Billy Orchard Explained

Billy Orchard
Fullname:William Henry Orchard
Birth Date:9 August 1888
Birth Place:Geelong, Victoria
Death Place:Geelong, Victoria
Originalteam:Geelong Grammar
Debutdate:Round 16, 1906
Debutteam:Geelong
Debutopponent:Carlton
Debutstadium:Corio Oval
Height:180 cm
Weight:76 kg
Statsend:1915
Years1:1906, 1908–1915
Games Goals1:112 (67)
Coachyears1:1914
Coachgames Wins1:18 (11–6–1)
Careerhighlights:

William Henry Orchard (9 August 1888 – 22 July 1965) was an Australian rules football player for the Geelong Football Club between 1906 and 1915. He served in the First AIF. He was awarded a Military Cross.

Family

The son of Edwin Orchard (1863-1927)[1] and Ruth Orchard (1866-1938), née Mallett,[2] he was born on 9 August 1888. He married Henrietta Jessie Galbraith (1895-1966) on 21 July 1915;[3] they had three children, William, Douglas, and June.

Football

Geelong (VFL)

He was Geelong's captained for two seasons: 1914 and 1915. He was also playing coach in 1914.[4]

Third Divisional team (AIF)

He played for the (winning) Third Australian Divisional team in the famous "Pioneer Exhibition Game" of Australian Rules football, held in London, in October 1916.[5] A news film was taken at the match.[6] [7]

Field Umpire

He was a field umpire in the Victorian Football League (VFL) during the 1920s.

Cricket

Orchard was an outstanding cricketer taking 264 wickets at 12.6 between 1903–1936 in the Geelong Cricket Association.

Military career

In 1918 at Ypres he was awarded the Military Cross for "the efficient manner in which he (Captain Orchard) carried out his task of reorganisation and his cheerfulness under depressing circumstances that earned for him the Military Cross."[8]

See also

References

External links

Notes and References

  1. https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/232323140 Deaths: Orchard, The Geelong Advertiser, (Saturday, 10 December 1927), p2.
  2. https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/205216542 Deaths: Orchard, The Age, (Monday, 14 November 1938), p.1.
  3. https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/241680173 Social Gossip, The (Ballarat) Evening Echo, (Saturday, 24 July 1915), p.3.
  4. http://www.gfc.com.au/Default.aspx?tabid=4014 Geelong Football Club Honour Roll
  5. Richardson (2016), p.165.
  6. The original newsreel:
  7. The 2019 remastered and colourised version of the original newsreel:
  8. The Story and Official History of the 38th Battalion A.I.F.; Eric Fairey : The Bendigo Advertiser Pty Ltd and the Cambridge Press; Bendigo, Vic. 1920