Highfields were unlucky in not scoring more, but if they continue to improve, they will be there ‘when the whips are cracking’. Mr Edgar of the Caledonian Hotel (an Anzac) showed he is thoroughly conversant with the game. The Toowoomba Chronicle, 23 June 1919.
John Edgar was praised by the Chronicle despite Highfield’s 5-1 loss to Allies. He was new to town, having moved from Brisbane, but quickly immersed himself in the local game. A week before the match, Edgar had hosted a meeting of the Soldier’s Club – otherwise known as Diggers and distinct from Allies – and offered a medal for the most improved player that season. He also picked up the whistle, having been seen refereeing a game between Past Norths and Cadets in August 1919.
Edgar bought the Caledonian Hotel in Margaret St earlier that year, despite never having held a licence before. He was not shy of informing the public the establishment was now being run by an original Anzac. In the Toowoomba Chronicle of 5 June 1919, he highlighted his military particulars and stated, “a ring on the ‘phone will receive prompt attention from the new proprietor, who is out to do business in Anzac style.” Edgar transferred the licence to his wife Bertha in August. A year later they sold the licence and took over the Union Hotel in Ruthven St, Toowoomba.
According to the Toowoomba Chronicle of 9 August 1920, Edgar hosted a meeting at the Union Hotel with the hope of forming a new soccer club to bolster the number of clubs in the local competition. It is unknown whether the club was formed.
He originally came from Lancashire but enlisted in Sydney on 15 October 1914. His stated occupation was soldier and gave his address as the Maribyrnong Barracks in Victoria. He had been a member of the No.1 Battery RAFA (No. 1 Battery Royal Australian Field Artillery) before the war. The unit was originally formed as A Battery, New South Wales Artillery in 1871 and became a member of the Royal Australian Artillery Regiment after Federation. The Battery supplied volunteers who helped form the 1st Australian Imperial Force soon after the declaration of war, though Edgar enlisted later.
Exactly why he enlisted in Sydney and not Melbourne is unclear. What is known is that three days after enlisting, Edgar embarked for the war. He joined the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force in April 1915. It is unknown whether he was part of the landing in Gallipoli, though it is known he was admitted to hospital in Alexandria in June with illness. He recovered by September and served in Gallipoli as a gunner with the 1st Battery.
In October he was evacuated with jaundice to Gibraltar and then onto England. Edgar recovered in Bristol, and Weymouth. In April 1916, Edgar married Bertha Tidswell in Bolton, Lancashire. A month later he returned to Egypt in May 1916 and onto France by mid-June. By the end of the year illness returned and so did Edgar to England. Here he ran into disciplinary issues, including wilfully making a false statement, which saw him detained for 28 days unpaid.
Edgar never returned to France, spending time at Penham Downs and Larkhill, starting back to Australia in April 1918, after which he was medically discharged due to dysentery. On his return he appears to have lived in Brisbane before taking over the licence of the Caledonian Hotel and then the Union Hotel in Toowoomba. The Edgars then sold the licence for the Union Hotel in 1921 and seemingly disappeared. Edgar’s sister, Miss H. E. Edgar of Bolton, wrote to Base Records asking for his whereabouts the same year, with the letter being referred to the Victoria Barracks in Sydney in October. Her original letter does not appear in his military record file, nor does any reply.
It would be 15 years before his whereabouts became readily apparent. The Edgars movements cannot be tracked by electoral rolls. Other records suggest Bertha may have died after their departure from Toowoomba. New South Wales Births, Deaths and Marriages lists a Bertha Edgar as passing away in 1926 in the Petersham region, but there is no indication either way whether this is Edgar’s wife. The Sydney Morning Herald of 25 November 1926 published a Deceased Estate notice stating that this Bertha was living in Gordon Rd, Mona Vale and was married.
That Edgar’s wife had died is hinted at in his military record. It contains a document officially changing his next of kin to Bertha, dated 1917, well after their marriage. It appears at a later date a red line was drawn through the document, and the word “Deceased” was added. These changes are undated.
Edgar eventually reappeared at Wardoo Station, near Wagga Wagga in 1936, where he wrote to Base Records seeking a replacement for his lost discharge certificate. Otherwise, what he did was not obviously noticeable in the newspapers or public record.
Edgar died in 1961, in the Parramatta region.