News in the past week of a coronial inquest into death of Phillip Hughes evokes memories of another inquest into the death of an Australian Test cricketer.
Clem Hill, one of the most highly regarded left-handed batsmen of all time and his country’s captain in 10 Tests, died 70 years ago today after an intriguing set of events.
There seems to have been a lot of grey about the causes and circumstances of his passing. When browsing, I came across that he had died after being “thrown from a tram”.
Had I heard about this before? I wasn’t sure. Was he thrown by someone? Surely not. Was he on the tram and fell from it? What a tragic death. Did his death result immediately?
Every book I looked in for the answers seem to have a different story. There was confusion about how long after the fall he died, whether the death was as a direct result of the fall, and even how old Hill was at the time of his death.
So I decided to go the sources provided by the newspapers of the day. There were only brief reports, which was surprising given the legendary status of Hill in the history of the game. He had played 49 Tests and his 3412 runs was the world record aggregate when he retired in 1912.
His role in the ‘Big Six’ dispute when they boycotted the 1912 tour to England was critical. Yet, given that the Second World War had only just finished the previous month, maybe it was not that unusual that his passing seemed to be a relatively minor event.
What did happen? The facts seem to be that at 6.10pm on May 17, 1945 Hill had attempted to board a “starting” tram in Collins Street, Melbourne. With one foot on the tram and one still on the road, Hill grabbed a stanchion but fell heavily as the tram accelerated. He fractured his skull and sustained other serious injuries.
A witness, Mr HE Stevens of Toorak Road, South Yarra rang the bell twice but the tram failed to stop. Hill was taken to Royal Melbourne Hospital where he spent the rest of his days until dying on September 5, aged 68. He was reported to have been recovering from his injuries during this period.
In November of that year, the coroner who conducted the inquest into Hill’s accident and death, Mr Marwick, PM, concluded that there was no connection between the actual cause of death and the accident on the tram from which he recovered. The findings were that the cause of death was actually chronic valvular disease of the heart due to natural causes. He had been unwell since the death of his wife, Florence, in 1938 and his heart problems appear to have been longstanding.
Newspaper accounts stated that the inquest was “characterised by several amazing features”. Under headlines such as “Clem Hill’s Death Coroner Caustic”, the coroner was reported to have been severely critical of the crew of the tram about whom he said “…from A to Z do not come out of this too well”.
Usually, the driver would look around when the bell was rung frantically but this did not occur after Mr Stevens had rung it. “The whole thing is a disgraceful incident,” stated a relative of Hill’s.
Having taken his body back to Adelaide, a funeral on September 8 was held at North Road Cemetery where Hill was buried alongside Florence and an infant son, Clement John, who had predeceased him.
Reports of the funeral were scant and it seems Clarrie Grimmett was the only famous former player present. Hill was survived by his two daughters, Lesley and Brenda, who did not marry.
The whole episode certainly seems to be a curious and tragic way for the life of one of Australian cricket’s legends to have ended.
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