James Aitken (footballer)

James Tod Aitken (23 July 1882 – 8 August 1915) was an Australian rules footballer who played with Geelong in the Victorian Football League.[1]

James Aitken
Personal information
Full name James Tod Aitken
Date of birth (1882-07-23)23 July 1882
Place of birth Chatsworth, Victoria
Date of death 8 August 1915(1915-08-08) (aged 33)
Place of death Lone Pine, Gallipoli, Ottoman Turkey
Original team(s) Queenscliff /
Melbourne Grammar School
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
1903 Geelong 1 (0)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1903.
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Family

The son of David Aitken (1843–1907),[2] and Ellen Louisa Aitken (1844–1918), née Tod,[3][4] James Tod Aitken was born at "Hopkins Hill", Chatsworth, Victoria (near Hexham, Victoria) on 23 July 1882.[5]

Education

He was educated at Melbourne Grammar School (1895–1899), passing the University Matriculation Examination in 1899.[6] He played cricket with the school's First XI and football with the school's First XVIII from 1897 to 1899.[7]

Football

He played a single game for the Geelong First XVIII in the VFL competition, against St Kilda on 13 June 1903. It seems that he was selected to play against Carlton the following week,[8] but he did not play.

Military service

Employed as a wool clerk with the New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency Company, Ltd., he enlisted in the First AIF on 15 March 1915, and served overseas with the 5th Australian Infantry Battalion.

Death

He was killed in action near Lone Pine at Gallipoli, Ottoman Turkey on 8 August 1915.[9]

He was buried at the Shrapnel Valley Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery, near Gallipoli, Turkey.[10]

See also

Footnotes
  1. Holmesby & Main (2007).
  2. Deaths: Aitken, The Age, (Monday, 12 August 1907), p.1.
  3. Marriages: Aitken—Tod, The Launceston Exmoner, (Thursday, 15 July 1869), p.4.
  4. Deaths: Aitken, The Argus, (Monday, 6 May 1918), p.1.
  5. "Family Notices". The Argus. No. 11, 264. Victoria, Australia. 27 July 1882. p. 1.
  6. Matriculation, The Argus, (Saturday, 30 December 1899), p.9.
  7. Main & Allen (2002), p.13.
  8. Football, The Geelong Advertiser, (Friday, 19 June 1903), p.2.
  9. "Family Notices". The Argus. No. 21, 563. Victoria, Australia. 6 September 1915. p. 1.
  10. Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

References
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