Turner's Marsh.
Sports under the auspices of the Turner's Marsh Athletic Association took place on the Bangor Racecourse on Boxing Day, and passed off very successfully. A word of praise is due to the secretary, Mr Arthur Barrett, and also to the handicapper, Mr Thomas Beeson, who handicapped the competitors in a very satisfactory manner. Mr W. West, of the Railway Hotel, Lilydale, had a booth on the ground, and did an excellent business. The following are the resuls of the various races:-
Boys' Race, Under 16 Years --M. 0'Loughlin 1, Joseph Finan 2, P. Burns 3.
Sheffield Handicap -- First heat: M. O'Loughlin 1, W. Bassett 2. Second heat, M. Finan 1, Arthur Bassett 2. Third heat: W. Hammersley 1. Fourth heat: Thomas Beeson 1. Fifth heat: P. O'Loughlin 1. Final heat : Thomas Beeson, scratch, 1, Martin O'Loughlin, 4yds, 2 ; W. Hammersley, 11yds, 3.
Handicap Horse Race— Mr J. Crawford's Young Buster 1, Mrs Rich's Mabel 2.
One Mile Foot Race— William Bassett 1, M. O'Loughlin 2, D. Smith 3.
A protest was entered by Smith against O'Loughlin, for jostling, and was decided in favor of Smith.
Trotting Match -- Mr J. Barrett's Tommy 1, Mr T. Beeson's Denis 2.
Hack Race-- Mr J. M'Carthy's Tommy 1, Mr J. O'Kelly's Jessie 2.
Cart Horse Race --Mr J. Rush's Prince 1, Mr J. M'Carthy 2.
Boys' Race, Under 14 Years— David Reid 1, Patrick Burns 2, Neil Bird 3.
A private match between Mr J. Rush's Prince and Mr P. Crawford's Tommy was won by Prince, and a private hack race between Mr J. O'Kelly's Jessie and Mr M. Rush's Tommy was won by Jessie.Turner's Marsh. (1889, January 5). The Colonist (Launceston, Tas. : 1888 - 1891), p. 24. Retrieved September 5, 2022, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article200352387
Some observations. So many families here of whom local history researchers know a little or a lot. Mr West the hotel owner, for instance."However, Cunningham's stay at the hotel was brief, transferring the licence to William West on 1 December 1887. [...] To celebrate taking over, West planned a grand ball and supper at his hotel on New Years Day. As the occasion was to take place on a Sunday, licensing authorities issued West with a temporary night licence, which permitted him to trade out-of-hours. [...]
When West renewed his licence in December 1889, the address of the hotel was listed as Lilydale, rather than Upper Piper. Nine months later he left town, transferring the licence back to Sulzberger." (Source: Scott Whitaker in Volume Four of Railway Hotels of Australia.)
The Sulzberger railway hotel probably failed to thrive because the railway station was built in 1888 at the opposite end of the town and Bardenhagen's store and other businesses drew customers away to that area. Also, Lilydale went through a 50 year period as a dry temperance community. I'm not yet certain this was the same William Henry West who went on to become a champion apple orchardist at Underwood and prizewinner at many an annual Agricultural Show.
Mr James O'Kelly, owner of the horse Jessie, former policeman, later teacher, also ran a hotel at Turner's Marsh/Karoola called the All Nations Hotel. He had the licence to sell liquor at the previous year's races. His daughter Catherine was a young scholar of note and was for some time in the 1890s teacher of my grandmother Rose O'Doherty and her siblings at Annadale, Ringarooma.
The Barrett family of Redmyre as recorded by Nigel Burch in The Piper's Call, 2016, descended from John Barrett who went from convict to noted timber merchant and property owner in Launceston and was one of the earliest purchasers of land in Turner's Marsh. That book also has a map showing where the Bangor Racecourse was.
Many other names here, Rush, Burns, Bassett, Hammersley and O'Loughlin have left stories for those with an ear to listen and a pen to take notes. And descendants in multitudes, some still in the district. Members of my family are related to Bird, Finan, Sulzberger and O'Reilly. And to the Windsor and McKenna families mentioned in the
go-as-you-please-tournament article of 1 Oct 1881.