George Albert Baker # 78

Returning from holiday in Rotorua in June 2012  I headed to Morrinsville looking for George Albert Baker who was killed in 1934 at the age of 19. I had to stop at the Morrinsville council office as the map they have of the cemetery was too large to email to me when I was at Matamata District Council. (Matamata DC has the responsibility of a number of cemeteries)  I guess the town grew around the cemetery as it is very close to the centre of town. But judging by the size of the trees it’s quite old.  I literally knew where to go the minute I parked on the road and looked up the drive.

George Albert Baker was 19 years old when he died. He was riding a horse called Kelly, in the Calliope Handicap at Takapuna Racecourse on the 27th of January in 1934.  Some reported that Kelly rolled against the running rail causing George’s injuries, others claim George and the mount merely touched the rail but that George got tangled and then went down.  What isn’t in debate is that on the bend just before the straight he hit the wooden running rail. George (Albie) Baker received a broken leg, concussion and internal injuries.  He died at the Auckland Hospital at 5.30 pm. His mum was on her way from Motumaoho (near Morrinsville) but didn't make it to Auckland before Albie died.  

The Stewards of the day immediately called an inquiry, but the broadest inquiry was undertaken by the Coroner Wyvern Wilson.  (Interestingly the Stewards came to the conclusion that the girth had broken causing the saddle to move up and this was what had caused Albie to be thrown through the railing. Nothing about the course being an issue. Makes you wonder if the course was the issue would they have cancelled the rest of the meetings races? and totally off the track, the local undertaker was very involved with the
TJC - that is a bit creepy).  The Coroner had a bit of difficulty getting corroborating evidence and at one point called an adjournment for more evidence to be provided. Before making his final decision on February 10th 1934, the coroner concluded that horses when put under pressure, naturally gallop straight forward, not in a circle? He then advises that the Takapuna course was too circular for inexperienced horses to maintain their balance and keep up a high speed . (Kelly was a two-year-old competing in it’s first race. However he did say the rider was skilled and the horse well trained.  The cause of death was listed as accidental.

No one wants to be the cause of someone’s death but it appears there were a few people covering their own backsides and trying to ensure they didn’t get the blame.  Albie was the 7th rider to die on the Takapuna course. He was also the last. Each and every time there was a fatality at the racecourse it was put down to jockey error. There were a couple of times that the course was clearly the issue, but it was the 7th coroner who pushed to have the course looked at, and within a year of George’s death the racecourse closed.  7 men died and the course was faulty. (Just trying to think what to write instead using lots of swear words) It just made me so mad!!  The following year the Takapuna JC held their meeting at Ellerslie, and as fate would have it, another young man died at that meeting.  The Takapuna JC had offered to fix their course and wanted to upgrade the stands etc, but this was declined and eventually their members joined up with the Ellerslie members.

Today the old TJC ground is the Takapuna Golf Course.  It’s a beautiful serene place. (I’ve seen only one aerial shot of the Takapuna Racecourse taken by the crew of a RNZAF plane out of Whenuapai. Which showed the actual racecourse in it’s day.   And yup it was most definitely very circular). When you pay your respects and sit looking at these young mens headstones you just wonder why it had to happen.  How flippin expendable were these riders and horses?

Albies father George Albert Baker was a farmer at Motumaoho, where he lived till he retired. Both he and his wife are buried beside Albie. Records list Albie as being born in New Zealand but he doesn’t show up in the Birth records in NZ. Maybe there is a spelling mistake, but I’ve tried all possibilities. Even so I believe he was born about 1915. It appears that because of his love of horses and his small stature, Albie decided to become a professional rider. He was apprenticed to Mr George Paul of Te Awamutu. I believe he was still apprenticed to Mr Paul at the time of his death. George Baker the father was the son of  Charles Baker who won the Auckland Trotting Cup in 1906 with Typewriter.   I found records that show an older son born to Kate & George Baker, but not much else. Records show a John Patrick Baker being born and it’s not uncommon to find someone called John who is called Jack as a nickname. Found the reference to a JP Baker (Jack) who won the NZ Cup at Addington Raceway in Christchurch in 1965 who might be the elder brother of the apprentice jockey Albie. I’ve yet to discover if there were any sisters in the family. JP Baker the trainer lived in Morrinsville. So I have my fingers crossed that maybe he was the older brother or a cousin?

When you walk up the slight incline to the cemetery, you see a large polished headstone in a warm red colour which broaches a large plot in the 3rd row to your right. This is where Albie rests. Him and his folks need a bit of  TLC and hopefully on my way to Rotorua next time I’ll be able to stop in and tidy them up.  I sat for a while after I wrote the inscription down from the headstone and closed my eyes to clear my mind.  I hope I find a picture of him one day, to see if he looks like I imagine he did. I’m sure that he would have had a write up in a local paper from the area. I wonder who owned the horse he was riding and what the colours were he wore that afternoon.

A while back I talked with Colin Jillings and he said that he could recall seeing horses using the course as they travelled past the Takapuna coast heading north by boat to attend races in Whangarei back in the 30's. Just makes you think how times have changed. In the 1880s they rode the horses to the races or used boats to transport them, then there was the automobile and now planes. Watching a clip of Black Caviar traveling to the Northern Hemisphere in that awesome body suit … just where does it all go now.  I’m sure our angel riders are looking down very amused at what a bunch of comfort creatures we’ve become.

1. Bertram Thomas Castleton                     19yrs           3 Jan     1897
2. Alfred Charles Walter Butler                  24yrs          26 Nov  1904
3. William James Moylan                           15yrs          26 Nov  1921
4. Alfred John McFlinn (aka AJ McFlynn) 38yrs          29 Nov  1924
5. Edward Montague Preston                    28yrs            2 Feb   1926
6.Robert Henry Reilly                                28yrs          28 Nov  1928
7. George Albert Baker                            19yrs           27 Jan    1934

    Sorry I've been gone for so long, I've been a bit busy in the last 6-8 months.  My dad was diagnosed with lung cancer – guess it’s a forgone conclusion when you smoke for 62 years. Fast as my dad was (and he’s up there in the super dad category) he couldn’t dodge that bullet.  When I first started my research he would just nod at me in his fatherly way and pass by with his coffee, as he headed to his man-cave.  Later when the cancer took a tighter grip, he’d sit and watch me as I wrestled with my research. Just knowing he was around to answer questions seemed to make him feel part of what I was doing. Gradually he lost the endurance to do even that. Dad was there when I made my first phone calls, and started building up the material on each rider. I’d get all excited and tell him about my new discoveries … He on the other hand would recall the names and exploits of riders he knew, (which while interesting wasn’t all that helpful as  none of them died during their careers) but it was something we shared.

     During one of his last stays at hospice, he looked over at me and randomly told me to “finish it” …  I didn’t know what he was on about and then he said  … “the jockeys” At that point I hadn’t touched anything for months. I was stunned that amongst the pain, and there was lots of pain by then, that he thought about my project.  I promised him that I would keep going … and I will.  This is the first time I’m doing it without him. I miss him so much and I can only hope that each of these riders had someone who loved them and grieved for them the way my siblings and I are grieving for our dad. I intend to make sure our generations don’t forget my dad either, I couldn’t have wished for a better Dad, a better friend and a greater inspiration.

Eugene Alexander Chan : 16 February 1930 – 19 March 2012

My Dad being cheeky to the camera