Edward Rennix Larkin (3 January 1880 – 25 April 1915) was an Australian parliamentarian and a

national National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

representative

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

player. Larkin was the member for Willoughby in the

New South Wales Legislative Assembly The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament House ...

from December 1913 until his death. He served in the

1st AIF The First Australian Imperial Force (1st AIF) was the main expeditionary force of the Australian Army during the First World War. It was formed as the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) following Britain's declaration of war on Germany on 15 Aug ...

, and was killed in action on the first day of the Gallipoli Campaign. He was one of only two serving members of any Australian parliament to fall in

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

— the other was

George Braund George Frederick Braund (13 July 1866 – 4 May 1915) was an Australian soldier and politician. Life Braund was born in Bideford, Devon, England and was educated at Bideford Grammar School and migrated with his family to New South Wales, when h ...

, also a New South Wales MLA who fell at Gallipoli.

Early life

Larkin was born at North Lambton,

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

, to William Joseph Larkin, a quarryman and his wife Mary Ann, née Rennix. His family moved to Camperdown in Sydney where the young Ted Larkin was schooled at St Benedict's Broadway, run by the

Marist Brothers The Marist Brothers of the Schools, commonly known as simply the Marist Brothers, is an international community of Catholic Church, Catholic religious institute of Religious brother, brothers. In 1817, Marcellin Champagnat, a Marist priest from Fr ...

. For his last two years of senior schooling he boarded at St. Joseph's College, Hunters Hill, where he played in the college's 1896 first rugby XV. After school he worked in journalism before joining the Metropolitan Police Force in 1903 as a foot-constable, later being promoted to first-constable in 1905. His premature greying made him appear older than he was.

Rugby union career

He maintained an active involvement in sports after completing his schooling and participated in cricket, swimming and

and played first grade with the Endeavour Rugby Club at Newtown in Sydney. In 1903 he was captain of that club and made his state representative debut for

against

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

and then the touring New Zealand national rugby team before being selected for

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

in the first Test of 1903 in Sydney in the August, against those same

All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks, is the representative men's national team in the sport of rugby union for the nation of New Zealand, which is considered the country's national sport. Famed for th ...

. Larkin played at hooker for the Australian representative side in a pack featuring future rugby league pioneers and

dual-code rugby internationals A dual-code rugby international is a rugby footballer who has played at the senior international level in both codes of rugby, 13-a-side rugby league and 15-a-side rugby union. Rugby league started as a breakaway version of rugby in Northern Engl ...

Alex Burdon Alexander Burdon (31 March 1879 – 13 December 1943) was an Australian rugby union and pioneer professional rugby league footballer - a List of dual-code rugby internationals, dual-code rugby international. He was one of the founding fathers ...

Denis Lutge Denis "Dinny" Lutge (26 November 1879 – 18 February 1953) was a pioneer Australian rugby league and rugby union player, a List of dual-code rugby internationals, dual-code international. He was the second ever captain of the Australian nationa ...

and

Bill Hardcastle William Robert Hardcastle (30 August 1874 – 11 July 1944) born in Wellington, New Zealand was a pioneer New Zealand and Australian rugby union player and an Australian rugby league footballer. He represented both countries in union and Austra ...

. The Australians were soundly beaten 22–3 by the

Rugby league administrator

Larkin knew and sympathised with a number of the senior rugby union players who in 1906-07 became louder in their discontent with the administration of the

New South Wales Rugby Union The New South Wales Rugby Union (NSWRU), formerly known as the Southern Rugby Football Union (SRFU) between 1874 and 1892, is the Sports governing body, governing body of rugby union within most of the state of New South Wales in Australia. It ...

over rejection of compensation claims for injuries and lost wages. The breakaway in Australia took place in 1908, as it had earlier in 1895 with the

Northern Union The Rugby Football League (RFL) is the governing body for rugby league in England. Founded in 1895 as the Northern Rugby Football Union following 22 clubs resigning from the Rugby Football Union, it changed its name in 1922 to the Rugby Footb ...

Northern England Northern England, or the North of England, refers to the northern part of England and mainly corresponds to the Historic counties of England, historic counties of Cheshire, Cumberland, County Durham, Durham, Lancashire, Northumberland, Westmo ...

. A gifted public speaker, Larkin had continued to develop a strong sense of social justice during his years in the police force. After the financial failure of the

1908–09 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain The 1908–09 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain was the first ever such tour for the newly-formed Australia national rugby league team (or 'The Kangaroos'). The tour was to England and Wales and coincided with the first Wallabies Rugby Union tour of ...

and claims of mismanagement by the league's founding fathers

James Joseph Giltinan James Joseph Giltinan (1866–1950) was an Australian entrepreneur who helped to introduce the sport of rugby league football to Australia. The J. J. Giltinan Shield, which is awarded annually to the National Rugby League minor premiers, was n ...

, cricketer

Victor Trumper Victor Thomas Trumper (2 November 1877 – 28 June 1915) was an Australian cricketer known as the most stylish and versatile batsman of the Golden Age of cricket, capable of playing match-winning innings on wet wickets his contemporaries found ...

and Labor politician

Henry Hoyle Henry Clement Hoyle (20 November 1852 – 20 July 1926) was an Australian politician and rugby league football administrator of the 1890s and 1900s. A life member of the New South Wales Rugby League, Hoyle is credited with helping to craft ...

, the pioneer code looked to be in jeopardy before it had barely begun. In June 1909 Larkin left the police force and was appointed the first full-time secretary of the almost bankrupt

New South Wales Rugby League The New South Wales Rugby League Ltd (NSWRL) is an Australian rugby league football competition operator in rugby league in New South Wales, New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory and is a member of the Australian Rugby League Co ...

. He was an excellent organizer and had success in promoting the new game evidenced by the crowd of 42,000 who filled the Agricultural Oval in June 1910 to see the Australia v

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Test. During his administration which lasted till 1913, he convinced the Catholic education hierarchy and the

in particular, to adopt

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

as their winter sporting game. To this day, the code benefits from this legacy in New South Wales and Queensland.''SJC News'', article by College Historian James Gray p19

Parliamentary career

In December 1913 Larkin stood as the Labor Party candidate for the conservative seat of Willoughby in Sydney winning 51.61% of the vote in a second ballot. He was living at

Milsons Point Milsons Point is a suburb on the lower North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is located three kilometres north of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of North Sydney. Milsons Point is also the geo ...

at the time and became the first Labor Member of Parliament elected from the north side of Sydney Harbour. He was appointed as the government representative on the board of the

Royal North Shore Hospital The Royal North Shore Hospital (RNSH) is a major public teaching hospital in Sydney, Australia, located in the suburb of St Leonards. It serves as a teaching hospital for Sydney Medical School at the University of Sydney, University of Technol ...

and was vocal in his support for proposal to build a bridge across

Sydney Harbour Port Jackson, commonly known as Sydney Harbour, is a ria, natural harbour on the east coast of Australia, around which Sydney was built. It consists of the waters of Sydney Harbour, Middle Harbour, North Harbour and the Lane Cove River, Lane ...

Larkin was the member for Willoughby in the

from December 1913 until his death.

Active service and death

Ted Larkin's promising career was cut short with the outbreak of

WWI World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting took place mainly in Europe and th ...

on 4 August 1914. Demonstrating a patriotic fervour, Larkin enlisted within ten days of war's declaration and joined C Coy of the 1st Battalion, of the

AIF AIF, A.I.F., AiF or aif may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Argumenty i Fakty'' (AiF), a Russian newspaper * Australians in Film (AiF), a Los Angeles-based organisation for the promotion of Australian actors and filmmakers * Aspen Ideas ...

's 1st Division. In his final address to the NSW Parliament, on 18 August 1914, Larkin said, "I cannot engage in the work of recruiting and urge others to enlist unless I do so myself." Gray quotes a brief poem published in the ''Sydney Sun'' in 1918 acclaiming Larkin for his virtue in enlisting. The battalion left Australia in October 1914, arriving in

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

on 2 December. Larkin's brother Martin also embarked on the Transport A19 Afric for Egypt where Ted, a

sergeant Sergeant (Sgt) is a Military rank, rank in use by the armed forces of many countries. It is also a police rank in some police services. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and in other units that draw their heritage f ...

was active in promoting games of rugby league amongst the troops. Lone Pine cemetery May 2002

The battalion landed at Anzac Cove at dawn on 25 April 1915 as part of the second and third waves, starting the Gallipoli campaign. It took part in the desperate struggle for the dominating hill known as Baby 700. The Turks wrested control of the hill and counter-attacked to drive the Australians from the high ground. That afternoon Ted Larkin died from a chest wound in a hail of machine gun fire. Heads and Middleton quote from the war memoir ''Imperishable Anzacs'' by Harold Cavill: ''"Wounded and dying he lay, yet when the stretcher-bearers came to carry him in, he waved them on, saying 'There's plenty worse than me out there'. Later they found him dead"''. His brother Martin aged 38 also lost his life that day on the heights above Anzac Cove. Neither body was recovered until the burial Armistice of 24 May but there is no known grave for either of the Larkin brothers and their names are recorded on the Lone Pine Memorial commemorating 4,934 Australian and New Zealand troops killed in the sector who have no known grave.

In memoriam

Confirmation of Larkin's death didn't reach Australia until June, whereupon a

requiem mass A Requiem (Latin: ''rest'') or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead () or Mass of the dead (), is a Mass of the Catholic Church offered for the repose of the souls of the deceased, using a particular form of the Roman Missal. It is u ...

was celebrated at

St Mary's Cathedral, Sydney The Cathedral Church and Minor Basilica of the Immaculate Mother of God, Help of Christians, locally known as Saint Mary's Cathedral, is a Catholic basilica and the seat of the Archdiocese of Sydney. The cathedral is dedicated to the Blessed Vi ...

attended by many distinguished citizens including the

Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of govern ...

and the

Governor of New South Wales The governor of New South Wales is the representative of the monarch, King Charles III, in the state of New South Wales. In an analogous way to the governor-general of Australia, Governor-General of Australia at the national level, the governor ...

. Ted and Martin were both posthumously awarded the

1914–15 Star The 1914–15 Star is a campaign medal of the British Empire which was awarded to all who served in the British and Imperial forces in any theatre of the First World War against the Central European Powers during 1914 and 1915. The medal was n ...

, the

British War Medal The British War Medal is a campaign medal of the United Kingdom which was awarded to officers and men and women of British and Imperial forces for service in the First World War. Two versions of the medal were produced. About 6.5 million were st ...

and the Victory Medal. The 1915 Sydney rugby league

City Cup The City Cup was a rugby league competition involving Australian premiership teams. The post season tournament was a regular feature in the years 1912–1925. City Cups were also played in 1937, 1942 and 1959. The inaugural city cup was conteste ...

Grand Final was held as a testimonial for Ted Larkin's widow and sons and raised £171. The St Joseph's College Old Boys' Union set up the Sergeant Larkin Bursary to help finance his sons fees at the college (at a meeting on 1 July 1915, the following resolution was passed: "That in order to commemorate the signal service of the late Sergeant E.R. Larkin, M.L.A., to Australia, the Union invite the co-operation of the all old boys to provide a bursary at St. Joseph's College for the deceased member's son"). The family eventually declined the offer but the bursary has survived to this day as the Old Boys' Bursary. On 30 November 1915, in the

, the Speaker unveiled a commemorative tablet in honour of Lieutenant-Colonel

, Member for Armidale and Sergeant Edward Rennix Larkin, Member for Willoughby who both fell at Gallipoli. The plaque reads:

Honours and awards

* Victory Medal

Footnotes

References

* ''St. Joseph's College News'' 2008 Volume 46, #2 article by James Gray, College Assistant Archivist * Heads, Ian and Middleton, David (2008) ''A Centenary of Rugby League'', MacMillan Sydney * Williams, Terry (1993) ''Out of the Blue: The History of Newtown RLFC'', Newtown RLFC, Sydney * Williams, Terry (2008) ''Through Blue Eyes – A Pictorial History of Newtown RLFC'', Newtown RLFC, Sydney
World War One Service Record: Sergeant Edward Rinnex Larkin (321), ''National Archives of Australia''.

World War One Nominal Roll: : Sergeant Edward Rinnex Larkin (321), ''Australian War Memorial''.

External links

Edward Larkin at the AIF Project
{{DEFAULTSORT:Larkin, Edward 1880 births 1915 deaths Military personnel from New South Wales Australian military personnel killed in World War I Australian rugby union players Australian soldiers Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly People educated at St Joseph's College, Hunters Hill Australia international rugby union players Australian sportsperson-politicians Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of New South Wales 20th-century Australian politicians Rugby union players from Newcastle, New South Wales Rugby union hookers New South Wales rugby union team players 20th-century Australian sportsmen