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Edinburgh
Sparta
Amateur Boxing Club |
Sparta Amateur Boxing Club c.1947
© Reproduced
with acknowledgement to Ian Foster, Perth, Western Australia and his
brother (extreme right, bottom row)
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Sparta Amateur Boxing Club
1947
Who is in the photograph? |
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Answer
1.
Thank you to Ian Foster, Perth, Western Australia, for sending
me this photograph.
Ian wrote:
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Front Row |
"The person at the extreme right
in the front row is my brother. |
21October 2005 |
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Answer
2.
Thank you to Henry (Hank) Kaczynski, US Army, Retired,
Annapolis, Maryland, USA, for the following message.
Hank wrote:
2nd Row
from front |
"The gentleman in the second row in
the white fisherman's (turtleneck) sweater is
George Shaw **, my
father-in-law who passed away in 1978.
George was a great guy and the
Sparta Athletic Club was his pride and joy when he managed
it. He took the Scottish Team to the Commonwealth
Games in Perth, Australia. I can't recall the year." |
23 October 2005
Hank subsequently wrote, on September 24, 2009 to tell me
that this man is, in fact, George Shaw's brother, Willie
Shaw. |
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Answer
3.
Four Houstons
Thank you to Averil Bishop (nee Houston), Fredericksburg,
Virginia, USA, who recognised this photograph and wrote:
"I just wanted to let you know that there are four Houstons
in the picture of the Sparta Amateur Boxing Club. They
are:
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FRONT
ROW
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4th from right:
Alan Houston
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2nd
ROW
from
front |
5th from left:
John Houston
(Treasurer),
and father of Jim,
Johnnie and Alan. |
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3rd ROW:
from
front |
4th from right:
Johnnie Houston |
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BACK ROW |
right:
Jim Houston. |
This picture hung on the wall for years in the house I grew
up in at Burdiehouse." |
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Answer
4.
Thank you to John Houston, Dayton, Ohio, USA who wrote:
"I was very surprised to find the group photograph of the
Sparta club taken in 1947. It brought back many memories
of my childhood and upbringing in Edinburgh.
I was a member of the Sparta club from 1946/47 to 1955 and I am in
the photograph, in the third row. Two of my brothers and my
father are also in the photograph.
We were told that the name Sparta was taken from the ancient Greek
soldiers of Sparta, “every man a brick”
The club was founded by Jimmie Robertson and the brothers George
and Willie Shaw. The person in the second row with the white
polo jersey is Willie Shaw. I have attached a photo taken 1 or 2
years later in which both George and Willie are there.
The photograph was taken on a Sunday morning in the playground of
Broughton School, at the other end of McDonald Road from the
Sparta clubhouse.
I also attended Broughton School, primary and secondary from 1946
to
1955.
I recognize many of the people in the photograph, but remember
only a few names."
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FRONT
ROW
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My brother
Alan Houston
is in the front row, 4th from the right. He
would be aged 6 or 7 at the time of the photograph, I was 9 or 10.
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2nd ROW
from front |
From the right are:
1st:
Willie Shaw
(one of the founders);
2nd: I can’t remember;
3rd:
Mr. Horne,
committee member and father of Robert (Bobby) Horne who is
in the third row;
4th:
Mr. Burgess
(President or Treasurer);
5th:
John Houston,
my father;
6th:
Jimmie Robertson
(co founder);
7th:
Mr. Anderson,
trainer;
8th:
Trainer,
can’t remember his name. |
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3rd ROW:
from front |
From the right are:
1st: He was the janitor at Broughton Primary School
and lived there in the house there in the playground. I
can’t remember his name;
4th: Me,
John Houston,
standing
next to a giant on my right who I cannot remember.
8th: Bobby Horne, several time Scottish champion. |
John Houston: Dayton, Ohio, USA, May 5,
2006
Thank you to John for also sending me a photograph of Sparta
Amateur Boxing Club, taken around
1949.
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Answer
5.
Thank you to Dave McKinlay, New Zealand, who wrote:
"I am in this photograph,
together with my two brothers:
4th ROW: FROM FRONT
- I am 3rd from the right.
- James is 5th from the right.
- Billy is 7th from the right.
Dave also gave me more names of people in this photo, so I
think it's time to compile a table of names now. See below.
Dave McKinlay,
New Zealand: August 14, 2009 |
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Answer
6.
Thank you to Margaret Ritchie, who wrote:
The Janitor
"I am looking at the photo of the
Sparta Boxing Club members taken in the playground of Broughton
Primary school in 1947.
The man in the 3rd row, first on the
right is correctly described by John Houston as the janitor of
Broughton Primary school. His name was Frank Woodhouse and he was
my grandfather.
He originally came from Camden in
London but moved to Scotland at the end of the first world war.
He lived in the house in the playground along with my grandmother,
his 3 daughters and (eventually) me. He retired as janitor in
1957 and moved to the brand new Magdalene estate near Portobello.
He died aged 93 in Falkirk, Stirlingshire. He loved his
boxing and was glove steward at the Sparta.
As a family we all went along to the
club on McDonald Road. If anyone remembers a wee 5-year-old
girl who used to dance a Highland Fling in the ring between fights
- that was me.
It has been lovely to see Frank in the
photographs. He is also in the photo taken in 1949, 2nd row
first left.
His daughter, Florence, discovered him
in the photos while searching the website. She is 81!!
Margaret Ritchie: October 25, 2009 |
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Note for Margaret Ritchie
Hi Margaret: I tried to reply to your
email message today, replying to the same address as you sent you
message to me on October 25, 2009, but my reply did not get
through to you. It was returned to me with the message
'unable to validate recipient'.
If you have a different email address that I
could use to contact you, can you
please email me to let me know it.
Thank you. Peter Stubbs: November 3,
2009 |
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Sparta Amateur Boxing Club -
1947 |
From
left |
1st Row
(front) |
2nd Row |
3rd Row |
4th Row |
5th Row
(back) |
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1 |
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Mr Henderson |
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Jim Houston |
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2 |
Mr McCann |
Mr Dodds |
Jimmy Clayson |
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3 |
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Mr Anderson |
Jimmy Ward |
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4 |
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Jimmy Robertson |
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5 |
Henderson (son) |
John Houston |
Bobby Horne
or
Cecil Horne |
Billy McKinlay |
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6 |
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Mr Burgess |
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7 |
Jimmy Cairns |
Mr Horne |
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James McKinlay |
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8 |
Jimmy Malcolm |
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9 |
George Shaw |
George Shaw
Willie Shaw |
John
Houston |
Dave McKinlay |
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10 |
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Andy Drummond |
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11 |
Alan Houston |
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Andrew Neil? |
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12 |
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Frank Woodhouse |
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13 |
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14 |
Mr Foster |
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Key
showing colour coding in the table above
Thank you to the following for emailing
me from around the world and supplying some of the names of the
people in this photo.
I found a little confusion in the way
some people identified who was in this photo, so if I have got
anything wrong,
please email me. Thank you .
- Ian Foster, Perth, Western Australia
- Henry (Hank) Kaczynski, US Army, Retired,
Annapolis, Maryland, USA
-
Averil Bishop (nee Houston), Fredericksburg, Virginia, USA
- John Houston, Dayton, Ohio, USA
- Dave McKinlay, New Zealand
- Margaret Ritchie |
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