Albert Gourlay
Albert John Gourlay (31 July 1881 – 1 November 1918) was an Australian rules footballer who played with Melbourne and Carlton in the Victorian Football League (VFL). He died of wounds sustained in action during World War I.
| Albert Gourlay | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal information | |||
| Full name | Albert John Gourlay | ||
| Date of birth | 31 July 1881 | ||
| Place of birth | Emerald Hill, Victoria | ||
| Date of death | 1 November 1918 (aged 37) | ||
| Place of death | 2nd New Zealand General Hospital, Walton-on-Thames, England | ||
| Original team(s) | West Melbourne | ||
| Playing career1 | |||
| Years | Club | Games (Goals) | |
| 1903 | Melbourne | 3 (1) | |
| 1904 | Carlton | 3 (0) | |
| Total | 6 (1) | ||
|
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1904. | |||
| Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com | |||
Family
The son of John Ebenezer Gourlay (1853-),[1][2][3][4][5] and Jessie Bruce Gourlay (1862-1889), née Bell,[6][7] Albert John Gourlay was born at Emerald Hill on 31 July 1881.[8]
He married Emma Randle Porteous (c.1871-1954), née Collie,[9] in New Zealand, in 1909.
Football
Gourlay played his early football at West Melbourne before entering the VFL.[10] He played just three games for Melbourne, in the 1903 VFL season and at the end of the year crossed to Carlton. Playing as a defender, Gourlay made three appearances with Carlton and experienced all possible results, a win, draw and a loss.[11]
New Zealand
He later emigrated to New Zealand, where he got married and worked as a commercial traveller in Wellington.
Military service
In 1917 he signed up to serve his adopted country in the war and, in August 1917, travelled on the MMNZT 92 Ruahine,[12] to the United Kingdom with the New Zealand Expeditionary Force.
Gourlay fought with the 29th Reinforcements of the Wellington Infantry Regiment, B Company, on the front and suffered serious wounds when fighting in some of the final offensives of the war.[13]
Death
He died of the wounds he had sustained in action at a military hospital in England just ten days before the ceasefire. He is buried at Brookwood Military Cemetery, Woking, Surrey, England.[14]
Footnotes
- The Premier Permanent Building Association, The Argus, (Wednesday, 5 February 1890), p.4.
- The Premier Permanent Building Association: Meeting of Depositors, The Argus, (Tuesday, 11 February 1890), p.8.
- The Premier Permanent Building Association, The Argus, (Saturday, 5 April 1890), p.5.
- The Premier Permanent Building Association: The Charges against the Dorectors, The Argus, (Wednesday, 28 May 1890), p.7.
- Premier Permanent Building Association: Settling the Contributors: J.E. Gourlay's Name Struck Out, ''The Argus, (Wednesday, 25 March 1891), p.7.
- Marriages: Gourlay—Bell, The Argus, (Saturday, 9 October 1880), p.1.
- Deaths: Gourlay, The Argus, (Monday, 11 November 1889), p.1.
- Births: Gourlay, The Age, (Wednesday, 3 August 1881), p.1.
- Supreme Court: Divorce Cases, The New Zealand Times, (Friday, 9 December 1904), p.3.
- Holmesby & Main (2007).
- AFL Tables.
- Ruahine, flotilla-australia.com.
- "Albert John Gourlay". Auckland War Memorial Museum. Retrieved 8 July 2022 – via Online Cenotaph.
- Private Albert John Gourlay (59358), Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
References
- Holmesby, Russell; Main, Jim (2007). The Encyclopedia Of AFL Footballers. BAS Publishing. ISBN 978-1-920910-78-5.
- World War One Nominal Roll: Private Albert John Gourlay (59358), collection of the Auckland War Memorial Museum.
- Fallen New Zealanders: Casualty and Hospital Lists, The New Zealand Times, (Wednesday, 6 November 1918), p.7.
External links
- Albert Gourlay's playing statistics from AFL Tables
- Albert Gourlay at AustralianFootball.com
- Albert J. Gourlay, at The VFA Project.
- Photograph of Headstone, at Blueseum.
- Albert Gourlay, at Blueseum.
- Albert Gourlay, at Demonwiki.