Compiled by Nola Scott, life member.
Pre 1909
The story of croquet in Wagga Wagga goes back to the nineteenth century, but the organised Club came into existence in 1909. According to an article in the Wagga Daily Advertiser, croquet was to be included in the sports to be played in a Carnival at the Race Course early in 1901. No follow-up to this has been found.
1909
The next verifiable date is from the Wagga Wagga Advertiser on Tuesday July 27 1909, when the following appeared:
The foundress of the Wagga Wagga Croquet Club was Ms Muriel Hunter, who was born 30 October 1862 in Chiltern, Victoria, and died 8 July 1942 in Manly NSW.
She is buried in the Wagga Wagga Cemetery. Her parents had come from Ireland.
The original Presidents Board commenced in 1921, presumably whilst the Club was located in Anglican Church grounds in Peter Street. By the mid 1920s the club was relocated to a shared facility with the City Bowling Club in Sturt Street.
At the Bowling Club the Croquet Club had the use of a lawn and a couple of rooms, for which, story has it, in lieu of rent they provided afternoon tea for the bowlers, boiling water in a copper!
The existing records of the Croquet Club (minute books and cash books) go back only to 1938, although honour boards in the Clubhouse bear testimony to continuous existence prior to that date. These early, and later, minutes and financial records are in the Riverina Regional Archives.
In the late 1930s, the Bowling Club wanted to exclusive use of the croquet lawn, so the Club began negotiations with the City Council for a new site. A number of sites around the city were suggested but were unsuitable, until the present site in Fitzhardinge Street was agreed on in 1940. Further action was held over until after the war.
