Frank Kerr (footballer)

Captain Frank Robison Kerr DSO (5 April 1889 – 3 May 1977) was an Australian rules footballer who played with University in the Victorian Football League (VFL).

Frank Kerr
Kerr in 1910
Personal information
Full name Frank Robison Kerr
Date of birth (1889-04-05)5 April 1889
Place of birth Hawthorn, Victoria
Date of death 3 May 1977(1977-05-03) (aged 88)
Place of death Kew, Victoria
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
1909–11, 1913 University 40 (10)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1913.
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

An all-round sportsman, Kerr was awarded a Triple Blue at Melbourne University for athletics, cricket and football.[1] In addition to his 40 senior games in the VFL, he also played pennant cricket for four seasons and captained the Melbourne University Athletics Club.[1]

Kerr, who graduated from Melbourne University with a medical degree, was the Victorian selected to be a Rhodes Scholar in 1913.[2] Retired from football, Kerr moved to England and continued his studies at University College.[3]

His academic career was interrupted by World War I, during which he spent time in France with Britain's Royal Army Medical Corps.[4] In 1915 he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) for showing "conspicuous gallantry and splendid devotion to duty" during fighting in Givenchy, when he twice crawled under the parapet to bring in wounded soldiers, while under fire from the Germans who were within 70 yards.[4]

Kerr completed his studies when he returned to England and practised medicine for three years.

Back in Melbourne, Kerr was appointed Commonwealth Medical Officer in 1925.[5]

References
  1. "Rhodes Scholarship". The Argus. Melbourne. 17 December 1912. p. 15. Retrieved 2 May 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
  2. "Rhodes Scholar: The Successful Victorian". The Advertiser. Adelaide. 18 December 1912. p. 16. Retrieved 2 May 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
  3. Holmesby, Russell; Main, Jim (2007). The Encyclopedia Of AFL Footballers. BAS Publishing. ISBN 9781920910785.
  4. "Heroic Rhodes Scholar. Captain Frank Kerr, D.S.O". The Age. 11 November 1915. p. 7. Retrieved 2 May 2015.
  5. "Gallery of Achievement". Old Camberwell Grammarians Association. Retrieved 2 May 2015.
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