The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Played for two seasons
The photograph on the right was supplied by Richard Miller who says: “Visiting Dundee’s hockey maestro, Jim Shepherd, I was given this picture of Maryfield Hockey Club 1905-06.
“It seems to be the oldest men’s hockey team photograph from this area to have been discovered to date and it featured in Steven Cumming’s excellent book, Sticks Across Tayside, where it was described as perhaps being of a team associated with Maryfield Hospital.
“Having researched the players listed on the photograph’s mount, I am confident that I have been able to identify all of them and to trace what became of all but one of the boys. I wondered if any of the descendants of the people named might still live in Dundee and, if so, whether they would like to have a copy of the photograph.
“Jim Shepherd has asked that the original framed photograph should be donated to the city and, given the association with AC Lamb, we are hopeful that it might be accepted as part of the Lamb Collection.
The players shown are: back row – William Keith Stocks, William Bowers Chilton, Alexander McArthur Walker, David Kinmond Hunter, David Vallentine Gibb, Robert Ferrier. Middle row – James Bell, William Robertson MacDonald, Robert Bell Stewart Tait, George Constable Leslie, John Leighton Ruthven. Front row – David Constable Leslie, William Jackson Small Sharp, David James John Cameron, George Buxton Lamb, John Ferguson Ramsay.
“Maryfield Hockey Club seems to have functioned only for two seasons, 1904-05 and 1905-06. After that many of the players
left Dundee for work, ending up scattered across the world.
“Where it’s been possible to identify their schooling, most of the players were pupils at Morgan Academy and the majority lived in the area immediately surrounding Morgan in the streets off Forfar Road and Pitkerro Road, hence the name of the club being Maryfield. The likelihood is that the club
was an early Morgan FP team with perhaps a few non-Morgan friends joining in.”