Toowoomba Croquet Club celebrates its jubilee

The Toowoomba Croquet Club celebrated its jubilee on Thursday. A very happy day was spent with visiting members of other clubs.

The colourful floral scheme was carried out in pastel shaded sweet peas arranged in low vases on two long luncheon tables. Masses of Iceland poppies were grouped in the centre of the club room and in the wall vases.

The jubilee cake was made and presented by the president, Mrs. R. H. Carlisle, and originally and artistically iced and decorated by Mrs. C. Weymouth. It depicted the lawn and a large central replica of the club badge surrounded by hoops, balls, mallets, and winning peg, true in colouring and markings. The cake was cut by a present member of 32 years' standing, Mrs. W. U. Cooke.

Mrs. Carlisle (president) in a speech of welcome, gave a resume of the history of the club, remembering, with all present, those members who had gone before. It gave her pride and pleasure to say that, although the club was primarily a sporting body, members were not unmindful of their civic duties. She mentioned that in World War II the club raised £300 for the Red Cross, donated a dozen chairs to Red Cross and an invalid wheel chair to the Robertson Convalescent Home, as well as helping with the mobile canteen and Food for Britain Appeal.

To commemorate the jubilee, present members donated a comfortable seat, suitably inscribed, for use on the lawns.

Two unexpected donations were a trophy presented by the Laurel Bank Club to commemorate the occasion, and Mrs. J. R. Nicholl, the only foundation member present, also promised a trophy.

A telegram of good wishes was read from club member Mrs. Thompson.

Mrs. Malcolm (honorary secretary, Queensland Croquet Association) was accompanied by her sister, Mrs. Bentley, and on behalf of Mrs. Williamson (president, Queensland Croquet Association) she congratulated the club on winning the 1953 pennant in its jubilee year. This was the sixth pennant the club held.

Mrs. J. R. Nicholl, as the only foundation member present, spoke in reminiscent vein of the beginning of the club — just a handful of women with one lawn and a shed. A Dorothy Perkins rose covered a trellis, in the shelter of which afternoon tea was enjoyed. To-day the club owned four lawns and a large and well equipped clubhouse. The Toowoomba Club had been the forerunner of six other clubs on the Downs.

Other speakers of good will were Mrs. Hutchinson, the club's delegate to the Queensland Croquet Association, Mrs. Limpus, of Bundaberg, and the presidents of the visiting clubs: Mrs. D. Dougall (Allora Club), Mrs. J. Flegler (West Toowoomba Club), and Mrs. P. S. Priest (Laurel Bank Club).

Some of the foundation and early members who helped to build and place the club on a sure footing were Mesdames J. R. Nicholl, I. Wonderley, G. Boyce, S. Hobson, Chapman, Sinclair, Nolan, J. H. Munro, Connolly, Fortescue, F. and G. Hooper, E. Rowe, O. S. Booth, E. Perkins, A. Gaydon, Bridgman, Mervyn Dine[?s], F. Isaacs, and many others.

These ladies in World War I almost abandoned their croquet to help the Red Cross and Comforts Fund.

The article as it was printed in The Toowoomba Chronicle, 29 August 1953. Scan from Trove, National Library of Australia. (Trove, National Library of Australia)