Archibald Ernest Swannie (5 June 1875 – 29 May 1941) was an Australian rules footballer who played for the South Melbourne Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL).[1]

Archie Swannie
Personal information
Full name Archibald Ernest Swannie
Date of birth (1875-06-05)5 June 1875
Place of birth Emerald Hill, Victoria
Date of death 29 May 1941(1941-05-29) (aged 65)
Place of death Moreland, Victoria
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
1897 South Melbourne 13 (4)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1897.
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Family

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The son of David Swannie (1828-1888),[2] and Mary Swannie (1836-1901), née Hassett,[3] Archibald Ernest Swannie was born at Emerald Hill, Victoria on 5 June 1875.

He married Alice Josephine Shea (1877-1920) at Tarrawingee, Victoria in November 1902.[4][5] They had three children; two sons and a daughter: John (b.1903), Doris (b.1907), and James (b.1908).

Football

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Commencing his football career with Hawthorn (not the current AFL club),[6] he played a game for Melbourne in 1895,[7] before spending two years with South Melbourne (1896–1897), including their first year in the VFL.

In 1898 he returned to Hawthorn,[8] before moving to West Melbourne halfway through the season.[9]

 
Port Melbourne Premiership Team (1901)
Swannie is third player from right, front row.[10]

Port Melbourne (VFA)

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He then moved to Port Melbourne for the 1899 VFA season,[11] and was a member of their 1901 premiership team.[10] His final game for Port Melbourne came at the end of the 1902 season, when it was reported that he was moving to Queensland.[12]

Sydney Naval (NSWANFL)

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He played for Sydney Naval Football Club, in the New South Wales Australian National Football League (NSWANFL) for six seasons (1903-1908)[13] — for three of them, he was also the team's coach (1906-1908), winning the premiership in 1907[14][15] — and, also, over those six seasons, he played in six representative matches for New South Wales.[16][17][18]

Rescuer

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He was awarded the bronze medal of the Royal Humane Society of Australasia on two occasions:

Death

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After a few years living in Queensland and New South Wales, he and his wife returned to Victoria and lived in Essendon. He died on 29 May 1941 at the Sacred Heart Private Hospital, Moreland, Victoria, after a brief illness.[29][30]

References

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  1. ^ Holmesby, Russell; Main, Jim (2014). The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers: every AFL/VFL player since 1897 (10th ed.). Melbourne, Victoria: Bas Publishing. p. 863. ISBN 978-1-921496-32-5.
  2. ^ Deaths: Swannie, The Age, (Thursday, 29 November 1888), p. 3.
  3. ^ Deaths: Swannie, The Age, (Saturday, 9 February 1901), p. 5.
  4. ^ Wedding at Tarrawingee: Swannie—Shea, The Ovens and Murray Advertiser, (Saturday, 8 November 1902), p. 3.
  5. ^ Deaths: Swannie, The Age, (Monday, 15 March 1920), p. 1.
  6. ^ "HAWTHORN FOOTBALL CLUB". The Age. Melbourne, Australia. 17 March 1896. p. 7.
  7. ^ "FOOTBALL". The Age. Melbourne, Australia. 6 May 1895. p. 3.
  8. ^ "FOOTBALL". The Age. Melbourne, Australia. 22 June 1898. p. 7.
  9. ^ "GOSSIP". Sportsman. No. 907. Melbourne, Australia. 5 July 1898. p. 6.
  10. ^ a b "PORT MELBOURNE FOOTBALL TEAM Premiers Victorian Football Association. Season 1901". Punch. Victoria, Australia. 12 September 1901. p. 27.
  11. ^ "FOOTBALL". Standard. Port Melbourne, Victoria. 10 June 1899. p. 4.
  12. ^ "FOOTBALL". The Argus. Melbourne, Australia. 4 August 1902. p. 7.
  13. ^ Australian Football: The Sydney Team: Premiers of N.S.W. for 1905 (Photograph), The (Sydney) Sunday Sun, (Sunday, 17 September 1905), p. 6.
  14. ^ Football: Australian Rules Final Won by Sydney, The (Sydney) Sunday Times, (Sunday, 6 October 1907), p. 10.
  15. ^ 'Old-Timer', "Football; Australian Rules: Sydney wins the Final after a Close Game", The Referee, (Wednesday, 9 October 1907), p. 6.
  16. ^ New South Wales Australian Football History Society.
  17. ^ The Combined Team of the N.S.W. Football League (photograph), The Australian Town and Country Journal, (Wednesday, 3 June 1903), p. 26.
  18. ^ New South Wales Team (Australian Rules) (Photograph), The Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser, (Wednesday, 17 June 1908), p. 1584.
  19. ^ Later, Mrs. Harry Richardson; and, even later, Mrs. Frank Chetham: Deaths: Chetcham (sic), The Argus, (Saturday, 2 April 1949), p. 15.
  20. ^ "Archibald Ernest Swannie". Weekly Times. Victoria, Australia. 6 May 1899. p. 15.
  21. ^ The Yarra Tragedy: Maud Fazackerly Attempts Suicide, The Weekly Times, (Saturday, 18 February 1899), p. 27.
  22. ^ Rescued from the Yarra, The Age, (Wednesday, 22 February 1899), p. 6.
  23. ^ The Boot Trunk Tragedy: Attempted Suicide of Maud Fazackerly, The (Emerald Hill) Record, (Saturday, 25 February 1899), p. 3.
  24. ^ The Yarra Horror, The (Melbourne) Herald, (Wednesday, 25 January 1899), p. 4.
  25. ^ What Maud Fazackerly Said, The (Melbourne) Herald, (Wednesday, 25 January 1899), p. 4.
  26. ^ (News Item), The Argus, (Wednesday, 13 July 1904), p. 4.
  27. ^ Royal Humane Society: Bronze Medals, The Argus, (Friday, 22 June 1900), p. 7.
  28. ^ Royal Humane Society, The Age, (Saturday, 23 June 1900), p. 14.
  29. ^ Deaths: Swannie, The Argus, (Friday, 30 May 1941), p. 4.
  30. ^ "Footballer whose Bravery won Bronze Medallion: Arch. Swannie, Member of Famous South Football Team, Passes On". The (Emerald Hill) Record. Victoria, Australia. 7 June 1941. p. 2.
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