My nanna would always tell me stories whenever we visited her place. It's a shame now I can't recall them all. However, I do vividly remember her telling me that her father Michael Ryan was a good runner and often ran in races in Sydney. Her future father-in-law Harry Dawson was his coach.
I've often searched on Trove without luck for some evidence to support this story.
Earlier in the week I think I may have hit the jackpot. The difficulty was knowing exactly what to search for in Trove. I was browsing for something totally unrelated when I saw an article about a Carrington Handicap. I now had the possible name of a race.
The following advertisement from 1888 indicates that professional footraces (or at least some of them) in Sydney were worth winning.
A search for Carrington Handicap and Ryan in the period 1886-1895 (years selected as likely years he would be running) produced many results. Unfortunately the Sydney Morning Herald only gives the initials for a man's christian name. There are many entries for a M. Ryan. I hope I am not wrong in assuming that this man is my great grandfather Michael Ryan.
In this race, Ryan the favourite finished third after winning his first, second and third rounds. Hopefully I'll be able to discover more about the running successes of Michael Ryan.
I've often searched on Trove without luck for some evidence to support this story.
Earlier in the week I think I may have hit the jackpot. The difficulty was knowing exactly what to search for in Trove. I was browsing for something totally unrelated when I saw an article about a Carrington Handicap. I now had the possible name of a race.
The following advertisement from 1888 indicates that professional footraces (or at least some of them) in Sydney were worth winning.
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| Sydney Morning Herald, 14 January 1888, p. 2 |
A search for Carrington Handicap and Ryan in the period 1886-1895 (years selected as likely years he would be running) produced many results. Unfortunately the Sydney Morning Herald only gives the initials for a man's christian name. There are many entries for a M. Ryan. I hope I am not wrong in assuming that this man is my great grandfather Michael Ryan.
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| Sydney Morning Herald Thursday 2nd April 1891, p. 8 |
In this race, Ryan the favourite finished third after winning his first, second and third rounds. Hopefully I'll be able to discover more about the running successes of Michael Ryan.
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