Preston Football Club – 1939 Team Photo (taken at Prahran)

Back Row: Bill Seedsman, Joe Beagley, Alf Roach, Jack Norman, Arthur Sleith, Bill Lowenthal

Middle Row: Jack Robertson, Jack Clarke, George Colban, Alby Morrison, Clarrie White, Des Hanscombe

Front Row: Ernie Dunham, Les Ross, Wally Miller, Frank Dowling, Rex Job, Phil Dunstone

 

1939 Preston Football Club photo, taken at Prahran during Round 13, 8 July 1939.

Prahran 19-14-128 def Preston 16-12-108

Game Details and players – The VFA Project

 

The journey began in 2020, to try and identify as many of the faces standing alongside my Grandfather, Alf Roach, in this 1939 Preston Team Photo, taken at Toorak Park, Prahran.

After much searching, many findings, a mistaken belief or two corrected, and even the occasional contact with actual direct descendants, the identifications currently appear as above.

As always, happy to hear of any corrections, confirmations, or absolutely anything of interest in relation to the photo, and the people pictured in it.

While this post has been completely updated (as at March 2026), a bit of a history of how all this began, as well as how it unfolded, can still be found in these posts –

 

Part 3

Part 2

Part 1

 

William James ‘Bill’ Seedsman – 18-9-1914 – 10-10-2001. Preston 1939-41, 1945 (60 games). Hawthorn 1936 (1 game). Collingwood 1942 (1 game).

Back row, far left.

1939 (at Prahran and Preston) team photos.

1940 and 1941 Preston team photos.

 

Rupert Arthur ‘Joe’ Beagley – 30-4-1912 – 22-10-1995. Preston 1936-40 (64 games).

Back row, second from left.

1937, 1938 and 1939 (taken at Prahran) Preston team photos.

1939 (taken at Preston) Preston team photo, and 1940 Coburg team photo.

 

Alfred Dennis Stephen ‘Alf’ Roach – 22-4-1918 – 25-8-2012. Preston 1938-41 (60 games).

Back row, third from left.

1938 and 1939 (at Prahran and Preston) Preston team photos.

1940 Preston team photo, and caricature from a 1940 VFA Recorder.

 

John ‘Jack’ Norman – 2-8-1909 – 23-3-1994*. Preston 1939-41, 1945-46 (66 games^).  Fitzroy 1938 (1 game).

*Date of death found on ‘Australian Football.com’ site, and confirmed on Births, Deaths and Marriages, Queensland.

^On the VFA Project, Jack’s brother, Ingwald (Ingy), is credited with Jack’s 1939 games at Preston. Ingy didn’t arrive at Preston until 1940. With two brothers being there at the same time, there could be other discrepancies in their game tallies.

Back row, third from right.

1939 (at Prahran and Preston), and 1940 Preston team photos.

1941 Preston team photo, and enlistment photo.

 

Arthur Joseph Sleith – 22-12-1917 – 17-12-2008. Preston 1937-41, 1946 (57 games). Carlton 1942-43 (5 games).

Back row, second from right.

1939 (at Prahran and Preston), and 1940 Preston team photos.

1942 RAAF team photo, and enlistment photo.

 

William Marcus ‘Bill’ Lowenthal – 23-9-1909 – 13*-7-1989. Preston 1938-41 (42 games). Essendon 1930-37 (73 games). Fitzroy 1937 (13 games).

*Wikipedia states 13 July as the date of death, however Births, Deaths and Marriages Queensland, as well as a death notice from the Gold Coast Bulletin, published 18 July 1989, states 14 July.

Back row, far right.

1939 (at Prahran and Preston), and 1941 Preston team photos.

1932 Essendon team photo, 1933 Victorian team photo, and 1934 Football Record photo.

 

Jack Robertson* – Preston 1937-39 (22 games).

*While absolute conclusive proof is yet to be found, in all probability, Robertson’s more complete details look like this –

Jack Scott Robertson – 3-3-1911 – 3-10-1992. Preston 1937-39 (22 games).

Note – Named 19th man in this game, but replaced Ken Watkins (injured shoulder) in the first quarter.

Middle row, far left.

1939 (at Prahran and Preston) team photos.

 

Jack Clark – 18-11-1911 – 27-12-1980. Preston 1935-41 (104 games).

Middle row, second from left.

1938, and 1939 (at Prahran and Preston) Preston team photos.

1940 and 1941 Preston team photos.

1933 South Gambier team photo and enlistment photo.

 

Lloyd George ‘George’ Colban – 22-3-1917 – 19-5-1990. Preston 1938-40 (27 games).

Middle row, third from left.

1938 and 1939 (Prahran) Preston team photos, and enlistment photo.

 

Albert George Henry ‘Alby’ Morrison – 29-1-1909 – 24-9-1997. Preston 1939-40 (39 games). Footscray 1928-38, 1941-42, 1946 (224 games).

Middle row, third from right.

1939 (at Prahran and Preston), and 1940 Preston team photos.

1929 Victorian team photo, 1942 Footscray team photo, and enlistment photo.

 

Clarence Alfred Eric ‘Clarrie’ White – 27*-2-1914 – 22-5-1991.  Preston 1939-40 (27 games). Footscray 1937 (4 games). St Kilda 1937 (1 game).

*Date on Wikipedia and various football related sites, but ‘Find a Grave’ page, and grave plaque photo, states 28 February.

Middle row, second from right.

1939 (Prahran), 1940 Preston team photos, and 1937 St Kilda trading card.

 

Des Hanscombe* – Preston 1939-40 (12 games).

Middle row, far right.

*From the abbreviated information found below, I believe Des Hanscombe’s more complete details look like this –

Arthur Desmond ‘Des’ Hanscombe – DOB between 18-4-1917 and 31-12-1917, died 17-4-1983. Preston 1939-40 (12 games)

 

Although currently unable to categorically prove it, Preston’s ‘Des Hanscombe’, appears to actually be Arthur Desmond Hanscombe.

Using sites like Births, Deaths and Marriages, the Ryerson Index, and of course Trove, the following was found –

Arthur Desmond Hanscombe was born in Hawthorn in 1917, and died in 1983, aged 65.  The Ryerson Index gives a date of death as 17 April, which would give a birth date somewhere between 18/4/1917 and 31/12/1917.

Due to minimal hits on Trove for the surname ‘Hanscombe’, Arthur Desmond was reasonably easy to follow around.

In many findings, particularly when mentioned in family situations, he was often reported as ‘Des’, or ‘Desmond’, Hanscombe, with ‘Arthur’ rarely, if ever, used on its own.

1941 and 1942 gave up engagement and wedding announcements, which not only confirmed that Desmond Hanscombe and Arthur Desmond Hanscombe were one and the same, but also gave a Preston connection, with a relatively close by residential address.

Engagement announcement from the Shepparton Advertiser, 10 January, 1941.

Wedding announcement from The Argus, 28 May, 1942.

1939 Preston team photo (taken at Prahran), and while the quality of the photo isn’t great, who I believe to be Des Hanscombe in a 1940 Preston seconds team photo.

 

Ernest Frederick ‘Ernie’ Dunham – 29-1-1916 – 22-6-1998. Preston 1939-41 (33 games).

Front row, far left.

1939 (at Prahran and Preston) team photos, and a newspaper photo from The Age, 8 April, 1950.

 

Leslie Welton Hugh ‘Les’ Ross – 13-8-1916 – 6-3-2011. Preston 1938-41, 1946 (57 games).

Front row, second from left.

1938 and 1939 (at Prahran and Preston) Preston team photos.

1940 and 1941 Preston team photos, and enlistment photo.

 

Walter Henson ‘Wally’ Miller – 21-10-1917 – 26-5-1992. Preston 1939-40 (24 games). Fitzroy 1943-45 (36 games).

Front row, third from left.

1939 (at Prahran and Preston) team photos.

1943, 1944, and 1945 Fitzroy team photos.

 

Francis John ‘Frank’ or ‘Dickie’ Dowling – 6*-6-1911 – 9-4-1991. Preston 1931-1941 (160 games).

*There is some confusion on the exact date, with it being either 6 June, or 7 June.

Front row, third from right.

1931, 1932, 1933, and 1934 Preston team photos.

1937, 1938, and 1939 (at Prahran) Preston team photos.

1939 (at Preston), 1940 and 1941 Preston team photos.

 

Rexford Frederick ‘Rex’ Job – 9-8-1910 – 24-5-1999. Preston 1937-39 (44 games). Carlton 1931 (1 game).

Front row, second from right.

1938 and 1939 (at Prahran) Preston team photos, and 1935 Carlton seconds team photo.

 

Phillip Samuel ‘Phil’ Dunstone – 4-10-1914 – 19-9-2000. Preston 1936-41 (97 games). North Melbourne 1943-44 (13 games).

Front row, far right.

1938, and 1939 (at Prahran and Preston) Preston team photos.

1940 Preston team photo, c1944 RAAF team photo, and enlistment photo.