Commonwealth Club of Adelaide

The Commonwealth Club of Adelaide was a South Australian men's social club, whose members were mostly high-ranking officials, successful businessmen and professionals. The club never had rooms of its own, but met once a month for a catered lunch in one or other of Adelaide's large cafes (Bricknell's, Balfour's or Bishop's) or, for high-profile guest speakers, the Adelaide Town Hall. Meetings consisted mostly of talks by members or guest speakers, followed by discussions and socializing. As with most service clubs, talks and discussions were expected to be non-sectarian in religion and non-partisan in politics. The club was formed as a result of a meeting called for March 1910 at the Adelaide Town Hall by S. H. Skipper, a popular Adelaide barrister, and son of journalist Spencer Skipper.^[1]

Famous figures who addressed the Club include Oscar Asche, Lord Baden-Powell, Colin Bednall, Lord Bruce, W. W. Campbell (of Lick Observatory), Noël Coward, Alfred Deakin, Anthony Eden, Andrew Fisher, Bert Hinkler, William Morris Hughes, Sir Harry Lauder, Douglas Mawson, Field-Marshal Lord Montgomery, Sir Ross Smith and Sir Keith Smith, G. S. Titheradge, Sir Archibald Weigall, G. H. Wilkins.

History

Club year April–	President	Secretary	Members	Notes
1910	Sir John Gordon	S. H. Skipper	—	[1]
1911	Sir John Gordon	Skipper	224	[2]
1912	Sir Charles Goode	Skipper	286	[3]
1913	Sir John Downer	Skipper	306	[4]
1914	Downer	Skipper	484	[5]
1915	Sir John Downer	Skipper	588	Guests inc. 60 members of BAAS[6]
1916	W. B. Wilkinson	Skipper	568
1917	Wilkinson	Skipper		Skipper enlisted with AIF in July[7]
1918	W. B. Wilkinson	John Hayter Reed[a]	594	[7]
1919	A. A. Lendon	Reed	592	[9]
1920	A. A. Lendon	Skipper	676	[10]
1921	F. W. Richards KC	W. Fowler-Brownworth	750	[11]
1922	F. W. Richards KC	W. Fowler-Brownworth	788	[12]
1923	S. H. Skipper	E. C. Harvey[b]	929
1924	Skipper	Harvey	913	[13]
1925	Skipper	Harvey	934	[14]
1926	S. H. Skipper	Harvey	922	[15]
1927	J. B. Hughes	Harvey	970	[16]
1928	S. Price Weir	Percy H. Andrews[c]	1,014	[17]
1929	J. G. Sinclair	Andrews	1,058	[18]
1930	Andrew D. Young	Andrews	1,017	[19]
1931	S. W. Jeffries	Andrews	1,004	[20]
1932	R. L. Leane	Andrews	965	nett loss £27/8/8[21]
1933	G. I. B. Sheridan	Andrews		[22]
1934	Charles Buxton Anderson	Andrews	929	[23]
1935	Reg Walker	Andrews		[24]
1936	George Ernest Willson	Andrews	975	[25]
1937	Benjamin Hill Gillman	Andrews	1,000+	[26]
1938	E. L. Bean[d]	Andrews	956	net loss £6/1/5[27]
1939	Edwin Henry Peake	Andrews		[28]
1940	G. S. Reed	Andrews	1018	[29]
1941	A. Grenfell Price	Andrews		[30]
1942	Sir Herbert Hudd	Andrews
1943	J. Wallace Sandford	Andrews		[31]
1944	Don Bradman	Andrews	1,222	[32]
1945	Charles Duguid	Andrews	1,138	[33]
1946	Douglas Mawson	Andrews	1,125	[34]
1947	Sidney Powell[e]	Andrews	1104	[36]
1948	Ewen M. Waterman	Percy H. Andrews	1155	Andrews resigned[37]
1949	R. F. Middleton[f]	Lance Milne[39]	1218	[40]
1950	R. R. Chamberlain KC[g]	Milne[42]		[43]
1951	R. H. Chapman[h]			[45]
1952	Roland E. Jacobs		1,195	[46]
1953	G. C. Ligertwood		1,106	[47]
1954	G. S. McDonald			Meeting 10 May not reported
1955
1956
1957
1958
1959
1960

Notes

1. John Hayter Reed (c. 1866–1934) was a banker and Red Cross executive.^[8]
2. Eric Charles Harvey (died 11 December 1937) was an Adelaide accountant about whom little has been found.
3. Percival Henry Andrews (1879–1950) was an accountant.
4. Edgar Layton Bean ( – ) was a lawyer, Parliamentary Draftsman and chairman of the Police Appeals Board
5. Sidney Powell was an Adelaide accountant and company director, president of the Adelaide Chamber of Commerce 1940–42, and Associated Chambers of Commerce of Australia 1953–4.^[35]
6. Roy Foster Middleton (1889–) was businessman and fine cricketer, chairman of the cricket board of control from 1952.^[38]
7. Reginald Roderick St Clair Chamberlain KC was appointed Crown Solicitor in 1928^[41]
8. Robert Hall Chapman (1890–1953) was an engineer, son of Professor R. W. Chapman. He designed the railway bridge at Murray Bridge, became Railways Commissioner in 1947.^[44]