Jack Deas

Australian rules footballer

Jack Deas
Personal information
Full name	John Deas
Nickname(s)	Jack
Date of birth	5 November 1875
Place of birth	Port Melbourne, Victoria
Date of death	23 August 1949(1949-08-23) (aged 73)
Place of death	Caulfield, Victoria
Original team(s)	Leopold (MJFA)
Position(s)	Defender
Playing career¹
Years	Club	Games (Goals)
1897	South Melbourne	02 (0)
1899–1901	Fitzroy	33 (0)
1902	Essendon	03 (0)
Total		38 (0)
¹ Playing statistics correct to the end of 1902.
Career highlights
VFL premiership player: 1899
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

John Deas (5 November 1875 – 23 August 1949) was an Australian rules footballer who played for the South Melbourne Football Club, Fitzroy Football Club and Essendon Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL).

Family

The son of John Deas (1843–1891),^[1]^[2] and Elizabeth Deas (1851-1925), née Scott,^[3] John Deas was born at Port Melbourne, Victoria on 5 November 1875. His brother, George Deas (1888–1958), played VFL football with South Melbourne and VFA football with Port Melbourne; another brother, Robert "Bob" Deas (1886-1960), also played VFL football with South Melbourne.

He married Irene Styche Colby (1882–1941) on 2 November 1912.^[4]^[5]^[6] They had two children: a daughter, Nancy (b.1915), and a son, Geoffrey (b.1918), who died in his infancy.^[7]

Cricket

He played cricket with the South Melbourne Cricket Club.^[8]

Football

South Melbourne (VFA)

Deas, who was a defender, was recruited from the Leopold Football Club in the Victorian Junior Football Association (MJFA), with whom he played in 1895 and 1896. He played one game with the South Melbourne Football Club in the VFA in 1896.^[9]

South Melbourne (VFL)

He played in two games with South Melbourne in the first-ever year of the VFL competition (1897).

Fitzroy (VFL)

He was cleared from South Melbourne to Fitzroy in May 1899.^[10] He played in 15 consecutive matches, following his debut in round 3, and was a half-back flanker in Fitzroy's 1899 premiership side.^[11]

Essendon (VFL)

After a further two seasons at Fitzroy he crossed to Essendon where he played one final season.

Employment

He was employed by the Public Works Department for 48 years, the last 25 as engineer-in-charge at the Melbourne Law Courts.^[12]

Death

He died at his residence in Caulfield, Victoria on 23 August 1949.^[13]^[14]

Notes

^ The Flood, The (Port Melbourne) Standard, (Saturday, 18 July 1891), p. 3.
^ Drowned in the Flood, The Argus, (Monday, 3 August 1891), p. 6.
^ Deaths: Deas, The Argus, (Thursday, 29 October 1925), p. 1.
^ Marriages: Deas—Colby, The Argus, (Tuesday, 3 December 1912), p. 1.
^ Deaths: Deas, The Argus, (Tuesday, 2 December 1941), p. 4.
^ The Final. Call: Mrs. Irene Deas, The (Emerald Hill) Record, (Saturday, 6 December 1941), p. 2.
^ Geoffrey lived for only two days.
^ "No-Balled" for Throw, So bowled Underarm: Cricket Incident Recalled by Death of Mr. Jack Deas, The (Emerald Hill) Record, (Saturday, 27 August 1949), p.5.
^ Pennings (2016), p. 529.
^ Football, The Argus, (Thursday, 1 July 1899), p. 7.
^ Victorian Football League Premiers for 1899 — The Fitzroy Team and Supporters (Photograph), The Weekly Times, (Saturday, 23 September 1899), p. 11.
^ Mr. Jack Deas retires from Public Works Department; Had many successes as South Melbourne Cricketer, The (Emerald Hill) Record, (Saturday, 16 August 1941), p. 2.
^ Deaths: Deas, The Argus, (Wednesday, 24 August 1949), p. 12.
^ Obituary: Mr. J. Deas, The Age, (Wednesday, 24 August 1949), p. 2.

References

Holmesby, Russell and Main, Jim (2007). The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers. 7th ed. Melbourne: Bas Publishing.
Maplestone, M., Flying Higher: History of the Essendon Football Club 1872–1996, Essendon Football Club, (Melbourne), 1996. ISBN 0-9591740-2-8
Pennings, Mark (2016), Origins of Australian Football: Victoria's early History: Volume 4: Tough Times: Victorian Football loses its Way, 1891 to 1896, Brunswick, Victoria: Grumpy Monks Publishing. ISBN 978-0-646-93604-8