1947 Western Australian Claxton Shield Team

« Prev Item Next Item »

1947

Overview

A black and white scanned image of the 1947 Western Australian Claxton Shield baseball team. Twelve players and the team manager are pictured wearing a black playing uniform with the Western Australian black swan emblem on the left breast. Both the breast patch and the black baseball cap display the letters 'WA'. The short-sleeved playing top is worn over a long-sleeved, white undershirt.

Historical information

The 1947 Claxton Shield was the eighth annual Claxton Shield, an Australian national baseball tournament. It was held at the Adelaide Oval in Adelaide, South Australia from 2 to 9 August and was won by Victoria for the first time. The other participating teams were defending champions New South Wales, hosts South Australia and the returning Western Australian team.

Western Australia had competed in the Claxton Shield Championship from 1937 to 1939, however the competition lapsed during World War II. It was revived again in 1946, with Western Australia rejoining the competition in 1947. This photograph was taken in Perth on 28 July 1947, the day the team left by train for Adelaide.

Pictured, back row (left to right): Jim Dore, W. (Bill) Shaw, Don Callanan, Ron Frankish, Trevor Nisbet (vice-captain), Austen Cambridge, Fred Jones.
Front row: Roy Gooch, Alf Hickenbotham, Glen Dunstan (manager), George Dickinson (captain), Ben Shom, Frank Day.

At the conclusion of the championship a trophy was presented to Trevor Nisbet for the best batting average of the carnival. He was also named as reserve pitcher when the Australian team was selected, and George Dickinson was named as utility.

National Library of Australia [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1947_Claxton_Shield] [https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/46332314] [https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/46328956]

Details

Registration number

cwa-org-100-2020.732

Item type

Photographs

Themes

People
Photography
Social History
Sport

Material

Photographic Paper

Width

21 cm

Height or length

29.7000 cm

Inscriptions and markings

[On the cap]
'W.A'

[On the breast patch with a black swan]
'W.A.'

Contextual Information

The image was donated to the Museum by Jenni Mackay, niece of Bill Shaw, a member of the 1947 team.

Keywords

1947 Claxton Shield

Western Australian State Baseball Team

Western Australian State Baseball Cap

Western Australian State Baseball Uniform

1947 Western Australian State Baseball Team

Place made

Perth
Western Australia
Australia

Another photograph, taken on the same day, of the team with team officials, appeared in the 'West Australian' newspaper on Monday 28 July 1947.
[National Library of Australia - https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/46328956 ]

Year

1947

Statement of significance

This image is a valuable addition to the Baseball WA Museum & Archives' collection of State baseball team photographs. It is in excellent condition and has good provenance.

Primary significance criteria

Historic significance

Social or spiritual significance

Comparative significance criteria

Object’s condition or completeness

Rare or representative

Well provenanced

Baseball WA

Organisation Details
View Collection
Item Feedback