Sir Albert Edward Chadwick, CMG, MSM (15 November 1897 – 27 October 1983) was an

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

er in the (then)

Victorian Football League The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football competition in Australia operated by the Australian Football League (AFL) as a second-tier, regional, semi-professional competition. It includes teams from clubs based in east ...

(VFL).

Early life

The son of Andrew Chadwick (1854-1906), and Georgina Ann Chadwick (1867-1948), née Prater, Albert Edward Chadwick was born at Beechworth, Victoria, on 15 November 1897. He married Thelma Marea Crawley (1899-1979) in 1924. Their son, Robert Edward Chadwick (1927-1992) also played for the Melbourne First XVIII.

Education

He was educated at Tungamah State Primary School (No.2225).

Football

A tough

centre half-back In the sport of Australian rules football, the half-back line refers to the positions of the 3 players on the field that occupy the centre half-back and left and right half-back flank positions. Centre half-back The role of the centre half-bac ...

who ran hard and straight, he played the majority of his career with

Melbourne Football Club The Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed the Demons or colloquially the Dees, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier comp ...

, one season with the

Prahran Football Club The Prahran Football Club (), nicknamed the Two Blues, is an Australian rules football club based in the Melbourne suburb of Armadale, Victoria, Armadale. It has played at Toorak Park since 1899. As of 2025, the club competes Premier C division ...

, and one season for

Hawthorn Football Club The Hawthorn Football Club, nicknamed the Hawks, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Mulgrave, Victoria, that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL). The club was founded in 1902 in the inner-east suburb of Hawth ...

Prahran (VFA)

Recruited by Prahran after a chance encounter with the Club's secretary, he made his debut, against North Melbourne, on 24 May 1919, and went on to play in 12 consecutive games for the Prahran First XVIII in 1919.

Melbourne (VFL)

Cleared from Prahran in 1920. He was runner-up to Edward "Carji" Greeves in the inaugural

Brownlow Medal The Charles Brownlow Trophy, better known as the Brownlow Medal (and informally as Charlie), is awarded to the best and fairest player in the Australian Football League (AFL) during the home-and-away season, as determined by votes cast by the f ...

in 1924: with one vote available per home-and-away game, and with Greeves and Chadwick both missing games when playing inter-state football for Victoria, Greeves scored seven votes (i.e., best-on-ground in seven matches) and Chadwick six.

Hawthorn (VFL)

He played for the Hawthorn First XVIII in 17 games (scoring 8 goals) in 1929.

Military service

Having added a year to his age, Chadwick enlisted in the First AIF on 12 February 1916, and went on to serve overseas with the Australian Flying Corps. He was

Mentioned in Dispatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face of t ...

in January 1919. He returned to Australia on HMAT ''Port Sydney'' in April 1919, and was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal in 1919. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Chadwick served in the

Royal Australian Air Force The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) is the principal Air force, aerial warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Australian Army. Constitutionally the Governor-Gener ...

. He was discharged on 6 July 1945 in the rank of

Wing Commander Wing commander (Wg Cdr or W/C) is a senior officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. Wing commander is immediately se ...

, having held the acting rank of

Group Captain Group captain (Gp Capt or G/C) is a senior officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many Commonwealth of Nations, countries that have historical British influence. Group cap ...

while serving as the RAAF's Director of Recruiting, a position which he held from 1942.

After Football

Chadwick was Chairman of the Gas and Fuel Corporation of Victoria, the

Melbourne Cricket Club The Melbourne Cricket Club (MCC) is a sports club based in Melbourne, Australia. It was founded in 1838 and is one of the oldest sports clubs in Australia. The MCC is responsible for management and development of the Melbourne Cricket Groun ...

president from 1965 to 1979, and the

president from 1950 to 1962. Highly successful in business, he was appointed a Companion in the

Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince of Wales (the future King George IV), while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George III ...

on 1 January 1967, and knighted on 1 January 1974.

Death

He died at his home in

Toorak, Victoria Toorak () is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, south-east of Melbourne's Melbourne central business district, Central Business District, located within the City of Stonnington Local government areas of Victoria, ...

on 27 October 1983 and was cremated at Springvale Botanical Cemetery.

Australian Football Hall of Fame

In 1995, Chadwick was inducted into the

Australian Football Hall of Fame The Australian Football Hall of Fame was established in 1996, the 1996 AFL season, centenary year of the Australian Football League, to help recognise the contributions made to the sport of Australian rules football by players, umpires, media pe ...

Footnotes

References

First World War Nominal Roll: Sergeant Albert Edward Chadwick (M.S.M.) (281), collection of the ''Australian War Memorial''

First World War Service Record: Sergeant Albert Edward Chadwick (281), ''National Archives of Australia''

First World War Embarkation Roll: Second Corporal (Lance Corporal) Commander Albert Edward Chadwick (281), ''Department of Veterans' Affairs''

World War Two Nominal Roll: Wing Commander Albert Edward Chadwick (250987), ''Department of Veterans' Affairs''

World War Two Service Record: Wing Commander Albert Edward Chadwick (250987), ''National Archives of Australia''

Fahey, Charles (2007), "Chadwick, Sir Albert Edward (Bert) (1897–1983)", ''Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 17'', Carlton: Melbourne University Press, 2007.
* de Lacy, H.A. (1941)
"Unforgettable Characters in Football: Bert Chadwick and the Side he Re-Made, ''The Sporting Globe'', (Saturday, 23 August 1941), p.5.
* Richardson, Nick (2021), ''Chadwick: A Man of Many Parts'', Slattery Media, * *

External links

AFL Hall of Fame
* *
Bert Chadwick, at ''Demonwiki''

Albert E.Chadwick, at ''The VFA Project''

Bert Chadwick, at ''Boyles Football Photos''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chadwick, Sir Albert 1897 births 1983 deaths Military personnel from Victoria (state) Melbourne Football Club players Melbourne Football Club coaches Hawthorn Football Club players Hawthorn Football Club coaches Australian Football Hall of Fame inductees Melbourne Football Club captains Melbourne Football Club presidents Prahran Football Club players Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state) Australian Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George Australian Knights Bachelor Australian military personnel of World War I Royal Australian Air Force personnel of World War II Royal Australian Air Force officers Melbourne Football Club premiership players Melbourne Football Club premiership coaches VFL/AFL premiership players VFL/AFL premiership coaches