Community & Business
31 May, 2023
Historic polo trophies find a home
Once a major recreational equine sport on the Darling Downs, Polo has been a victim of changing lifestyles and today exists among a small group of diehard fans and so the donation of a collection of Polo trophies to the Clifton Museum will help preserve the history of this important equine sport and the players who participated.
The trophies donated belong to Pilton Valley’s Armstrong family and tell the story of the polo career of Frank Armstrong from 1907 to 1949.
In donating the trophies Shirley Murray (née Armstrong) said the museum was the right place for the trophies to go.
“After being part of my life for eighty years it has been hard to part with these treasures but as polo has been part of the history of the Clifton district since 1891 I feel the museum is a rightful home for this valuable collection,” Mrs Murray said.
When the Armstrong family moved to Pilton in 1907, Frank at the age of 15, began his polo career alongside his Irish born father, Jack.
In his first year of competition, Frank won the feature event at the end of year Gymkhana and repeated this feat in his last year of competition in 1949.
One major trophy in the collection, the Rose Bowl, was donated by proprietor of the Royal Hotel (now O’Shanley’s) T. H. Ferry in 1910.
Frank Armstrong won this trophy on a horse called ‘Ricketty Ann’, repeated the feat the following year and went on to win other major trophies on the horse including the cup and bracelet at the 1911 Greenmount Polo Club Gymkhana.
In 1923 Pilton won the major trophies of the Queensland Championships conducted at Clifford Park racecourse in Toowoomba.
Celebrating the win at the Pilton Hall players were presented with a gold cigarette case.
The recipients were: Team A, Bill Freez, Frank and Bob Armstrong and Jack Dalton; Team B, Tom Hamill, Cawsey and Max Cooke and their father Charlie.
A trip to Adelaide to play in the Barr-Smith Cup in 1939 saw Frank travelling overland in a two ton Ford truck with Spring Creek team mate Bill Byrne and Jack Gilmore with four horses, feed and gear.
Frank went on to captain the Queensland Polo team competing in the Australasian Gold Cups of 1925, 1934, and 1938.
After interstate competitions Frank usually sold his polo ponies to Melbourne and Sydney players to cover his expenses.
The collection of trophies, all in pristine condition, represent a part of Clifton’s sporting history and will be of particular interest to those families involved with polo in the early years of Clifton’s history.
