Cup presented to Beatrice and Thomas Austin and brass plaque awarded to the Cummeragunja Football Association

R 2469
R 2470

fonds

1926 and 1937

9681965

1 cup - 26 x 11 cm - silver, wood
1 plaque - 600 x 400 mm - brass

Donor is the grandson for Beatrice and Thomas Austin and inherited the objects.

R 2469
1 silver cup with a wooden base gifted to Beatrice and Thomas Austin, engraved "Presented to Mr & Mrs T.H. Austin as a token of esteem by the parents & citizens of Cummeragunja 16th Dec. 1937"

R 2470
1 bronze plaque engraved "Moira Riding Football Association Premiership 1926, won by Cummeragunja Football Association ; Hammerton, Geelong"

Out of copyright:
Please acknowledge:: Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales

Cummeragunja Reserve, also known as Cummeragunja Station and sometimes as Cummeragunja Mission (alternatively spelt Coomeroogunja, Coomeragunja, Cumeroogunga and Cummerguja), was a settlement on the New South Wales side of the Murray River, on the Victorian border near Barmah. It was established between 1882 and 1888 as an alternative to the strictly religious Maloga Mission when its residents, predominantly Yorta Yorta Aboriginal Australians, petitioned to the Governor for a new reserve. After 1909 and the passing of the Aborigines Protection Act, the government assumed increasing control over the residents and it operated as a station. In 1939, the residents protested the poor conditions and treatment in the Cummeragunja walk-off. The station was closed in 1953, and, on 9 March 1984, the land was passed to the Yorta Yorta Land Council.

The Cummeragunja Aboriginal Mission football team was established around 1888 and quickly began winning most all of the games they played. They joined the Nathalia District Football Association and remained unbeaten through the 1899 season. In 1921, they won the premiership and continued as a team until at least 1939.

Beatrice Hilda May Chamberlain was born on 13 December 1900 in Walgett, New South Wales and was appointed as an assistant teacher at the Cummeragunja Aboriginal School in 1928. Thomas Henry Austin was born on 30 November 1892 in Northgate, Kent, England and was appointed principal of the Cummeragunja Aboriginal School in 1928. They married on 4 September 1930 in Moama, Victoria. Thomas died on 26 August 1956 in Hornsby and Beatrice died on 7 September 1973 in Beecroft, New South Wales.