A Friday morning, in July 2025. Laptop open, while enjoying my ‘day starting’ coffee.
The urge to continue following Thomas Togarmah Jones around, post his Preston days, is being thwarted by laziness and apathy.
I need to be in the mood, and right now, I’m not.
Instead, random searches of some of the names in the 1938 Preston team photo, on sites like ‘Find a Grave’ and ‘National Archives of Australia, ensues.
One of those names is George Colban, whose surname is often found with, what is an incorrect ‘e’ on the end.
The initial search reveals very little, as it’s forgotten that George isn’t actually his ‘first’ name.
He is, in fact, Lloyd George Colban.
Find a Grave reveals a solitary match; date of death of 19 May, 1990, and interred at Fawkner Memorial Park.
Fawkner helps, and while more research is needed, it’s highly likely it’s our George.
Off to the National Archives site, and again, there is only one Lloyd George Colban.
And with Preston listed as both the place of birth and place of enlistment, well, it looks like a match.
The digital copy of his serving papers is perused, and fortuitously, a photo is found on the second page.
But I have a problem, and that is that the photo, in my mind, doesn’t really look like the George Colban that I ‘know’.
Or think I know.
It’s saved, cropped, cleaned up, and then the comparison is made.
As much as I want to believe it’s him, it’s just not.
I’m devastated.
But also annoyed.
But only at myself.
How have I got this so wrong?
I think; it has been a while now; that my decision was based on who had been in what photos, as well as who was left after identifications were ticked off.
Which is okay, but I clearly missed something. May even have made one of those assumptions.
In the end, it’s probably not that important. Simply put, I got it wrong.
And that annoys me. As well as disappoints.
Lloyd ‘George’ Colban.
Clearly not ‘Lloyd George Colban’!
The realisation then hits that this little discovery doesn’t only impact the 1938 photo, but also the 1939 Prahran photo, and, quite possibly, the 1939 team photo taken at Preston.
So, off to begin at the start, which is 1938.
The photo is once again perused, and it doesn’t take long at all to find the correct ‘George’.
That’s good, but this now means I’ve lost ‘Rex Job’.
George Colban – middle row, fourth player from the left!
Sometimes you have to stare, looking at different facial features, or any other features for that matter, to convince, or otherwise, that they are one and the same.
But with George, it was easy. Almost too easy.
The hairline, the ears, the cheeks, the eyebrows, and the mouth, with that cheeky looking grin.
It’s as much him, as it isn’t who I originally thought George was.
It’s good that it’s so convincing, and while I would have preferred to have been correct in the first place, it is kind of nice to turn a wrong into a right.
But yeah, I’ve now lost Rex Job, and I now don’t know who the ‘old’ George Colban is.
It could simply be a straight swap, but that all just feels a little too easy.
Off to get reacquainted with Rex, including spending some more time on the National Archives site.
He is there, and while he does have a digital copy of his file, unfortunately, there’s no photo.
The rest of it is still perused; well, as best I can, given the hard to read cursive writing of the day; with a couple of small things gleaned from it, which are slightly positive.
First, the description of his features, with his hair and complexion being described as ‘fair’. George’s hair was described as ‘light brown’.
George had his height recorded as 6 foot, while Rex’s was stated as 5 foot 10 inches, which, to me, makes sense in the photo, with George appearing taller.
And finally, Rex was born in August 1910, whereas George, who looks younger in the 1938 photo, was born in March 1917.
Yep, only small things, and it really proves very little, but at least it doesn’t disprove things.
George’s details, from National Archives Australia.
Rex’s details, from National Archives Australia.
But I want, actually, need, a photo, so it’s back to have a closer look at what I already have.
Carlton, who record their history so well, have a story on his one game for them, and while there is a photo there, it’s not a photo that is going to help with what I need.
It is a nice write-up, though.
Rex Job, with the ball, from the above link.
There are, however, a couple of team photos, with a named one from 1930, when Carlton sent a team to Brisbane, and an unnamed one of a reserves team, from 1935.
Rex Job in the middle, and in the main photo, second row, third person from left.
The hair, while styled differently, looks similar, the chin, and ears, yeah, possibly.
But it’s 1930, which is a significant eight years earlier, and then there’s the quality of the photo.
It’s far from conclusive that this Rex Job is our guy in the Preston photos, and there’s no way that I would be prepared to call it.
And the 1935 photo?
Well, it’s a photo I had filed away as ‘Rex Job, Carlton Reserves, 1935’.
I can only assume it was found on Carlton’s Blueseum site, where it sits with no other identifiable information, other than the team and year. But for the life of me, I have no idea how it came that Rex’s name has been attached to it.
My best, and only, guess, is that I had, at some point, discovered that Rex was playing seconds at Carlton in 1935. The photo, perhaps, had then been commandeered, in the hope that he was possibly in it, and that at some future moment in time, the stars would align, and Rex would be revealed.
Other than that, I have no idea why I have it, and why I’ve named it as such.
Anyway, the photo –
1935 Carlton Reserves team, likely courtesy of Blueseum.
Nineteen players, two guys in suits, and a kid in shorts watching on.
And then the ‘light bulb’ moment arrives. At least in my mind.
The guy in the middle row, third from right. Fair coloured hair, parted on the left.
And even wearing a sleeveless jumper.
Yep, light bulb moment!
How could it be that I’d not noticed this before?
I quite possibly had, but seeing as I was so adamant that Preston’s fair haired guy was George Colban, and because George never played for Carlton, while Rex did, I clearly never stopped to consider that my beliefs could be incorrect.
With the 1938 photo now ‘fixed’, it was off to do the same with the 1939 Prahran photo, which I knew was now also ‘wrong’.
George Colban, now, middle row, third from left!
Rex Job, now front row, second from right!
George Colban – 1938 and 1939 Preston team photos, and 1940 enlistment photo.
Rex Job – 1935 Carlton Reserves team photo, and 1938 and 1939 Preston team photos.
With the two photos I’d spent the most amount of time looking at, mainly due to them hanging on my wall for the last 20 plus years, ‘fixed’, it was off to see if I needed to correct anything in the ‘other’ 1939 photo.
A photo, taken at Preston, whose existence I only became aware of, after this whole identification journey began.
The faces are studied, but, apart from the blurred and unidentifiable face at the back, nothing really jumps out.
The names are scrolled through, and while there’s no ‘George Colban’, there is a ‘Probably Rex Job’, along with a ‘Probably Don Stewart’, attached to the blurred face.
Back row: Jack Norman, Bill Seedsman, Ken Watkins, Joe Beagley, Alf Roach, Jack Clarke, Probably Don Stewart, Jack Robertson, Probably Rex Job
Middle row: Wally Gray, Stan Lawler, Frank Dowling, Alby Morrison, Ernie Dunham, Arthur Sleith, Bill Lowenthal
Front row: Les Ross, Wally Miller, Phil Dunstone
Because of my incorrect beliefs on who was Rex Job and who was George Colban, along with the fact that I didn’t have a photo of Don Stewart at the time, I came to the ‘likely’ conclusion that Rex was back row far right, and the unidentifiable face belonged to Don.
I was never really happy with who I thought was Rex in this photo, when compared to the 1938 photo, as well as the other 1939 photo, but was prepared to add a ‘probably’, seeing as everyone else was identified.
But now that I’ve been proved wrong, everything has changed.
That unidentifiable face is now no longer unidentifiable, as there is enough there to tell me that it is in fact Rex Job.
And while there’s no George Colban to rectify; he missed the round that this photo was taken in; I have now lost Don Stewart.
Although, to be honest, with lacking a photo of Don at the time, I really only ‘had’ him due to the process of elimination.
However, at some point, post the completion of identifications for this particular 1939 photo, a photo, no doubt due to random searching, was found of a Don Stewart.
It was on the National Archives site, and this Don Stewart, ended up being Donald Laidlaw Stewart.
Date of birth of 16 July 1913, and four games with St Kilda in 1934; the dates all align with what would be expected.
It didn’t, however, align with a permit found on Trove, dated 1 June 1939, for a D. M. Stewart, Melbourne to Preston.
Were there two Don Stewarts? Or was it a typo?
I didn’t know, and I had baulked at the idea to try and find out, mainly due to the time involved, but also because of only having a very blurred face to compare, to anything that might be found.
Yep, it was lazy, but I’d already convinced myself that the guy in the back row, far right, was likely Rex Job.
And anyway, with that light coloured hair, who’s to say that that blurred face isn’t Donald Laidlaw Stewart?
So, with everything seemingly reasonably good with the world, it had all been left alone, and I’d moved onto other stuff.
Well, until that day that George became Rex, and Rex became George.
That triggered the ‘relatively’ simple correction of the 1938 and 1939 Prahran photos, and should have done the same with the 1939 home photo, too.
In a way it did, with the blurred face becoming Rex, and the ‘old’ Rex becoming Don Stewart.
Don’s enlistment photo was retrieved, and a headshot of the ‘new’ Don put up alongside it.
Chalk and cheese, apples and oranges, cats and dogs; I think an audible ‘aaaargh……’, escaped my mouth.
But I persevered, setting about trying to somehow convince myself that I was looking at the same person.
I didn’t mind the ears, the chin was sort of okay, and I was pretty happy with the puffiness under the eyes.
But the hair! And the eyebrows!
And then there’s the height, with Stewart’s enlistment papers stating he was 5 foot 7.5 inches.
That Preston guy up the back ain’t 5 foot seven!
As much as I tried, I just couldn’t accept that they were one and the same.
But did it matter that it wasn’t him?
I mean, he was, due to the process of elimination, still Don Stewart.
Just not the Don Stewart I thought he was.
But I had a problem, as for me, it did matter.
And that was because all I had was a name, and not even a full one at that, along with a mention of the Melbourne Football Club.
I really didn’t want to spend hours tracking his timeline; I will, however, do it at some point; but I needed to try and find more.
Off to Trove, and after ‘wasting’ a few minutes doing it properly by looking at early 1939, I gave up, and went straight to the game in question.
Yep, he played, and actually got injured during the game, being replaced at half time. Nothing else of note was found, and with nineteen players in the photo, he’ll be in it.
A week or two after the game in question is looked at, before desperation, but maybe more laziness, kicks in. “Donald M. Stewart” “Preston”, is simply entered into the search bar on Trove, and the date parameters removed.
And, surprisingly, but perhaps also a little undeservedly, I get lucky, with two articles from 15 February 1941, popping up.
Thanks to Trove, The Sun newspaper, 15 February 1941.
Thanks to Trove, The Argus newspaper, 15 February 1941.
So much information; the mention of Preston, along with the Melbourne seconds, an approximate enlistment date, and even the reporting of an overseas posting.
And then there was the reporting of an age, which, at 28 in February 1941, would mean that he was born either early 1913, or some time mid to late 1912.
Back to Donald Laidlaw Stewart, and all his important dates.
Date of birth – 16 July, 1913.
Means he would only be 27.
Enlistment date – 19 August, 1940.
Donald M., apparently, was already overseas.
On the face of it, it’s pretty much confirmation that Donald Laidlaw Stewart, is not Preston’s ‘Don Stewart’.
So, all that information, but still one important thing missing; a middle name.
Back to the National Archives site, and Donald M. Stewart is punched in.
I get nothing.
A couple of, in my mind, time appropriate ‘M’ names, are attempted, with the same disappointing result achieved.
I give up, and do it the hard way, simply using ‘Donald Stewart’, along with a ‘from date’ of 1939.
Three hundred and sixty matches pop up, and the slow process begins of sifting through them, looking, mainly, for ‘place of birth, as well as year of birth.
Eventually, not far off halfway through the 360 odd, a possibility appears.
The birth date is good, as too the place of birth, which is Carlton.
Fortuitously, there’s also a digitised item.
I’m not sure I’ve ever wanted a photo as badly as this time.
It’s nervously clicked, and there, on the second page, it is!
Retrieved, cropped, cleaned up, and then put alongside the headshot from 1939.
It’s him!
The eyebrows, the ears, the hairline, even the ‘scar’ rising from his eyebrow line up into his forehead.
All confirmed with the help of the written formalities, not least of all, including the listing of the home address of Amess Street, North Carlton, which is the same address reported in one of the above articles.
Rex Job, now back row, third from right!
Don Stewart, now back row, far right!
A little more digging, important dates found, and Preston’s Don Stewart now looks like this –
Donald Miller Stewart – 5-2-1913 – 28-12-1995. 187cms. Carlton seconds 1934, Melbourne seconds 1937, Preston 1939 (9 games).
There’s been a number of ‘wow’ moments along the journey, and this one is right up there.
The lack of information available to begin with, clearly not helped by him appearing not to have played a lot of games at Preston, made searching difficult.
If not for that little bit of luck, due to that reluctance on a Friday morning to continue looking at Thomas Togarmah Jones, when the George Colban and Rex Job mistake was discovered, Donald Miller Stewart may never have been ‘found’.
I now have a strong desire to follow him around, as I’m sure there’s more to his football journey, but he will have to wait.
I think George and Rex will have to be next, but not until Thomas is eventually completed.
Cheers,
Scott
Footnote –
The three, now fixed and completely updated, photos, related to George Colban and Rex Job, along with Don Stewart, for that matter, can be found here –
1939 Preston Team Photo (taken at Prahran)
1939 Preston Team Photo (taken at Preston)
seriouslynot 