Richard Stanley Anderson (26 July 1893 – 15 August 1953) was an Australian rules footballer who played with the Williamstown Football Club in the Victorian Football Association (VFA) and with Essendon in the Victorian Football League (VFL).Holmesby & Main (2014), p.21.

Family The son of Robert Anderson (1855-1939), and Sarah Ann Anderson (1869-1955), née Hutchins (later Mrs. Peter Stephens),Deaths: Stephens, The Argus, (Monday,7 February 1955), p.15. Richard Stanley Anderson was born at Queenscliff, Victoria on 26 July 1893.

He married Doris Elizabeth Ryan (1891-1969) in 1938.Victuallers' Licenses, The Argus, (Thursday, 14 January 1954), p.12.

Military service He served in the First AIF, suffering severe shell shock after being buried alive in an explosion in France in August 1916.Cullen (2015), p.111. He spent 128 days in hospital but later returned to active service before being discharged in April 1917.Service Record.

Football Williamstown (VFA) He played 45 games (scoring 2 goals) for the Williamstown Football Club over three seasons (1913 to 1915).Richard S. Anderson, at The VFA Project.

Essendon VFL His only senior match for the Essendon Football Club, was against Fitzroy, at the Brunswick Street Oval on 17 May 1919.

Williamstown (VFA) He was cleared from Essendon to the Williamstown Football Club in June 1919,Football: League Permits, The Argus, (Thursday, 19 June 1919), p.5. and went on to play a further 24 senior games (scoring 2 goals) over three seasons (1919 to 1921).The VFA Project.

Death He died at Middle Park, Victoria on 15 August 1953.Funeral Notices: Anderson, The Argus, (Monday, 17 August 1953), p.11.

Notes

References First World War Embarkation Roll: Private Richard Stanley Anderson (3003), collection of the Australian War Memorial. First World War Nominal Roll: Private Richard Stanley Anderson (3003), collection of the Australian War Memorial. First World War Service Record: Private Richard Stanley Anderson (3003), National Archives of Australia. Funeral Notices: Anderson, The Age, (Monday, 17 August 1953), p.8.

Maplestone, M., Flying Higher: History of the Essendon Football Club 1872–1996, Essendon Football Club, (Melbourne), 1996. -- Note that Maplestone, pp.399, and 460 has Anderson as "S. R. Anderson".

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