore Park? So far i can't see a result anywhere.Perhaps they did not happen or perhaps a better search is needed of papers around those dates.

So far, the earliest 'car demonstration' in Oz, not a race mind you, seems to be at Adelaide Oval, as on one of the other threads, on 11 October 1902. I've written an article for primo but not popped it up yet. On the same day, the Adelaide papers claim the first motor-cycle race was run in the Southern Hemisphere at the same event, it was won by TP O'Grady.

The gist of the NSW research is that an 'intercity event' was the first race up north??

Enjoying all the contributions.

Mark

Edited by MarkBisset, 30 September 2017 - 21:26.