Albert Pompey Austin

Albert Pompey Austin (1846?–1889), also known as Pompey Austin and Poorne Yarriworri, was an Australian footballer, cricketer and athlete. The first Indigenous person to play senior Australian Rules football in Victoria when he played for Geelong Football Club in 1872. He was a Djab Wurrung man.

Early life

Albert "Pompey" Austin was born in the mid-1840s near Camperdown in Victoria.[1] A member of the Djargurd wurrung[1] his name was Poorne Yarriworri. He lived at the Framlingham mission near Warrnambool.[1]

Career

Austin was well known for his athletic ability, winning the Geelong Friendly Societies’ Gift in 1872.[2] Austin played for Geelong Football Club on 25 May 1872 against Carlton Football Club.[3][4]

Austin worked in the Kimberley region of Western Australia with explorer William J. O'Donnell leading gold seekers from Wyndham to the emerging goldfields at Halls Creek.[5] Mary Durack records that gold seekers heading to Halls Creek told of O'Donnell, William Carr Boyd and "that flash ... Pompey" leading them through the rugged country from Wyndham for "a pound a head".[5][6] A landmark near Halls Creek, a rocky outcrop known as Pompeys Pillar, is named after Austin.[5]

Personal life

Austin married Rosanna Francis in 1867.[7] Austin died in 1889.[7]

References
  1. Ruddell, Trevor. "Australian Football - Pompey Austin - Aboriginal pioneer". australianfootball.com. Retrieved 22 August 2020.
  2. Hay, Roy (2 October 2017). "Pompey Austin: an Australian sporting hero deserving of recognition". the Guardian. Retrieved 22 August 2020.
  3. "FOOTBALL". Geelong Advertiser (7, 865). Victoria, Australia. 27 May 1872. p. 3. Retrieved 22 August 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
  4. Trevor Ruddell, “Albert ‘Pompey’ Austin: the first Aborigine to play senior football” in Peter Burke and June Senyard (ed.), Behind the Play: Football in Australia. Maribyrnong Press, Hawthorn (Vic.), 2008, pp. 89-105.
  5. Himmelreich, Everard (2019-09-06). "How did a landmark in the Kimberley come to be named after a former son of Framlingham?". The Standard. Retrieved 2020-08-22.
  6. Durack, Mary (2008), Kings in grass castles, Random House, ISBN 978-1-74166-759-2
  7. Hay, Roy (2 February 2017). "Albert 'Pompey' Austin, 1846?-1889: A Man Between Two Worlds". Contemporary Histories Research Group at Deakin University. Retrieved 22 August 2020.
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