Rifle Club
19th Century News
Newspaper articles that offer insights into life in Bothwell during the 1800s.
Sources Used: TROVE. https://trove.nla.gov.au; FamilySearch: Australia, Tasmania, Government Gazette, 1833-1925. https://www.familysearch.org.
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BOTHWELL. The Rifle Club Association, which was formed about two months ago, but whose proceedings up to the time I am about to state have not extended beyond the passing of bye-laws, and fixing upon the bite of the target, owing to the non-arrival from town of the arms and accoutrements &c., which the government had liberally promised to supply, the club held its first meeting for practice on Saturday last. The range which appeared to be well chosen, and which was approved of by John Forster, Esq., Inspector of Police, on behalf of the government, on his second visit to Bothwell, is situated on the Logan estate, on the right hand side of the Dennistoun Road leading from the township, from which it is distant about a mile. The members at present consist of only fourteen, but these, no doubt, will be increased by and by, there being no want of "material." Some are hanging back most probably, just now, in order to see how matters will work. Of the above-mentioned number, twelve put in an appearance. These, together with some visitors, were, by the kindness and liberality of our worthy Warden, who is president of the Club, and his lady, regaled with a substantial and elegant luncheon at Logan, previous to "taking the field." This handsome inauguration of the affair, by the refreshing of the inward man, doubly acceptable, as it was on such a cold wintry day, did not, you may be sure, tend to cast a damper upon the spirits of the corps, but rather to have the contrary effect of increasing the ardour and determination of the members to "go in and win" if they could. Shortly after arriving on the ground, the proceedings commenced by Mrs McDowall, assisted by Mr Biggs, formerly a Victorian volunteer, and a prizeman, and now a worthy citizen here, and member of the Bothwell Club, firing the first shot, which hit the target at a distance of a hundred yards. The members then set to work, the ranges being 100, 200, and 300 yards respectively, and the shooting on the whole, especially taking into consideration the state of the weather, a biting westerly wind blowing all the time, with an occasional sprinkling of rain, was pretty fair and augured well for the future - in some instances excellent shots were made, Messrs Bowden and Biggs, making the highest scores. The butts were erected mainly at the expense of A. McDowall, Esq., who has also expressed his intention to give a prize of £25 at the termination of the first year of the Club's existence. Mr Biggs acted as Secretary, and also had charge of the party, and Mr Sydney Bedford was marker. A few ladies accompanied Mrs McDowall to the ground, but the weather was so inclement, they were all obliged to beat a retreat very shortly after the practising had commenced.
On Saturday, 5th November, the Bothwell Rifle Club held its quarterly meeting, the principal business of which was to pass certain amendments in the bye-laws, which had been suggested by Col Eagar, and conditionally on which the approval of the Governor had been obtained, which was necessary to render them valid, in accordance with the Rifle Clubs' Act. The Club afterwards repaired to their rifle range, for their usual fortnightly practice; Mr Kirman, from Hobart Town, who was on a visit to Bothwell, being amongst them. The Club then divided into opposite sides for a friendly match, at the distances of 200, 300, and 400 yards; 7 rounds at each distance, the members firing with the Enfield rifle, with which they were supplied by the government. The following were the scores made...
A. B. Biggs - 49; Mr Bowden - 41; Mr Wise - 44; Mr Quinn - 30; Mr Alex. Reid - 46; Mr Lynch - 16; Mr W. Bedford - 28. TOTAL - 257.
Mr Kirman (Kerr) - 48; Mr Thomas Axford - 43; Mr James McDowall - 47; Mr Quodling - 36; Mr Easton - 35; Mr A. McDowall - 27; Total - 236; add 1 to seventh man - 28; TOTAL 264.
The weather was very squally and boisterous during the whole time of shooting.
Bothwell v. Tasmanian Association. The match between ten of the Bothwell Club and ten of the Tasmanian Association came off on Saturday, 17th December, seven shots each at 200, 300, and 400 yards, resulting in the Association men winning by 91 points. We append the scores.
BOTHWELL CLUB SQUAD: Bowden - 46; Quinn - 45; Easton - 43; Wise - 34; Axford - 30; Reid - 28; Bisdee - 28; Quodling - 26; McDowall - 25; Biggs - 50. TOTAL - 335 (these totals add up to 355, not 335 as printed; it is not known where the error is).
TASMANIAN ASSOCIATION SQUAD - TOTAL - 446.
The Bothwell Rifle Club held its annual meeting on Saturday last, 28th ult., the President, A. McDowall, Esq., being in the chair. The principal points referred to in the secretary's report (which was very brief) were as follows: The number of members at the present time is 16. Owing to the liberality of the Government in the grant of £20, the club is now in possession of a good substantial set of target plates, consisting of three of two feet width, and two of one foot (for widening the target at the long ranges), all well backed up with solid timber of three inches thickness. During the year the club has taken part on several occasions in friendly matches with other clubs, in which the Bothwell Club has taken a fair position. There has been considerable difficulty in carrying through the arrangements for completing a series of these matches, partly from mishaps in the weather, and partly from the want of a ready mode of communication. So far as they have been carried out, however, the result may be thus stated - The first series must be considered as indecisive, as Bothwell won in the first match and the other two were won by other clubs. In the second (that is, the last) series Bothwell won twice running. Hamilton, however, has since beaten the club in a single match, and a return match is in contemplation as soon as arrangements can be made. The register of the shooting of individual members for the year gives the following as the five highest averages for the distances of 200, 300, and 400 yards, taken from the fourteen general meetings for practice at those distances per fifteen shots:
Alfred Biggs - 34.6; H. Quinn - 33.6; Henry Wise - 28.2; Edward Bowden - 26.6; Benjamin Smith - 24.6.
After the report, the next business was to distribute the prizes to the successful competitors in the annual matches, which took place on the previous Saturday. The first match was at the distances of 200, 300 and 400 yards, 21 shots. The winners were:
Benjamin Smith - 1st prize, £6, 58; H. Quinn - 2nd prize, £4, 44; Alfred B. Biggs - 3rd prize, £3; Henry Wise - 4th prize, £1, 33; William Bedford - sweepstakes, £1, 31.
The second match was for a prize of £5, generously presented by John Bisdee, Esq., a member of the club, for the distances of 450, 500 and 600 yards, 21 shots. This was won by Mr Quinn with 33 points. Mr Smith having given him a close run for it with 30 points. After the distribution of the prizes, a cordial vote of thanks was awarded to Mr Bisdee for his gift of the long-range prize. The officers and committee were then re-elected for the ensuing year, namely - President, Archibald McDowall, Esq., Warden; Treasurer, Henry G. Quodling; Secretary, Alfred B. Biggs; Members of the Committee Messrs Alexander Reid and Edward Bowden. After some minor business was transacted, the meeting broke up.
The following is a return of the scores made during the annual competition for Government prizes by members of country rifle clubs, which took place during the month of April. The competition was for £20 and a bronze medal. Twenty shots were fired by each competitor, namely, 5 at 200, 5 at 300, and 10 at 400 yards. The champion medal was won by D Lewis, Esq., and the sum of £20 by the Hamilton Club, with the total score of 351 points. The following are the particulars:
BOTHWELL: Total - 336.
Benjamin Smith - 55; James Lemon - 43; Alfred Barrett Biggs - 39; Edward Bowden - 35; William Blake - 32; Henry George Quodling - 30; Henry Wise - 28; Philip Newall - 27; Edwin John Webb - 25; Simon Arnett - 22. CLARENCE: Total - 380; DERWENT: Total - 343; HAMILTON: Total - 351; SORELL: Total - 90. Winning Club, £20, Hamilton, 351.
The entrance monies were divided as follows: 1st prize, Benjamin Smith, £3 11s 8d Bothwell - 55; 2nd prize, A. Langdon, £2 13s 9d Hamilton - 54; 3rd-prize, T. Westbrook, £2 3s 6d, Clarence - 53; 4th prize, W. H. Glover, £1 15s 10d Sorell - 50; 5th prize, D. Lewis, 10s 9d Clarence - 50. In shooting off the tie, Mr Glover scored 19, and Mr Lewis 12.
MATCH FOR THE CHAMPION MEDAL. BOTHWELL: Benjamin Smith - 53; Alfred Barrett Biggs - 51; CLARENCE: D. Lewis - 50; T. Westbrook - 49; DERWENT: W. Cahill - 42; J. Evenden - 32; HAMILTON: Smales - 56; A. Langdon - 46; SORELL: W. H. Glover - 53; J. C. Edgar - 42.
The Bothwell Rifle Club, under the presidency of Mr A. McDowall, now numbers nearly 40 members, 25 of whom have taken the oath of allegiance, and have received their arms and accoutrements, and there are many others willing to join the club. Most of the members had their first practice on Saturday last at the target, which, for the present, has been erected on the Logan state, about a mile from the township, and is the property and residence of the president of the club. Some very fine scores were made at the 200 and 300yds distances. The best three scores recorded were in favour of Mr Henry Harris, who made 25 points; Mr William Blake, 23 points, and Mr David Andrews, 23 points out of a possible 28, thus showing capital shooting for their first practice. The president, who was present and took part in the shooting, said, with the view of encouraging regular practice, he would give a prize of £5 on the following conditions:- To the member who scored the most points at 100yds., £1; 200yds., £1; 300yds., £1; 400yds., £1; and £1 for the best scorer in the aggregate at all the distances during the year, an announcement that was received with applause from the club.