BIO

The Adelaide sporting community was shocked by the news that Challis Jervis, at the age of 26, had died of typhoid fever in the Adelaide Hospital on 24 April 1887.

Challis was a Norwood premiership player in 1883 and transferred in 1885 to the junior team Hotham, where, according the The South Australian Advertiser, "he was greatly valued, not only for his services, but also for his geniality and gentlemanly play on the football field".
Challis was captain of the Triton junior team in 1882 and 1883. He was promoted to represent Victorian in September 1882 and was one of the best players as that ailing club  succumbed to Norwood.  Ironically, his first match for Norwood on 30 June 1883 was against  his comrades from the old Victorian team, rebadged as North Adelaide.

Challis was an attacking player who abetted stalwarts like Watson, Waldron, Roberts, Chandler and Letchford as they steered Norwood to its sixth premiership in a row.

He gave good service the following year and played against the visiting Victorian team Hotham at the start of the 1985 season. Midway through the year he joined his brother Pryce in the local Hotham team, which won premierships in the Adelaide and Suburban competition in  two successive seasons to earn promotion to the SA Football Association in 1887.

He also was a promising batsman with the Kensington Cricket Club before representing Tritons in his last two years.

Challis was employed at Thomas Hardy's Bankside Vineyard as a foreman and winetaster. He was born on 15 March 1861 to Pryce Challis Jervis and his wife Emily Searle. 
He is buried in the family plot at the Main North Road Cemetery.

* Our picture is of Challis Jervis or Robert Randall, the only two players not definitely identified in an 1884 team photograph.

P Robins May 2017, D Cox March 2024