Peter Hunter came from a famous Illawarra football family. His father, also named Peter, was one of the founders of the famous Balgownie club in the late nineteenth century. He is believed to have supplied the first football to be kicked in the Illawarra area.
Peter Hunter Jr. was an upcoming fullback for Balgownie Rangers when he enlisted in 1916 aged 21 years. He was also a keen tennis player and was Secretary of the Balgownie Tennis Club after the war. Peter served on the Western Front with the 13 Battalion. He suffered an infection after an operation for appendicitis in Edinburgh and was rehabilitated back to Australia in 1918.
Peter suffered from health problems for many years and in 1954 his old club Balgownie Rangers organised a benefit for him that raised £75.