Leo Little

Australian rules footballer

Australian rules footballer
Leo Little
Personal information
Full name Leopold Paul Little
Date of birth (1892-02-22)22 February 1892
Place of birth Bacchus Marsh
Date of death 19 November 1956(1956-11-19) (aged 64)
Place of death Mercy Hospital, East Melbourne
Original team(s) Port Melbourne
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
1912–13 University 34 (20)
1919–20 Melbourne 12 0(4)
Total 46 (24)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1920.
Career highlights
  • AIF Pioneer Exhibition Game, London,
    28 October 1916
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Leopold Paul Little (22 February 1892 – 19 November 1956) was an Australian rules footballer who played with Melbourne and University in the Victorian Football League (VFL).[1]

Family

The son of David Armstrong Little (1864-1926),[2] and Annie Mary Little (1856-1944), née Hanigan,[3] Leopold Paul Little was born at Bacchus Marsh on 22 February 1892.

He married Doris Speck (1899-1984) in 1920.[4]

Education

He was attended St Patrick's College, Ballarat as a boarder from 1906 to 1910;[5][6] and, in January 1910, it was announced that (as "Leopold Francis Paul Little", No.1812) he had passed the Junior Public Examination.[7]

In January 1910 he sat for the Commonwealth Public Service Examination for Appointment as a Clerk, Class 5, and (as "Leopold Francis Paul Little") was 18th of all the 600 candidates.[8][9][10]

Football

The Third Australian Divisional Team: 28 October 1916.[11] Leo Little is the second player from right, back row.

He played for University in 1912 and 1913. In 1914, as a member of the Commonwealth Public Service, he moved to Canberra.

On 17 October 1914,

"L.P. Little, late of Melbourne University, and of football fame, won the 120 yards hurdle, the high jump, and the 440 yards championship of the territory (open to all comers)".[12]

He was not linked with the Melbourne Football Club until 1919 (on his return to Australia from active service)[13]

Military service

He enlisted in the First AIF, as "Leo Paul Little", on 8 January 1916.

He played for the (winning) Third Australian national Divisional team in the famous "Pioneer Exhibition Game" of Australian Rules football, held in London, in October 1916. A news film was taken at the match.[14][15]

He was wounded in action in 1917.[16]

Death

He died on 19 November 1956 at the Mercy Hospital, in East Melbourne.[17][18]

See also

  • 1916 Pioneer Exhibition Game

Footnotes

  1. ^ The University Team, The Leader, (Saturday, 4 May 1912), p. 29.
  2. ^ Deaths: Little, The Argus, (Wednesday, 7 April 1926), p.1.
  3. ^ Deaths: Little, The Argus, (Saturday, 30 December 1944), p.15.
  4. ^ Australians Abroad, The Australasian, (Saturday, 18 January 1919), p.121-122, at p.122.
  5. ^ Leo Paul Little, St Patrick's College, 20 July 2015.
  6. ^ 'Lynx', "Footballers' Pastime: History of Handball", The Herald, (Saturday, 20 March 1920), p.2.
  7. ^ University of Melbourne: Public Examinations: Successful Candidates: Junior Public Examination, The Ballarat Star, (Monday, 10 January 1910), p.2.
  8. ^ Federal Public Service: Clerical Examinations, The (Melbourne) Advocate, (Saturday, 12 March 1910), p.28.
  9. ^ Commonwealth Public Service: Examination No.189: For Appointment as Clerk, 5th Class, Victoria and South Australia. Held 25th to 27th January, 1910, Commonwealth of Australia Gazette, No.17, (Saturday, 12 March 1910), p.704.
  10. ^ "Mr. D. A. Little's third son, Leopold Francis Paul, has passed 18th on a list of 600 for a Federal service junior examination" (The Bacchus Marsh Express, (Saturday, 12 March 1910), p.2).
  11. ^ Detail of Organised by Australian Olympic swimmer Lieutenant Frank Beaurepaire, etc., in the collection of the Australian War Memorial (Accession number: H16689).
  12. ^ Patriotic Sports Meeting, Canberra, Table Talk, (Thursday, 29 October 1914), p.31
  13. ^ Demonwiki.
  14. ^ The original newsreel: Australian Football (Pathé Newsreel, 1916) on YouTube
  15. ^ The 2019 remastered and colourised version of the original newsreel: Australian Football (Pathé Newsreel, 1916), remastered and colourised version (2019) on YouTube
  16. ^ Australian Casualties List No.317: Victoria: Wounded: "Lt. Leo Paul Little, Werribee", The Argus, (Tuesday, 3 July 1917), p.8.
  17. ^ Deaths: Little, The Argus, (Tuesday, 20 November 1956), p.14.
  18. ^ Mr. Little, 64, Dies, The Argus, (Tuesday, 20 November 1956), p.7.

References

  • Photograph at Leo Paul Little, ACT Memorial: detail of second from left, fourth row from top, at Postcard: "Our Queanbeyan Boys", No.3 (P01061.003), collection of the Australian War Memorial.
  • Little, Leo P., "Trip to Kosciusko", The Bacchus Marsh Express, (Saturday, 19 December 1914), p.1.
  • Pioneer Exhibition Game Australian Football: in aid of British and French Red Cross Societies: 3rd Australian Division v. Australian Training Units at Queen's Club, West Kensington, on Saturday, October 28th, 1916, at 3pm, Wightman & Co., (London), 1919.
  • Holmesby, Russell & Main, Jim (2007). The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers, 7th ed, Melbourne: Bas Publishing.
  • Strong, Bill, "Leopold (Leo) Paul Little M.C. (1892-1956)", Wyndham History.
  • First World War Embarkation Roll: Sergeant Leo Paul Little (315), collection of the Australian War Memorial.
  • First World War Nominal Roll: Lieutenant Leo Paul Little (MC), collection of the Australian War Memorial.
  • Honours and Awards (Military Cross): Lieutenant Leo Paul Little, collection of the Australian War Memorial; First World War Service Record: Lieutenant Leo Paul Little, National Archives of Australia.
  • First World War Service Record: Lieutenant Leo Paul Little (MC), National Archives of Australia.
  • Richardson, N. (2016), The Game of Their Lives, Pan Macmillan Australia: Sydney. ISBN 978-1-7435-3666-7

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Leo Little.
  • Leo Little's playing statistics from AFL Tables
  • Leo Little at AustralianFootball.com
  • Demonwiki profile
  • "Little, _Ports11" at The VFA Project.
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