Oath of Allegiance & Affirmation of Allegiance

Featured Image: My Certificate of Australian Citizenship acquired by my Oath of Allegiance made to Terry Barnes, Scone Shire Council Clerk on Wednesday, October 2, 1985.

Pledge of Commitment for Citizenship

The wording of the Oath of Allegiance taken by newly naturalising Australian citizens has changed over time. Australian nationality was created by the Nationality and Citizenship Act 1948, which came into effect on 26 January 1949. British subjects could become Australian citizens after one year’s residence in Australia as an immigrant by registration, and there was no requirement to attend a citizenship ceremony or take an oath of allegiance. Non-British subjects, on the other hand, were required to apply for naturalization, which had stricter requirements, including a five-year residency. They were required to attend a citizenship ceremony and swear an oath of allegiance, which was:

I, A. B; swear by Almighty God that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to His Majesty King George the Sixth, his heirs and successors according to law, and that I will faithfully observe the laws of Australia and fulfil my duties as an Australian citizen.

In 1966, the Holt Government added the clause “renouncing all other allegiance” to the oath, though there was no requirement for new citizens to formally take steps under the law of their former country to renounce the previous citizenship. In 1973, the Whitlam Government ended the preferential treatment for British subjects from 1 December 1973 and inserted a reference to the “Queen of Australia”, to become:

I, A. B., renouncing all other allegiance, swear by Almighty God that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Elizabeth the Second, Queen of Australia, Her heirs and successors according to law, and that I will faithfully observe the laws of Australia and fulfil my duties as an Australian citizen.

In 1986, the Hawke Government removed the renunciation requirement and the requirement for candidates to state their names, the wording becoming:

I swear by Almighty God that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Elizabeth the Second, Queen of Australia, Her heirs and successors according to law, and that I will faithfully observe the laws of Australia and fulfil my duties as an Australian citizen.

In 1994, the Keating Government replaced the oath with a Pledge of Commitment to Australia and removed the reference to the Crown:

From this time forward, [under God,]

I pledge my loyalty to Australia and its people,

Whose democratic beliefs I share,

Whose rights and liberties I respect, and

Whose laws I will uphold and obey.

The prospective citizen has the option of making the pledge with or without the words “under God”.

There have been no changes since.

This has been a ‘hot political potato’ in recent times; unnecessarily so in my opinion. I was not required to relinquish my British (by birthright) citizenship. I asked all my friends attending our social Wednesday morning coffee meetings who had sworn an Oath of Allegiance to Australia and its people. As the only ‘boat person’ (migrant) I was the only one who had. They/I was surprised. They didn’t actually know the wording of the oath and/or affirmation. I honestly believed I was better informed?

Contagious Equine Metritis (CEM) aka ‘Jubilee Clap’

Contagious Equine Metritis (CEM) was first diagnosed in 1977 in the UK and spread to many countries, initially in thoroughbreds. Because the first diagnosis was made at the National Stud in Newmarket, Suffolk, UK in QE II’s Jubilee Year (25 years of Rule since Coronation) it was quickly dubbed ‘Jubilee Clap’ by the satirical pundits. The sobriquet stuck.

It was also identified in Australia in 1977, but since eradication in 1980, Australia has been free of the disease. Contagious Equine Metritis currently occurs in the United States of America, parts of Europe, South Africa and the United Arab Emirates.

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Featured Image: Major Norman Larkin (veterinarian) was the President of the Australian Bloodhorse Breeders Association. The image shows Messrs B J Cullen; E N Larkin (President); F L Williams (veterinarian); D D Glasgow (AJC Secretary) and A O Ellison (Vice President) at the Annual Dinner in c. 1968.

Major Larkin used to travel to the Upper Hunter from Bondi by train and was driven around the Stud Farms in the area for veterinary consultations. After graduating in 1926 Norman Larkin spent some time as resident veterinarian at Widden Stud. He formed a partnership with Murray Bain and Frank Williams (photographed) to establish the first veterinary practice in Scone in 1950. A O Ellison owned Baramul Stud where he stood champion stallion Star Kingdom. Derek Glasgow was a regular visitor to Widden during his time with the Australian Jockey Club. B J Cullen was a client of Lionel Israel’s Segenhoe Stud.

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Henry Reeves

Clerk of the Course

Henry Reeves (1804-1852) was transported to Sydney on the “Hercules” in 1825. He received a conditional pardon in 1841 and established a coaching business and livery stable in West Maitland. In 1841 he took over the licence of the Albion Inn in High Street, West Maitland, and leased an adjoining 10 acre grazing paddock. Reeves sold and raffled horses, provided stud services, and in 1846 established the Maitland Jockey Club. In 1847, he transferred his licence to the Fitzroy Inn, West Maitland. In the same year the journal Heads of the People describes Reeves as the “proprietor of the Fitzroy Hotel at West Maitland and Clerk of the Course…a breeder of horses and genuine Turfite”. He sold the hotel and his studhorses in 1849 due to failing health. He became an auctioneer and retained an interest in racehorses and breeding. Henry Reeves died aged 47 years on April 19, 1852 at his residence in Church Street, West Maitland.

References:
Horsemen of the first frontier (1788-1900) and the Serpent’s legacy / by Keith R. Binney. Neutral Bay, N.S.W. : Volcanic Productions , [2005].
Heads of the people: an illustrated journal of literature, whims, and oddities. [Sydney : W. Baker], 1847-1848, Vol. 1, no. 25, October 2, 1847
The Maitland Mercury & Hunter River General Advertiser, April 21, 1852, p. 3 on Trove. http://trove.nla.gov.au/ (accessed July 16, 2010)

Featured Image: Hon James White

James White Story

See also: https://kingsoftheturf.com/1887-the-king-of-kirkham/

See also: https://kingsoftheturf.com/1877-the-defeat-of-chester/

See also: https://kingsoftheturf.com/1889-the-end-of-an-era/

See also: https://kingsoftheturf.com/1883-le-grand-and-martini-henry/

See also: https://kingsoftheturf.com/1884-newmarket-and-the-hon-james-white/

I have written elsewhere about the Honourable James White form the famous pioneer ‘Belltrees’ family here in the Upper Hunter. My very good friend Sam North wrote this for me at the time of our Melbourne Cup extravaganza at Scone in October 2010. I called this a ‘Colloquium of Cups’ and it appears earlier in my ‘blog’. I thought it was worth repeating here as a ‘stand-alone’ feature. It is a remarkable story about a remarkable man. Read on!

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Martin Stainforth

Featured Image: Martin Stainforth

“Next to a fine picture of a lovely woman there is nothing perhaps which more strongly appeals to the aesthetic sense than a picture of a splendid thoroughbred horse”.

So wrote Dr W. J. Stewart McKay in his seminal treatise: ‘Racehorses in Australia’ with paintings by Martin Stainforth and Edited by Dr W. H. Lang, Ken Austin and Dr Stewart Mckay.

Dr McKay describes a very talented and gifted artist in his lavish encomium: ‘Martin Stainforth: An Appreciation’. An Englishman by birth Martin Stainforth settled in Australia. Visiting English critic Aylyng Arnold, who from 1906 to 1910 was special correspondent for the “London Sporting Life” wrote in 2015 on a visit to Melbourne: “I can confidently say I have seen as many portraits of horses as falls to the lot of any one man, but never have I seen anything approaching yours”.

Certainly Dr McKay agreed noting his expert methods and attention to fine detail. Martin Stainforth certainly perfected the finer points of sketching horses and turning these into exquisite paintings. This was the cutting edge technology of its day pre-dating the emergence of photography as the popular medium.

I will feature more of Martin Stainforth’s work in this record. He must have spent a lot of time in the Hunter Valley at both Arrowfield (Moses Brothers) and Widden (Thompson Family). Their great stallions are captured for posterity by his superlative animal art.

Featured Image: Lance Skuthorpe Junior in 1938. Alf Marks rode with Lance Skuthorpe and is duly acknowledged in the Longreach (Queensland) ‘Stockman’s Hall of Fame’.

I said I’d write about interesting people I met and worked with. Alf Marks and Herbie Eveleigh were two such genuine ‘unforgettables’. This is a true story with some minor embellishments.

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Featured Image: Advertisement for the Thoroughbred Stallion ‘Toss’ at Glendon in 1828. This was placed in the Sydney Monitor, 9th August 1828.

The Scott Brothers at ‘Glendon’, near Patrick Plains (Singleton) were almost first on the scene when it came to breeding good equine bloodstock in the colony. Brian Russell reports that Peter Macintyre brought ‘Crawford’ with him slightly earlier; perhaps in 1927 when he set up on his own account at Kayuga, Muswellbrook.

‘Dover’ was another very good sire imported by the Scott Brothers. Keith Binney has written extensively in minute detail about much of this in his excellent treatise ‘Horsemen of the First Frontier 1788 – 1900’.

Dr Reg Pascoe AM

See also: https://sconevetdynasty.com.au/vale-reg-pascoe-am/

Celebration of a Life       11:00am Oakey Cultural Centre; 16 December 2017

It was an exquisite production; as one might have expected.  Oakey is the actual birthplace and spiritual home of another Queensland, Australian and International Champion Legend. A magnificent Bronze Statue of the brilliant thoroughbred ‘Bernborough’ graces and dominates the civic precinct. What is it about Oakey and the Darling Downs? ‘Out of tiny acorns great oak trees may flourish’. I doubt there are many acorns around Oakey; but there must be some mighty gumnuts?

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Rodney Dangar and Peter Pan

Featured Image: Peter Pan 1933 AJC St Leger @ Randwick; Jockey Jim Pike

Obituary:

Dangar, Rodney Rouse (1871–1950)

Mr. Rodney Rouse Dangar, well-known Australian pastoralist, prominent philanthropist and racehorse-owner, died in Sydney last Friday, aged 79.

Mr. Dangar, a former A.J.C. committeeman, owned and bred Peter Pan, twice winner of the Melbourne Cup.

He turned down an offer of £50,000 by American buyers for Peter Pan. The horse won £34,938 in stakes money.

Mr. Dangar was a director of the National Bank of Australasia, Ltd., and of the Australian Mutual Provident Society, an ex-president of the Union Club, and a councillor of Cranbrook School.

He is survived by a daughter, Mrs. D. V. Ritchie, of Edgecliff.

Mr. Dangar contributed freely to dozens of charities, founded the Peter Pan Kindergarten, and endowed many hospital beds.

The funeral will be at South Head Cemetery to-day after a service at All Saints’ Church, Ocean Street, Woollahra, at 11 a.m.

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