Almost two centuries ago, five men founded one of Australia's oldest sporting clubs. A gallery was established in their honour, but to this day, only four of the five founders' portraits are on display - with a search for the fifth image still ongoing.
The origins of the MCC
The Melbourne Cricket Club (MCC) was founded on November 15, 1838 when five men - Frederick Powlett, Robert Russell, George B. Smyth and brothers Alfred and Charles Mundy - agreed to form a cricket club. The Club's first cricket match was played on November 17, between the newly formed MCC and a military team, at the site Old Mint on William Street in Melbourne.
To mark their legacy, in 2006 the Founders Gallery was established on Level 2 of the MCC Pavilion, inside famous Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). But to this day, only 4 of the 5 founders' images continue to take pride of place.
Frederick Armand Powlett
Founding member Frederick Armand Powlett was the first President of the MCC. Prowlett was a fine cricketer, making the first century and taking the first hat-trick in the Port Philip District, as Victoria was known at the time. He represented Victoria in two intercolonial games against Tasmania in the 1950s, becoming the first MCC President to play first-class cricket.
Robert Russell
Robert Russell was the first Treasurer or 'Bursar' of the Club. Russell was Crown Surveyor of the Port Philip District and made several early architectural contributions to Melbourne, including the first Customs House and the Victorian Mint.
Alfred Miller Mundy
Alfred Miller Mundy was a military officer in New South Wales and a Magistrate in Tasmania, who later served in the Legislative Council of South Australia.
Charles Fitzroy Miller Mundy
Founder Charles Fitzroy Miller Mundy, brother to Alfred, went on to have a lengthy career in the Bengal Staff Corps in India, before retiring to Bath in the United Kingdom (UK). When the Founders Gallery was originally installed in 2006, no image of Charles had been identified. It was only after several years of research that, in 2015, an image was discovered in the Derbyshire Record Office (UK) and duly added to the display.
George Brunswick Smyth
The search for an image of the fifth and final founder, George Brunswick Smyth, continues to this day. Smyth died in Lewisham England in 1845, making the existence of a photograph an unlikely prospect. Yet his military career makes the existence of a portrait completely possible.
Print, "Melbourne from 'The Falls' from Sketch, October 1838" by Robert Russell (1882)Melbourne Cricket Club
In her will, Smyth's wife Constantia, left to her niece in England "an oil painting of my late husband Captain Brunswick Smyth - also a smaller painting of his yacht and a smaller painting of his horse and dog together with himself".
The paintings were destined for Lady Rose Chalmers who resided at Charlton House in Charlton, Kent. It is unknown whether they arrived, but records of a large auction held at Charlton House in 1920 list the sale of numerous items, including unidentified paintings.
Were the Smyth paintings included in the lot?
The MCC Library and Museum have corresponded with colleagues in the UK, to help solve the mystery and find the elusive paintings of George Brunswick Smyth.
Yet so far the final founder remains a name only, his image lost, for now, to history.
In Search of Fitzroy and Brunswick, The Yorker Issue 64, Spring 2017
