A cricketer who found life challenging!
For the first blog of the year, I have decided to embrace the great sporting season of summer - cricket! Ah, but there’s more to this blog than just cricket, read on…
ARTHUR CONINGHAM
Arthur was born on the 14th
of July 1863 in Emerald Hill, Melbourne, Victoria. He was the youngest of five
children both to William and Jane Ann Coningham (nee Wilson).
He loved sport and became an
all-round athlete. Arthur took to football, rowing, pigeon- shooting and
particularly to cricket - as a left-arm fast medium bowler.
Arthur played for the
Melbourne Cricket Club and in December 1884 went to Queensland, representing the
Club in a total of 3 games. He played 3 times for Queensland and twice for NSW.
In the Intercolonial Games
Arthur scored 510 runs at 17 and took 60 wickets at 23.46. He was a member of
the Australian team that toured England in 1893, unfortunately not playing in a
Test match but in other games he scored 260 runs at 12.8 and took 38 wickets at
25.6. Arthur's only test match was against England in Melbourne from 29
December 1894 where he made 13 runs and took 2 wickets.
Arthur or “Connie” as he was known, sported a handlebar moustache and was
known as being rather excitable. He was seen as something of a joker. In
an effort to stay warm while fielding in a tour match in 1893 at Blackpool he
gathered straw and twigs and started a fire on the outfield!
Conningham had difficulty holding down jobs to earn a living but one “job”
- albeit unreliable - was gambling at billiards!
On the day he left on the English tour in 1893, he married Alice Stamford Dowling, a Catholic, at St. Matthew’s Anglican Church in Bondi.
Upon his return to Australia, he still had difficulty in settling into
reliable employment. In September 1896 he failed as a tobacconist at Waverley
and then managed a shop in Glebe. This led to insolvency, but Arthur was
released from bankruptcy in July the next year. He was listed as a bookmaker in
1899.
Later that year Arthur sued for divorce naming Father Dennis Francis O’Haran,
administrator of St Mary’s Cathedral and Cardinal Moran’s right-hand man as
co-respondent, seeking £5,000 damages. At the hearing in December 1900, Arthur conducted
his own case with his wife admitting adultery and O’Haran denying it. Much information
from both sides was produced but the jury found in Arthur's favour. In the meantime, the case
had reignited entrenched feelings of bigotry. Catholics saw it as an assault upon
their church.
The case was reheard in 1901, further aid for both sides had emerged but an
undercover operation involving the postmaster-general exposed secrecy between
Arthur and his wife. The jury this time found against Arthur.
Arthur took his family to
New Zealand and worked as a book salesman. It wasn’t long before he was
arrested for fraud for a monetary conversion, He worked as an agent in
Wellington from 1906 and in early 1912 his wife divorced him for adultery.
It is unknown when Arthur
returned to Australia, but he was admitted to Gladesville Mental Hospital Sydney
on the 2nd of November 1937 and died there on the 13th of June 1939. He was buried in Section 12 of the Anglican area of Rookwood
Cemetery near the northern boundary close to the Strathfield side entrance.
Arthur Coningham had great
sporting talents, particularly in cricket but like many could not adjust to a
working life after retiring. Unlike many, he found it difficult to hold down a
job and came up with many risky schemes to make some – the attack against
Father D F O’Haran being a bridge too far.
Newspaper reports during his lifetime were awash with headlines such as “Arthur Coningham again”, “Arthur Coningham
sentenced”, as well as “Arthur Coningham arrested” and others.
Arthur and Alice had several
children but the one to emerge the brightest was their eldest Arthur. He
managed to live through all the scandals and showed strength of character to
win a scholarship to Wellington University. He enlisted in the NZ Forces in
1914 but developed typhoid fever and was invalided out of service. In 1916 he
travelled to Britain in April and volunteered for the Royal Flying Corps.
Arthur (Jnr) was posted to
32 Squadron and flew various patrols involved in many battles. He was soon promoted
to the rank of Major and in command at the age of 23. In 11 months at the front,
he engaged in 176 patrols and credited with the personal destruction of nine
enemy aircraft. He emerged from WW1 with a Distinguished Service Order and a
Military Cross. Arthur remained in the air force and when WW2 began, he was an
air commodore commanding Bomber Command’s 4 Group which he led for two years.
He teamed up with General Montgomery for an offensive at El-Alamein in 1942,
both men realising joint operations were the key to success. Arthur was
knighted after the Second Battle of El-Alamein and later named Air Marshal in
1943. Arthur Cunningham chose to retire in 1947. He disappeared on the 30th of January 1948 when the airline he was travelling to Bermuda was lost off the
east coast of the USA. A sad end to a brilliant career.
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For my references today I
have utilised ancestry.com, Wikipedia and various Trove newspapers articles –
and there are many of them. I have relied heavily upon the entry in the
Australian Dictionary of Biography written by Bede Nairn in 2006.
Sad endings all round for
Arthur who could not adjust to everyday life after cricket as well as for his illustrious
son.
May they Rest in Peace.
If you have any comments to add please do so below of at the Group Facebook page at
Rookwood Cemetery Discoveries
or send me a personal message via
lorainepunch@gmail.com
Until next week!
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