John Edward Barrett (21 December 1928 – 11 August 2023) was an Australian rules football player, who first played for the Frankston Bombers in the Mornington Peninsula Nepean Football League during the second half of the 1940s, then for the Footscray and Fitzroy clubs in the Victorian Football League (VFL) during the first half of the 1950s.
Following this, he played with Wangaratta Rovers (Ovens & Murray Football League, 1956), McKinnon Football Club (Federal Football League, 1957) and Hastings Football Club (Mornington Peninsula Football League, 1958-1961). Starting in 1982, Barrett was a member of the board of Aussie-Rules-Football-Club Sydney Swans, for three years.
In addition, he participated in the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race three times between 1981 and 1983. Later in 1983 he sailed in a yacht race from Sydney to Nouméa and back.
From 1988 to 1992, he volunteered to organise the Clean Up Australia days.
Family, early years, and professional career
John Edward Barrett, son of Edward Barrett (died 1975) and his wife May, née Avage (died 1971), was born at Maxwelton Private Hospital, Frankston, on 21 December 1928.John Edward Barrett - Extract of entry No. 127979 His sister Judith Anne was born in 1931. Barrett was married to his wife Ky, née Schulmann. Two children were born to this union, Ronald Armin (1963–1990) and Karyn (born 1966).
Barrett initially attended Frankston State School from 1935, where he represented his school on official occasions.Armistice Observance. In: Standard (Frankston) dated 15 November 1940, pg. 5. He transferred to Frankston High SchoolHigh School Results. In: Standard (Frankston) dated 7 January 1944, pg. 2.Frankston High School. Examinations Results. In: Mornington Standard dated 18 January 1945, pg. 7. in 1941. In this year he joined the Australian Air League, where he was involved in building model planesAir League. In: Mornington Standard dated 24 April 1942, pg. 1. and observing flying objects in the airspace due to an impending Japanese invasion of Australia during World War II. In the military-style organization, he achieved the rank of Company Squadron Commander in 1942.Air League. Frankston Promotions. In: Mornington Standard) dated 13 March 1942, pg. 2. In 1944 he passed the examination for the award medal of the Royal Life Saving Society Australia.Frankston High School. In: Mornington Standard dated 9 November 1944, pg. 3. Barrett represented the school as Senior Prefect and has also been a 'House' Captain as well as Captain of the School Cricket, Football, Swimming and Athletic Teams.John Edward Barrett - referral Frankston High School 1945, typedJohn Edward Barrett - referral Frankston High School 1946, handwritten He finished high school with an Honor Certificate in 1945.
In 1946, Engineering Cadet Barrett trained as a surveyor and worked for Mordialloc council.Referral for John Edward Barrett by Tony Clerk, 7th of May 1952.Referral for John Edward Barrett by City Engineer & Building Surveyor of the City of Mordialloc, Walter Galt, 21st of April 1952. From 1951 he held various positions as a salesman, until 1955 with International Harvester Company in South Melbourne,Referral letter International Harvester Company of Australia for John Edward Barrett, 12th of September 1955. until 1957 with Donovan-Brush Motors in Wangaratta,Referral Letter Donovan-Brush Motors for John Edward Barrett, 2nd of February 1957. until 1958 with Wormald Brothers in South Melbourne,Referral letter Wormald Brothers for John Edward Barrett, 6th of November 1958. and most recently as General Sales Manager for Hardboard Australia, for which he relocated to Sydney with his family in 1976. Barrett retired from the company in 1986, after 25 years of service. During the period from 1988 to 1990, he managed two hotels, one in Waterloo and another in Moore Park, both Sydney neighbourhoods.
From 1988 to 1992, he volunteered to run the Sydney office of Clean Up Australia together with Kim McKay, who had started the initiative with Ian Kiernan.:File:John Barrett - Clean up Australia appreciation document.png From there he organised the help of 40.000 people, who hauled about 4,000 tonnes of garbage from 140 locations in Sydney Harbour alone on January 21, 1989. For the Clean up day in 1990 in 252 locations, John Barrett enlisted the support of the Royal Australian Navy, the Australian Army, the Water Board, the Maritime Services Board (MSB), the Department of Corrective Services, the State Pollution Control Commission, the National Parks and Wildlife Service and the 24 Sydney councils with foreshore land. The Navy was providing two landing craft and service personnel for the harbour, the MSB supplied rubbish pick-up barges, and the Department of correctives services arranged work teams of people who have been sentenced to community service.Paul Bailey: Syringes and straws await huge beachcomber army. In: Sydney Morning Herald dated 30 Dezember 1989, pg. 2. 1992 about 25,500 tonnes of waste was collected nation-wide by 400,000 volunteers.Rebecca Lang: Nation-wide clean-up to take festival atmosphere. In: The Canberra Times dated 9 February 1993, pg. 2.
John Edward Barrett died in Kingswood, New South Wales on 11 August 2023, at the age of 94.Obituary John Edward Barrett. In: Blue Mountains Gazette, 16 August 2023, pg. 44, section Death & Funerals.
Sports career Australian rules football
Barrett played Australian rules football as early as his high school days. In the 1945 season, the school's senior team, captained by John Barrett, did not lose a single game.Mary A. Evans, Heather Murray, Jenny Evans: Optima Semper. Frankston High School 1924–1994. Frankston High School Council, Frankston 1995, ISBN 0-646-24096-X, pg. 70.
In 1946, Barrett began his professional Australian rules football career with the Frankston Bombers,Former Peninsula players do well in city. In: Weekly Times dated 5 July 1950, pg. 67.Club-Room Gossip. In: The Argus (Melbourne) dated 19 June 1950, pg. 21. playing in the Mornington Peninsula Nepean Football League.James Weston: The Australian Game of Football: Since 1858. Geoff Slattery Publishing for the Australian Football League, 2008. In 1949, he won the Grand final against the club from Mornington,Peninsula Grand Final. In: The Argus (Melbourne) dated 2 September 1949S, pg. 17. after they had lost the Grand Final to Hastings Football Club in each of the previous three years.
From 1950Footscray Find New Star! In: The Herald (Melbourne) dated 19 June 1950, pg. 14.North Selects Young Follower. New Players. In: The Age (Melbourne) dated 23 June 1950, pg. 15.Footscray chose new colt. In: The Argus (Melbourne) dated 23 June 1950, pg. 14. to 1953, the 1.77 metre, 76-kilo Australian played for Melbourne's Footscray Football Club (now the Western Bulldogs)Bulldogs to run March 1. In: The Herald (Melbourne) dated 20 January 1954, pg. 23. in the Victorian Football League (VFL), which later became the Australian Football League (AFL). He scored one goal in 32 games played for the club.
Following this, he played for the Fitzroy Football Club, the Fitzroy Gorillas,John Barrett. In: statscrew.com also based in Melbourne, between 1954Schoolboy star at Footscray. In: The Argus (Melbourne) dated 10 March 1954, pg. 23.League Club Notes. Fitzroy. In: The Argus (Melbourne) dated 21 April 1954, pg. 22.Round-up of League Football Training. Fitzroy. In: The Age (Melbourne) dated 21 April 1954, pg. 11.Fitzroy – Saints alter 6. First Games. In: The Argus (Melbourne) dated 14 May 1954, pg. 23. and 1955 in the AFL in a total of 22 games, scoring twice.John Barrett. In: afltables.comJohn Barrett. In: australianfootball.com He then left the Victorian Football League to play for Wangaratta Rovers Football Club (Ovens & Murray Football League) in 1956,Albury vs. Wangaretta In: "The Critic." Football Record of Football in the O. & M. League. Issue 22, nr. 9 dated 23 June 1956, pg. 9. McKinnon Football Club (Federal Football League) in 1957, and Hastings Football Club (Mornington Peninsula Football League) from 1958 to 1961.John Edward Barrett: Life Highlights. Tabular Autobiography, 2006.
In 1982, Barrett was elected to the board of directors of Australian Rules Football club Sydney Swans,Swans fight new threat to survival. In: The Daily Telegraph (Sydney) dated 11 September 1982. where he served for three years.Greg Growden: I'll quit, says Quade. In: Sydney Morning Herald dated 17 September 1982, pg. 26.Australian Football: Edgley heads Swans. In: The Canberra Times dated 7 February 1983, pg. 19.Kevin Taylor: The Sydney Swans. The Complete History 1874—1986. Allen & Unwin Australia, Sydney 1987, ISBN 0-04-796132-5, pg. 117.Recognition certificate by Michael Edgely, President of the Sydney Swans, for John Edward Barrett, October 1984. On there, his last name was misspelled as Barratt (sic!).
Yacht racing
John Barrett showed an early interest in sailing and joined the Frankston Yacht Club in 1941, where he became a member of skipper Leigh Gloury'sFrankston Yacht Club. In: Frankston Standard dated 7 July 1949, pg. 9. crew of the yacht Greensleeves.Yachting. In: Frankston Standard dated 21 December 1949, pg. 9. In 1976, he joined the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia in Rushcutters Bay, Sydney.
Barrett was part of the crew of Skipper Michael Clements' yacht Rager I, which finished 90th in the annual Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race in 1981,Peter Wherrett: 64-February-March-1982-small.pdf The Hobart '81. In: Offshore no. 64, February–March 1982, pg. 10. 30th in 1982,Race History 1981–1982. In: Hitachi Sydney–Hobart Yacht Race Program 1983, pg. 96. and 99th in 1983.Hobart 1983 Results. In: Offshore no. 76, March 1984, pg. 21. In the last two mentioned races he acted as navigator.Entries 1983. In: Hitachi Sydney–Hobart Yacht Race Program 1983, pg. 33, 96.Excerpt of Navigator's Logbook Rager I, Details of Yacht and Crew, Sydney-Hobart Yacht Race 1982, pg. 1. In 1983 he competed in the race Sydney to Nouméa and back.Peter Campbell: 69-OFFSHORE-December-1982-January-83-low-res.pdf The 1983 Sydney-New Caledonia Race. In: Offshore no. 69, December 1982—January 83, pg. 20–22. In August 1989 he sailed from Southport to Mooloolaba on the yacht Rager.Rager. In: Offshore, August/September 1989, pg. 14, 38.Geoff Errington: Jupiters Yacht Classic. Witchcraft II Sails Out of The Cauldron. In: Offshore, October/November 1989, pg. 28-30. The top photo on pg. 30 shows John Barrett in white clothing on the far right of the image. In October of that year, he finished his ocean sailing career on the yacht Debutant, sailing from Hamilton Island to Sydney.
Other sports activities With great passion, Barrett played golf from 1961 to 2020. From 1985 to 1989, he also enjoyed playing tennis.
Reception by the media The Melbourne newspaper The Argus judged on 19 June 1950: "John is a centre-man from Frankston, and is said to be something out of the ordinary. [...] He is only 21, is sturdily built, and has tons of pace."
Cyril Nott highlighted in the Melbourne paper The Sporting Globe on 12 July 1950:Cyril Nott: Young Talent With Bulldogs. In: Sporting Globe (Melbourne) dated 12 July 1950, p. 15. "Sure in the air, clever and elusive on the ground, Barrett should prove one of the cleverest centres, when he gains a little more experience."
The Weekly Times of Melbourne predicted on 5 July 1950:Former Peninsula players do well in city. In Weekly Times (Melbourne) dated 5 July 1950, pg. 67. "Before he went to Footscray, John Barrett, who is 21, was one of Frankston's stars. Football fans on the Peninsula who know him well consider that Barrett has all the courage and ability to become a star defender with the experience he will gain in the league."
The Argus noted on 7 September 1951:Footscray seek first premiership. In: The Argus (Melbourne) dated 7 September 1951, pg. 5.