Ernest Samuel Marks

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(7 July 1872 – 2 December 1947) was an Australian sporting administrator and politician. He was born at

West Maitland Maitland () is a city in the Hunter Valley of New South Wales, Australia and the seat of Maitland City Council, situated on the Hunter River, New South Wales, Hunter River approximately by road north of Sydney and north-west of Newcastle, New S ...

wool Wool is the textile fiber obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have some properties similar to animal w ...

broker Joseph Marks and Elizabeth, ''née'' Benjamin, and attended Royston College in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

before becoming a wool trader and becoming involved in the running of the family business, Joseph Marks & Co.

Politics

Marks served as the

Nationalist Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation,Anthony D. Smith, Smith, A ...

member for

North Sydney North Sydney is a suburb and commercial district on the Lower North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. And is the administrative centre for the local government area of North Sydney Council. History The Indigenous people on the s ...

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 1927 to 1930. He was also active in local government through the

Civic Reform Association The Civic Reform Association (CRA), also known as the Civic Reform Movement, the Civic Reform Party or simply Reform, was an Australian ratepayers' organisation and local political party which contested elections for the City of Sydney. The p ...

, serving on

Sydney City Council The City of Sydney is the local government area covering the Sydney central business district and surrounding inner city suburbs of the Greater Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Established by Act of Parliament in 1842, the City of Sydney is ...

from 1920 to 1927 and from 1930 to 1947, with a period as

Lord Mayor Lord mayor is a title of a mayor of what is usually a major city in a Commonwealth realm, with special recognition bestowed by the sovereign. However, the title or an equivalent is present in other countries, including forms such as "high mayor". A ...

in 1930.

Sport

In 1888–90 Marks won more than forty trophies as an athlete. He became involved in

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competitio ...

, serving as secretary of The Amateur Athletic Union of Australia from 1896 to 1934 and as a foundation member of the New South Wales Sports Club. He accompanied the Australian Olympic teams for the 1908 London Games, the 1912 Stockholm Games, and the 1932 Los Angeles Games. In October 1929, he was the inaugural Chairman of the Australian British Empire Games Committee. He was Chair of the Organising Committee of

1938 British Empire Games The 1938 British Empire Games were the third British Empire Games, the event that evolved to become the Commonwealth Games. Held in Sydney, Australia from 5–12 February 1938, they were timed to coincide with Sydney's sesqui-centenary (150 yea ...

held in Sydney.

ES Marks Athletics Field ES Marks Athletics Field is located in Kensington, Sydney, Australia. It was built in 1906 as Sydney Athletics Field. In 1947 a cinder track was installed and it was renamed ES Marks Athletics Field after athletics administrator Ernest Samuel M ...

was named in his honour. He donated his large sporting collection to the

State Library of New South Wales The State Library of New South Wales, part of which is known as the Mitchell Library, is a large heritage-listed special collections, reference and research library open to the public and is one of the oldest libraries in Australia. Establis ...

Personal life

During his life, Marks worshipped at the

Great Synagogue (Sydney) The Great Synagogue is an Orthodox Jewish congregation located in a large heritage-listed synagogue at 187a Elizabeth Street in the Sydney central business district in the City of Sydney in New South Wales, Australia. The congregation is the ...

and was part of the Jewish community. With his brother, Percy J. Marks, Ernest took part in the Jewish Literary and Debating Society, and they were founders and office-bearers of the Shakespeare Society. Percy, with Ernest's backing, was instrumental in forming the

Australian Jewish Historical Society The Australian Jewish Historical Society was founded in 1938 in Sydney. The first president was Percy J. Marks. At the first business meeting of the Society, the then-president of the Royal Australian Historical Society K. R. Cramp expressed ...

. Percy was first president in 1939–41, followed by Ernest in 1944–47. In 1930 he was appointed

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(CBE). Ernest Samuel Marks died in Sydney in 1947.

References

External links

Susan Rutland. Marks, Ernest Samuel (1871–1947), Australian Dictionary of Biography, 1986.Bruce Coe. E.S. Marks and his Contribution to Australian Sport, PhD Thesis, University of Canberra, 2011.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Marks, Ernest 1872 births 1947 deaths Nationalist Party of Australia members of the Parliament of New South Wales Civic Reform Association politicians Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Mayors and lord mayors of Sydney Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Sydney City Councillors Australian businesspeople Australian sports executives and administrators Commonwealth Games Australia officials Jewish Australian politicians