BIO

Charles Foale was a St Peter's College athlete who played his lone league game with Norwood on an Unley Oval mudheap.

Charles was the only son of Henry Foale and his wife Louisa (Hillier), of Claymore, College Park, and was born there on 3 January 1884.

At 14 he played on a half-forward flank in the 1898 intercollegiate match in which St Peter's thumped Prince Alfred 10.15 to 2.10.  He had less to celebrate in the next two years, with St Peter's losing by three points in 1899 and by five points in 1900.  Charles qualified for university and was a sergeant in the Cadets Corps.

He was a member of the St Peter's old scholars team which defeated the present scholars by eight points at Adelaide Oval in 1903 and in the same year was chosen to play for Norwood against Sturt at Unley Oval.

The Advertiser said that "what might have been a brilliant exposition of the game became, practically, a disorganised struggle in the mud.  In some parts the water covered the surface of the oval, and in such conditions it is not surprising that the standard of play was not high, and that the shooting for goals was exceedingly erratic."  Norwood had the better of the play all day but missed many opportunities before clinching the game 2.15 to 1.1.

Charles married Gladys Prosser, of Ralston, Heathpool, at the St Peter's College Chapel in 1917 and the couple became prominent members of the Adelaide society set.  In 1922 Charles was the official representative in Adelaide of the Czechoslovak Chamber of Commerce of Australia.  In 1928 he was the attorney for Australian Paper Manufacturers Limited.

Charles died at Heathpool on 2 August 1938.  He was survived by his widow and children Kenneth, Maurice and Betty.

* Picture kindly supplied by Andrea McKinnon-Matthews, Archivist at St Peter’s College

P Robins Jan 2019