George Moysey

George Moysey
Personal information
Full name	George Bickford Moysey
Date of birth	14 May 1874
Place of birth	Battery Point, Tasmania
Date of death	18 May 1932 (aged 58)
Place of death	Canberbury, Victoria
Playing career^1
Years	Club	Games (Goals)
1897–1899	Melbourne	35 (25)
^1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1899 season.

George Bickford Moysey (14 May 1874 – 18 May 1932) was an Australian sportsman who played Australian rules football and cricket at a high level. He played for Melbourne in the Victorian Football League (VFL) and also competed in the West Australian Football Association/League. As a cricketer he played one first-class match for Western Australia.

Moysey was from Tasmania but was already playing for Melbourne by the time the VFL was formed. He was one of six Melbourne players to appear in all 17 possible games of the inaugural league season in 1897, which included three finals.^[1] His 12 goals that year were bettered by only two teammates.^[1] He spent two more seasons at the club and in 1899 represented Victoria in an interstate fixture against South Australia.^[2]

Having found employment at the Mount Morgans Gold Mine, Moysey moved to Western Australia at the turn of the 20th century.^[3] He worked there for six years, then moved to Perth, where he began playing for the Perth Football Club, which he would captain.^[4] Later, he also played for Subiaco.

When the Marylebone Cricket Club toured Australia in 1907/08, Moysey was picked in the Western Australian team to play them at the WACA Ground. Facing an attack that consisted of English Test players, the left handed batsman was bowled by Jack Crawford for eight in the first innings and dismissed by Wilfred Rhodes in his second innings.^[5]

In 1910 he almost drowned in The Basin at Rottnest Island when the current swept him out to sea. He was said to have been sinking by the time his companion, Percy Bailey, rescued him. Bailey received a Royal Humane Society award for his act of saving Moysey's life.^[6]

He would eventually return to the city of Melbourne and died there in 1932.

References

1. AFL Tables: George Moysey
2. Holmesby, Russell & Main, Jim (2007). The Encyclopedia Of AFL Footballers. BAS Publishing. ISBN 978-1-920910-78-5.
3. Kalgoorlie Western Argus,"Mount Morgans", 6 February 1906, p. 7
4. The Sunday Times,"Perth V. North Fremantle", 21 April 1907, p. 2
5. CricketArchive: Western Australia v Marylebone Cricket Club in 1907/08
6. The West Australian,"Royal Humane Society", 12 October 1911, p. 5