George Sydney Halpin (1884-1966)
George Sydney Halpin was an identity in the St George Municipality. He was a good-looking man of Irish descent, who always dressed in a three-piece suit and wore a Stetson hat. His buttonhole usually displayed a carnation, and his coat pocket had a whiter than white handkerchief protruding. His black boots were always polished. Summer or winter he wore a flannel undershirt.
George never really made the transition from the horse and buggy days even though he owned a car. He maintained a horse and yellow sulky, and was possibly the last person to ride about Sydney in this way. His range was Wollongong to Watson’s Bay, however as the last horse grew old the journeys became local. Rex, the horse, was finally retired and this put an end to George’s transport.
George was a favorite with children and adults because he was a great storyteller and always made the time to yarn. His stories were less moralistic and more about adventure. He often had sixpence in his pocket for children to buy an ice cream,and is still remembered fondly by people who knew him as children.
He was born in Sydney, days after his parents arrived by ship to settle in Wollongong. His first job was delivering produce to the hinterland and it was no mean feat to take horses over the mountains on almost unmade roads carrying loads both ways. Settlers depended on this service. After marrying Lavinia Figtree, he and his family went to live in the Northern Rivers, where he was employed as an auctioneer by the firm, Virtue and Noble.
He returned to rent a house in Hurstville, Sydney for a time and later the family settled in 47 Villiers Street, Rockdale where Lavinia purchased a home and they reared their family there. It was here that the Halpins set up their horse training business. There was a paddock behind the property and stables at the back of the property that could be entered via Villiers Lane.
Lavinia was a good cook and no stranger to hard work. She served meals to the large family and to the track worker, who lived in Andy’s room in the back-yard. It was also known as the TAC Room. This room held saddles and grooming gear.
Lavinia often had friends for dinner and everyone admired her for her cooking and general demeanor. She was very much a lady with her black hair piled high and her neat attractive appearance. This hair turned white when she grew older and she looked majestic with her Edwardian hair-style. She wore a black velvet ribbon or scarf around her neck and always displayed a lovely brooch. She kept a clean apron behind the kitchen door so that when someone approached she took the soiled one off and looked perfect in the clean white starched one.
She loved recipes that she found in magazines and tested. She never shopped and hardly left the home. Green grocers and grocers delivered the food, and the family fetched meat from the butchers. Bandages, rugs and jockey gear often needed to be laundered by hand or boiled in the wood-fired copper. Together, George and Lavinia ran a good show.
George Halpin was a leading trainer on the former ‘pony tracks’ in Sydney and continued his success when those Clubs came under the A.J.C. jurisdiction in 1913. One of the best sprinters he trained was Absorbent. He won the City Tattersalls Cup in 1935 with his daughter Violet Halpin’s horse, Fairoic. Arthur Ward was a favorite jockey, however a steady stream of the well-known jockeys raced Halpin- trained horses.
George did his track work at Moorefield Racecourse until the war broke out and the land was given over to the military. Moorefield was the nearest track ,and the horses were walked from Rockdale to Moorefield before doing track work or racing. Use was made of nearby Botany Bay where the horses swam and exercised.
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Dolly, a reliable horse led the spirited racehorses into the water for their swim. The horses entered the water at the spot where the airport is now. On one occasion, an army airplane went down near Marrickville Golf Course and from their vantage point they saw it burst into flames.
George’s eldest daughter and horse owner, Violet and to a lesser extent sister, Dulce were employed in the training of horses. Violet sometimes tucked her hair in her cap and posed as a boy in order to perform her tasks.
There is in existence a notebook with George’s recipes for curing all sorts of horse ailments. The vet was the last option during the Depression years at a time when racing was very popular. In this book is a list of wages paid to track workers and jockeys, as well as to suppliers.The jockey’s names are a who’s who of racing at the time.
The last two horses that George trained were Turmoil and Kendell. In one race they fell over each other. Aussie Imber was another good horse that he trained. Very often he did not own the horses that were in his stable.
George attended most important race meetings in the company of a friend called Harry Ainsworth, a chemist. Together,they would drive to out of town meetings. Harry was a commission agent, because people trusted him due to his respectable occupation and education. He was able to get a good price with the bookies on behalf of other prominent men, who did not want to appear to be betting. He handled large sums of money and loved to have George by his side for his protection and companionship. Both men were sharp at arithmetic.
George always carried a truncheon that he put up his sleeve when walking home in the dark with the days’ winnings. He tied his wallet into his vest pocket. Harry would let him out of the car at Waltz Street, Rockdale and he then would walk home to Villiers Street taking care to look out for prospective assailants.
George died from a massive heart attack in 1966 after attending a Race Meeting at Canterbury. He commented to his daughter that “he was loosing his touch and had lost heavily that day. “He was 82 years old, and had been retired from training fifteen years before his death.
He was buried at Woronora Lawn Cemetery. An overflowing crowd assembled for his funeral at Hardy’s Chapel in Rockdale. He was often described as a “racing identity” and was recognizable on the course by his Stetson hat and confident demeanor.
Courtesy of Pamela Griffiths , granddaughter June 21 2017
