The club was founded on the 1st of April 1905 and the clubhouse completed by the 29th of August 1905. Seven rinks were in operation by 1906. The clubhouse still features a stained glass window of Drake playing bowls.
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The original clubhouse still stands and is an integral part of the spacious building now in use, more than a century later. The story of how the original clubhouse came into being is told briefly but clearly in the early records of the club.
On May 16 1905, only days after the company shareholders had appointed their first permanent directors, the honorary architect produced a rough sketch of a building he suggested as suitable for a clubhouse. He estimated the pavilion would cost three hundred pounds. The directors asked him to prepare complete plans. Mr Moorehouse submitted his complete plans exactly one week later. The directors accepted them and decided there and then to call tenders. The work was quickly under way and astonishingly the building was ready by August. An article in the New South Wales Bowlers Annual of 1906 described the pavilion as "up to date in every way, having a large social hall, a committee room, a bowlers' room, visitors' room, caretakers' room, a modern bar and sanitary arrangements." The article went on: "everything is of the very best, and visitors on the opening night and since further improvements were made have passed the opinion that the new pavilion is second to none." |
In the meantime construction of the greens was well under way but this work did not go on without a hitch. The club had accepted tenders of three shillings and sixpence a load for quarry rubble, two shillings a load for earth filling and one hundred and forty pounds for laying down of the greens. But then it found it could not get enough suitable carters to carry the materials to the job. Eventually, of course, this problem was overcome and the job moved ahead to completion.
By September 21, 1906, when a billiards room had been added to the clubhouse, the directors had before them a dissection of the costs. The original pavilion had cost three hundred and fifty six pounds and the billiards room three hundred pounds. Land had cost four hundred and fifty pounds, the greens two hundred and twenty six pounds, fencing ninety two pounds and incidental costs were three hundred and thirty five pounds.
When first established, the club had 52 members, all male and from middle class backgrounds. The social base of the club widened progressively as the district became more working class. An associated Ladies Bowling Club was established in 1938.
A chemist, Robert G. Brereton, was well known locally and was president of Marrickville Bowling Club in 1906/07. Many preferred to consult him rather than a doctor and after his death the people of the district raised 520 pounds in his memory and donated it to Marrickville District Hospital to establish the R.G. Brereton Childrens Ward.
By September 21, 1906, when a billiards room had been added to the clubhouse, the directors had before them a dissection of the costs. The original pavilion had cost three hundred and fifty six pounds and the billiards room three hundred pounds. Land had cost four hundred and fifty pounds, the greens two hundred and twenty six pounds, fencing ninety two pounds and incidental costs were three hundred and thirty five pounds.
When first established, the club had 52 members, all male and from middle class backgrounds. The social base of the club widened progressively as the district became more working class. An associated Ladies Bowling Club was established in 1938.
A chemist, Robert G. Brereton, was well known locally and was president of Marrickville Bowling Club in 1906/07. Many preferred to consult him rather than a doctor and after his death the people of the district raised 520 pounds in his memory and donated it to Marrickville District Hospital to establish the R.G. Brereton Childrens Ward.