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.
Greg Bennett
Guest
Interesting story thank you for all the information on Clem Hill. My late grandmother was a "Hill"and she was a first cousin of Clem - my great grandfathers nephew. It was nice to hear all these kind words. We are visiting Adelaide and went to his grave site today and then we searched him on google and found your interesting story and lovely remarks, I'm sure he would appreciate such. Thank you Greg Bennett
Iwan
Guest
Cricketer from early 1980 s, represented Delhi Under 19 s for a coplue of years. Played in the DDCA Div A League for many years, and university cricket for St Stephen's College. I now live in England, play occasionally in the local village league, am a qualified ECB Level 1 Coach. Assit with coaching youngsters, when not playing, watching, writing, reading cricket. Business consultant by profession. Favourite teams India and England, with opinions on anything cricket.
Pat Rodgers
Guest
Jarijari Thanks for that. He's certainly a fascinating character who was destined to be a great cricketer it seems. He was born while the first ever Test was being played at the MCG in 1877 and his father was scoring the first ever century at the Adelaide Oval.
Lindommer
Guest
I'd wager Chappelli admired Clem Hill for his opposition to the heavy-handed tactics of the Australian Cricket Board of Control. AND, they shared the same alma mater in Adelaide, Prince Alfred College. PAC has the distinction of producing four Australian cricket captains.
Pope Paul vii
Guest
Thanks
matth
Guest
Thanks for that extra insight Jarijari. Good stuff.
Paul D
Roar Guru
The fact they've invented a word to cover that specific situation indicates that it is - certainly a preferred method of murder in ye olde times I imagine. The cricinfo story on the fight between Hill & McAlister is here: http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/143363.html
Pope Paul VII
Guest
yep, amazing little brawl, not nearly as amazing as the word defenestration though. Must be more common than we think? Apparently Macca was not well liked as well as being pretty ordinary with the willow. The Board must have been paying him heaps under the table. Chappelli loves his SAs as a rule. There's a book "Not a gentleman's game" that traces the Aussie team from 1877 to 1912 that is terrific. Malcolm Knox wrote it I think.
Paul D
Roar Guru
Cricinfo had a story on the stoush between Hill and McAlister - Hill came pretty close to defenestrating him from all accounts. A man ahead of his time with regard conditions and pay for cricketers. Ian Chappell would have liked him I reckon. Thanks for the article.
Pope Paul vii
Guest
Very interesting. I read a lot of golden age and have never come across this. Great player by all accounts, possibly his greatest achievement was clouting fellow selector Peter McAlister but on the field his best was 185 in a lost cause with Trumper run out controversially.
Camo McD
Roar Guru
Wow. I knew Clem Hill's reputation as a great left hander but had never heard this story. Very mysterious. Great read. Thanks for that.
sheek
Guest
Thanks Pat. Terrific story, albeit sad. It's a shame the 1912 tri-tournament was ruined firstly by the withdrawal of six leading Aussies, then an awfully wet summer. The tournament was in many ways before its time. At home in 1911/12 the Aussies were well & truly spanked 1-4 by an outstanding England team. However, there were extenuating circumstances behind the scenes, basically a poisonous & destructive power play between the players & a newly constituted Board of Control. The emphasis of the new board members being on acquiring the 'control'. Hill, Trumper, Armstrong, Randsford, Carter & Cotter all pulled out of the 1912 tour. Great players all. Spinner Hordern (of the famous store family) was unavailable. Add them to Bardsley, Macartney, Kelleway & Whitty & that would have been one heck of a starting XI. In batting order, the team might have been: Bardsley, Trumper, Hill (c), Ransford, Armstrong, Macartney, Kelleway, Carter (wk), Hordern, Cotter & Whitty. Although both Macartney & Kelleway could open & sometimes Trumper batted down the order. The pacemen would have been Cotter, Whitty & Kelleway, with Hordern, Armstrong & Macartney handling the spin. Depth in every department, a superbly balanced team. Australia, England & South Africa at full strength in ideal conditions would have been something to see. But alas, it wasn't to be.
Kersi Meher-Homji
Guest
What a sad story! Thank you Pat to remind us about a remarkable person and a classy cricketer.
Jarijari
Guest
Excellent yarn Pat. I knew he was a racing steward in Melbourne but only vaguely recalled the tram accident story of his death. You'd think Bradman and others would have attended the funeral. Clem was one of our greatest left-handed batsmen, standing outside leg-stump (check out the pictures). He had an amazing run of 99 (in Melbourne) and 98 and 97 (in Adelaide) against the Poms in 1901-02, with six Test 90s all-up in his career, as well as seven centuries. If you look at his first-class career, he compared pretty well with Allan Border. In 625 innings AB averaged 51.37 with 70 centuries, Clem got 45 tons @43.57 in just 416 innings. So Border got a ton every 8.9 innings, Hill every 9.5. Clem had the Australian first-class record of 365 not out against NSW in 1900 until Bill Ponsford scored 429 in the 1920s. And he was one of 16 siblings, eight brothers and eight sisters. Six of the brothers represented South Australia in cricket, and three played football for the state, including Clem. Amazingly, he was the only left-hander in the family. One of the true greats. ) (in Melbourne