Hugh Norman Coventry (8 April 1922 – 21 July 2006) was an Australian rules footballer who played with Collingwood in the Victorian Football League (VFL).
Family The son of Sydney Alfred Coventry (1899–1976),Deaths: Coventry, The Age, (Thursday, 11 November 1976), p.27. and Gladys Eileen Coventry (1901–1987), née Trevaskis, Hugh Norman Coventry was born at Clifton Hill on 8 April 1922.
He was the nephew of Gordon Coventry, and was named after another uncle, Hugh Norman "Oak" Coventry (1895–1916), who was (posthumously) mentioned in dispatches for "gallant devotion to duty as volunteer stretcher bearer, carrying the wounded" on 9 August 1916,Army Form W.3121, dated 9 August 1916, collection of the Australian War Memorial. and had been killed in action while serving with the First AIF in Pozieres,Roll of Honour: Private Hugh Norman Coventry (3787), Australian War Memorial.World War One Service Record: Private Hugh Norman Coventry (3787), National Archives of Australia.Deaths: On Active Service: Coventry, The Age, (Saturday, 23 September 1916), p.7."The Coventry Boys", victoriancollections.net.au.
He married Beth Gradwell at St John's Cathedral in Brisbane on 4 September 1945.Coventry—Gradwell, The (Brisbane) Telegraph, (Tuesday, 4 September 1945), p.4.Servicemen and Servicewomen Wed in Queensland and Victoria: Coventry—Gradwell, The Australasian, (Saturday, 29 September 1945), p.29.
Collingwood (VFL) He was cleared from Ivanhoe Amateur Football Club in the Victorian Amateur Football Association (VAFA) to Collingwood on 10 June 1940.Football: VFL Permits, The Age, (Thursday, 11 July 1940), p4.Eager to Carry On, The Sporting Globe, (Saturday. 29 March 1947), p.3.
Military service His career was interrupted by World War 2 after playing on the half-forward flank in Collingwood's 1940 Reserves Semi-Final team,League Seconds Final, The Age, (Friday, 19 September 1941), p.5. and making his debut at 19 in 1941. He was awarded a Distinguished Flying Cross as a Flight Lieutenant.
Wycheproof (NCFL) In 1952 he was the captain-coach of the Wycheproof Football Club in the North Central Football League (NCFL).Leading Country Football Teams, The Weekly Times, (Wednesday, 22 October 1952), p.41.
Notes
References
World War Two Nominal Roll: Flight Lieutenant Hugh Norman Coventry (410042), Department of Veterans' Affairs. Honours and Awards (Recommendation): Flight Lieutenant Hugh Norman Coventry (410042), collection of the Australian War Memorial. Honours and Awards: Flight Lieutenant Hugh Norman Coventry (410042), Australian War Memorial. Supplement to the London Gazette, 23 March, 1945, p.1598. Royal Australian Air Force: Distinguished Flying Cross: "Flight Lieutenant Hugh Norman Coventry, No.410042", Commonwealth of Australia Gazette, No.70, (Thursday, 12 April 1945), p.855.
External links
Hugh Coventry, at Boyles Football Photos. Profile on Collingwood Forever