The Bondi Surf Bathers' Life Saving Club is Australia's oldest Surf Life Saving Club, founded in 1907 in Bondi, New South Wales The club is a volunteer organisation that patrols Bondi Beach from October to April every year.
Bondi Beach Sea bathing at Bondi
The first reference to any settler entering the water at Bondi, was reported in the Sydney Gazette in 1818, "A young man of the name of Allen, clerk to Messrs. Jones and Riley, was drowned on Sunday last at Bundye [sic], by venturing within the surf, which was very high and rapid at the time."(News Item), The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, (Saturday, 18 July 1818), p. 3.According to Booth (2016), the young man who might have been "swimming", also might have been "bathing a horse" (p.32) or even, given that it was the middle of winter, might have committed suicide (p.25).
In 1888, what had originally been little more than a rock pool at the south-eastern end of Bondi Beach was converted into the longer, wider, and deeper ocean pool, known as the Bondi Baths, allowing pool swimming in sea water that was regularly refreshed by the tide."Bondi Baths", The (Sydney) Daily Telegraph, (Thursday, 28 March 1889), p. 6."A Heavy Sea at Bondi Baths", The Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser, (Wednesday, 13 February 1907), p.407.
The Bondi Swimming Club was formed at a meeting, in Bondi, on 17 February 1893,"Bondi Swimming Club", The Sydney Morning Herald, (Tuesday, 21 February 1893), p. 5. and its first intraclub event (100 Yards Handicap) was contested on 4 March 1893 at the Bondi Baths, its home base."Bondi Swimming Club", The Sydney Morning Herald, (Tuesday, 7 March 1893), p. 6.
Bodysurfing According to Booth (2016, pp.26-29), the question of who was the first bodysurfer at Bondi will never be settled,The first-ever colonial bodysurfer was Frederick Charles Williams (1875-1940), who had acquired the techniques and skills from Tommy Tanna, a Polynesian islander brought to Sydney to work as a gardener. Williams first bodysurfed at Manly in the early 1890s (some sources have 1891, others 1892). ("First Shot the Breakers", Smith's Weekly, (Saturday, 22 Jan 1921), p. 8; "Surf Art Amazed the Crowd", The (Sydney) Sun, (Monday, 29 April 1940), p. 16; Jaggard, 2007, pp.91-92.) given the difficulty in (historically) separating the true bodysurfers at Bondi from (a) those who went to Bondi to just paddle ankle-deep at the ocean's edge, (b) those who, knee-deep, "happily splash[ed] themselves and others, without ever revealing the confidence to float, swim or surf in the water" (Jaggard, 2007, pp. 90-91), (c) those who (during the droughts of the mid-1890s) were being encouraged to conduct their ablutions in the sea (Jaggard, 2006, p.31), (d) those who were pool swimming at Bondi Baths, and (e) those who were simply open water swimming at Bondi rather than bodysurfing.
On 2 January 1907 two 9-year-old boys were rescued at Bondi Beach, having been swept out to sea by a strong undertow. One was safely brought to shore; whilst the other was brought to shore unconscious and revived by the "restorative measures" by a nurse who happened to be at the scene."Advance Quirindi", The Quirindi Herald and District News (Tuesday, 6 February 1906), p. 3.It took "about half an hour" to resuscitate Smith ("The Perilous Undertow: Two Lads Nearly Drowned: Exciting Experience at Bondi", The (Sydney) Daily Telegraph, (Thursday 3 January 1907), p. 7).
Reginald Bourne On Sunday 10 February 1907 a number of swimmers were caught in an undertow at Bondi Beach. Two distressed swimmers were eventually rescued with the aid of the lifeline."Surf-Bathing Sensation at A Heavy Sea at Bondi Baths", The Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser, (Wednesday, 13 February 1907), p.407. A body, later identified as Reginald Bourne, was discovered the next day floating in shallow water at Bondi Beach."Casualties: Bondi Surf-Bathing Fatality", The Sydney Morning Herald, (Tuesday, 12 February 1907), p. 8."A Dangerous Spot", The (Sydney) Evening News, (Wednesday, 13 February 1907), p. 5.
Bondi Surf Bathers' Life Saving Club
The Bondi Surf Bathers' Life Saving Club, Australia's oldest Surf Life Saving Club, was established in 1907. Although the identities and number of those who attended the 21 February 1907 inaugural meeting are not known,"[The] exact numbers for this meeting are not known because the minutes taken have not survived" (Brawley, 2007, p. 36). it is certain that, based upon the subsequent (1919) award of life membership, there were 23 "original" club members.BSB.1, pp. 4,7; BSB.2, p. 89 (first 23 in list). A cropped version of the photograph taken at Bondi Beach on 24 March 1907 (TCJ.1) that was published a year and a half later (SSS.1) identified the 20 "original" members in the club uniform (‡) that were present at the time the photograph was taken.
John O. Bond, ‡ A.A.M.C. (1855-1927) (hon. instructor)"Warrant Officer (Later Major) John Bond", The Australian Boer War Memorial; "Obituary: Major John Bond", The Sydney Morning Herald, (Monday, 28 February 1927), p. 12; Funerals: Bond, The Sydney Morning Herald, (Saturday, 26 February 1927), p. 13; "Late Major Bond", The (Sydney) Sun, (Saturday, 26 February 1927), p. 7."First Aid at Bondi", The (Sydney) Evening News, (Monday, 23 December 1907), p. 7. Carew Dillon Cadden ‡ (1886-1958)Brother of Robert Cadden. The first Australian to be awarded the Silver Medallion of the Royal Life-Saving Society ("Royal Life-Saving Club', The (Sydney) Sunday Sun, (Sunday, 15 November 1908), p. 15; "Record of Current Events", The Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser, (Wednesday, 13 January 1909),p. 35; Deaths: Cadden, The Sydney Morning Herald, (Wednesday, 16 July 1958), p. 38.One of the seventeen "original" members who, coached by Warrant-Officer Bond, gained their Royal Life Saving Society proficiency certificates in May 1907 ("Royal Life Saving Society", The (Sydney) Evening News, (Thursday, 9 May 1907), p. 7) Robert Labertouche Cadden (1889-1917)Brother of Carew Cadden. He served in the First AIF, was wounded in action in his face and hand in France in August 1916, and was repatriated to Australia in March 1917. He died at the Garrison Hospital, Randwick on 18 December 1917. (World War I Service Record: Lieutenant Robert Labertouche Cadden (797), National Archives of Australia; In Memoriam: Cadden, The Sydney Morning Herald, (Tuesday, 30 December 1919), p. 6."Surf Club's Record", The (Sydney) Sun, (Saturday, 1 May 1915), p. 3. Lawrence Corbett ‡"Undertow: Plucky Rescue of a Young Lady at Bondi", The Queensland Times, (Thursday, 12 September 1907), p. 14. Francis Joseph Craven ‡ (1883-1947)World War I Service Record: Sapper Francis Joseph Craven (358), National Archives of Australia; Deaths: Craven, The Sydney Morning Herald, (Thursday, 12 June 1947), p. 24. Arthur Claud Hamilton Dee (1871-1940)Manager of the Kempsey branch Australian Bank of Commerce ((News Item), The Macleay Chronicle, (Wednesday, 7 August 1940), p.4; "Death on Bowling Green", The Newcastle Sun, (Friday, 2 August 1949), p. 5; Deaths: Dee, The Sydney Morning Herald, (Friday, 2 August 1940), p. 6. Cleon Dennis ‡ (1888-1932)Brother of Spencer Dennis; engineer, and career Naval Officer ("Obituary: Mr. Cleon Dennis: Lieutenant on H.M.A.S. Sydney", The Toowoomba Chronicle and Darling Downs Gazette, (Tuesday, 26 July 1932), p. 6). Spencer Dennis ‡ (1886-1954) Brother of Cleon Dennis, also an engineer (Deaths: Dennis, The Sydney Morning Herald, (Wednesday, 14 July 1954), p. 34). Sydney George Dunrich ‡ (1885-1922)One of the partners in Dunrich Brothers, real estate agents, of Bondi Junction (Personal, The (Sydney) Evening News, (Saturday, 22 April 1922), p. 6; Deaths: Dunrich, The (Sydney) Daily Telegraph, (Saturday, 22 April 1922), p. 10). Harry S. Evans ‡Later, the club's resident caretaker. Percival Horace Flynn ‡ (1886-1949)(Deaths: Flynn, The Sydney Morning Herald, (Wednesday, 28 September 1949), p. 28). Albert Lloyd Fullwood ‡ (1886-1963)An accountant, and brother of Sydney Fullwood (New South Wales Births, Deaths and Marriages Deaths Registration no.27337/1963). Sydney Fullwood ‡ (1887-1952)An accountant, and brother of Albert Fulwood.(Deaths: Fullwood, The Sydney Morning Herald, Monday, 28 July 1952), p. 12). Leslie Macbryde Harris ‡ (1884-1951)A bank manager (Deaths: Harris, The Sydney Morning Herald, (Friday, 14 December 1951), p.18). George Herbert Henriques ‡ (1862-1938)A stock and sharebroker; and, along with Eden Love, was elected as one of the Club's first two honorary members in January 1909 (Deaths: Henriques, The Sydney Morning Herald, (Monday, 28 November 1938), p. 10."Bondi Surf Bathers' Life-Saving Club", The (Sydney) Sunday Sun, (Sunday, 10 January 1909), p. 3. Eden Percival Love ‡ (1874-1947)Awarded a Bronze Medal and a Certificate of Merit by the Humane Society of New South Wales for his rescue at Bondi Beach on 8 September 1907; and, along with George Henriques, was elected as one of the Club's first two honorary members in January 1909 Deaths: Love, The (Launceston) Examiner, (Monday, 6 October 1947), p. 6.Humane Society: The Awards: Eden Percival Love", The Sydney Morning Herald, (Monday, 31 August 1908), p. 5. Thomas Brunel Midelton, M.C. (1884-1965)Architect, decorated soldier, and, later, member of Waverley Council (Births: Midelton, The Sydney Morning Herald, (Saturday, 5 April 1884),p. 1; World War I Service Record: Lieutenant Thomas Brunel Midelton, National Archives of Australia; "Awarded the Military Cross: 2nd Military District: Lieutenant Thomas Brunel Midelton, 15th Field Company Engineers", Commonwealth of Australia Gazette, No.67, (Tuesday, 3 June 1919), p.949; "Bondi Ward Seat is now Filled: Mr. Thomas Brunel Midelton for Waverley Council—"Digger" and Architect—Welcome Recruit", The (Sydney) Labor Daily, (Monday, 12 May 1924), p. 6; Deaths: Midelton, The Sydney Morning Herald, (Saturday, 13 March 1965), p. 92). Desmond O’Brien ‡ (1884-1944)Brother of Rupert O'Brien. A Valuer, and former President of the Real Estate Institute of New South Wales, and of the New South Wales division of the Commonwealth Institute of Valuers ("Mr. D. O'Brien dies", The Sydney Morning Herald, (Saturday, 11 November 1944), p. 5; Deaths: O'Brien, The Sydney Morning Herald, (Saturday, 11 November 1944), p. 24. Rupert O’Brien ‡ (1886-1940)Brother of Desmond O'Brien. Awarded a Bronze Medal by the Humane Society of New South Wales for his rescue at Bondi Beach on 30 December 1905; President of the Bondi Bowling Club ("Heroes of the Year", The Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser, (Wednesday, 1 August 1906), p. 283; Deaths: O'Brien, The Sydney Morning Herald, (Thursday, 18 July 1940) p. 6; "Late Mr. Rupert O'Brien", The (Sydney) Daily News, (Thursday, 18 July 1940), p.10). Gerald Irwin "Budge" Ormsby (1887—1953) ‡Brother of Lyster Ormsby.(Deaths: Ormsby, The Sydney Morning Herald, (Wednesday, 20 June 1951), p. 28).) Lyster Charles Irwin Ormsby ‡Brother of Gerald Ormsby. Heavyweight wrestling champion of New South Wales, heavyweight boxer, publisher and antiquarian bookseller, and inventor of the life-saving reel (World War I Service Record: Private Lyster Charles Irwin Ormsby (6311), National Archives of Australia; "Intruder's Error: Enters Athlete's Home: Held by Hammer-Lock", The (Sydney) Sun, (Saturday, 20 August 1921), p. 7; "What the Ormsby's found", The (Sydney) Sun, (Saturday, 20 August 1921), p. 7; "Romance in Hunter Street", The Sydney Mail, (Wednesday, 3 August 1938), p.14; Deaths: Ormsby, The Sydney Morning Herald, (Saturday, 27 December 1941), p. 17; "Death of Inventor of Surf Reel", The (Melbourne) Herald, (Friday, 26 December 1941), p. 5; "Mr. Lyster Ormsby", The Molong Express and Western District Advertiser, (Saturday, 10 January 1942), p. 8).