George Bickford Moysey (14 May 1874 – 18 May 1932) was an Australian sportsman who played Australian rules football and cricket at a high level. He played for the Melbourne Football Club in the Victorian Football Association (VFA) and the Victorian Football League (VFL) (VFL). He also played in the West Australian Football Association/League. He played one first-class match for Western Australia.

Family The son of Rev. George Bickford Moysey (1850–1926),Deaths: Moysey, The Age, (Tuesday, 28 December 1926), p.1.Farewell to Rev. G.B. Moysey, The Kadina and Wallaroo Times, (Wednesday, 5 November 1902), p. 2.Ministerial Jubilee, The (Melbourne) Herald, Saturday, 14 July 1923), p. 24. and Annie Maria Moysey (1852-1924), née Teagle,Marriages: Moysey—Teagle, The (Hobart) Mercury, (Tuesday, 1 July 1873), p. 1.Deaths: Moysey, The Argus, (Saturday, 15 November 1924), p. 17. George Bickford Moysey was born at Battery Point, Tasmania on 14 May 1874.

He married Ruth Janet Jesse Hastedt (1881-1973), at Mount Morgans, Western Australia, on 4 April 1902.Mt. Morgans, The Laverton Mercury, (Saturday, 12 April 10902), p. 2. They had four children.

Education

He was educated at Wesley College, Melbourne, where he distinguished himself as an all-round athlete,Wesley College, The Argus, (Saturday, 29 October 1892), p. 12.Wesley College Sports, The Age, (Saturday, 11 November 1893), p. 11.Wesley College Sports, The Age, (Friday, 9 November 1894), p. 3. as a footballer,College Football: Scotch College v. Wesley College, The Australasian, (Saturday, 21 June 1890, p. 1199.Public School Match, The Argus, (Friday, 9 June 1893), p. 3.Schaefer, W.C., "Rough Play (Letter to the Editor)", The Australasian, (Saturday, 7 July 1894), p. 19; Moysey, G.B., "Rough Play (Letter to the Editor)", The Australasian, (Saturday, 14 July 1894), p. 56.'Pavilion', "Football: Notes", The (Fremantle) Evening Mail (Friday, 27 April 1906), p. 3. and as a cricketer (wicket-keeper batsman).Cricket, The Age, (Friday, 12 December 1890), p. 6.Public School Cricket: Wesley College, The Australasian, (Saturday, 16 December 1893), p. 1091.

Football Moysey was "an early exponent of handball, [and] was often criticised in the press for overusing the technique".Demonwiki.

Melbourne (VFA) Recruited from Wesley College in 1893, he played in 54 games (14 goals) for Melbourne in the VFA over four seasons (1893 to 1896).Pennings (2016), passim.

Representative (VFA) He played on the half-forward flank in the VFA representative team that played against South Australia, at the MCG, on 21 July 1894.Pennings (2016), p. 429.

Champion of the season (1895) At the end of the 1895 season, "Half Back" (The Age) ranked Moysey the fourth best player in the entire VFA competition, after Fred McGinis (Melbourne), Peter Burns (Geelong), and Tom Banks (Fitzroy);'Half Back', "The Football Season", The Age, (Monday, 23 September 1895), p. 6. "Observer" (The Argus) also ranked him fourth best, after Fred McGinis, (Melbourne), Jim Grace (Fitzroy), and Peter Burns, (Geelong);'Observer', "The Finish of the Season: Notes on the Game: Individual Play, The Argus, (Monday, 23 September 1895), p. 6. and "Markwell" (The Australasian) named him as one of his eight (unranked) "Stars of the Season": Tom Banks (Fitzroy), Peter Burns (Geelong), Bill Cleary (Fitzroy), Jim Grace (Fitzroy), Fred McGinis (Melbourne), George Moysey (Melbourne), George Vautin (Essendon), and Bill Windley (South Melbourne).'Markwell', "The Past Season: Stars of the Season", The Australasian, (Saturday, 28 September 1895), p. 594.

Melbourne (VFL) He was one of six Melbourne players to appear in all 17 possible games of the inaugural VFL season in 1897, which included three finals.AFL Tables. Only two teammates bettered his 12 goals that year. He spent two more seasons at the club.Holmesby & Main (2007).

Representative (VFL) He represented the VFL in an intercolonial fixture against South Australia, at the MCG, on 1 July 1899.Victoria v. South Australia, The Australian Town and Country Journal, (Saturday, 8 July 1899), p. 51.

Perth (WAFA) Having found employment at the Mount Morgans Gold Mine, Moysey moved to Western Australia in 1900,Snap Shots, The Malcolm Chronicle and Leonora Advertiser, (Saturday, 14 Jul 1900), p. 3. worked there for six years,Football, The Laverton and Beria Mercury, (Saturday, 16 August 1902), p. 2.Northern Football, The Kalgoorlie Miner, (Thursday, 13 August 1903), p. 6. then moved to Perth in 1906,Mount Morgans, The Kalgoorlie Western Argus, (Tuesday, 6 February 1906), p. 7. where he played with the Perth Football Club, serving as its captain in 1906.'Free Kick', "The Australian Game: Past Season's Matches: A Review", The West Australian, (Saturday, 13 October 1906), p. 13. He suffered a dislocated shoulder in a 1907 pre-season match, and did not play again.Perth v. North Fremantle, The (Perth) Sunday Times, (Sunday, 21 April 1907), p. 2.

Cricket Whilst working at the Western Australian goldfields, he also played cricket.Mount Morgans, The Kalgoorlie Western Argus, (Thursday, 4 October 1900), p. 19.

When the Marylebone Cricket Club toured Australia in 1907/08, Moysey (now located in Perth, and playing with the Subiaco Cricket Club) was picked in the Western Australian team to play the M.C.C. at the WACA Ground from 13 March to 16 March 1908. Facing an attack that consisted of English Test players, the left-handed batsman was bowled by Jack Crawford for 8 in his first innings, and dismissed by Wilfred Rhodes (caught Arthur Jones) for 5 in his second.International Cricket: England v. Western Australia, The West Australian, (Tuesday, March 1908), p. 3.

Saved from drowning On 18 February 1910 he almost drowned in The Basin at Rottnest Island when an undertow swept Moysey and his Subiaco cricketing team-mate Thomas Hemmant (1873-1946) out to sea. He was sinking by the time one of his party, Percy Bailey, who had already rescued Hemmant, reached Moysey and brought him back to shore.Rescue form Drowning: Display of Heroism off Rottnest Island, The (Perth) Daily News, (Saturday, 19 February 19100, p. 13. Bailey received a Royal Humane Society award for saving Moysey's life.Royal Humane Society, The West Australian, (Thursday, 12 October 1911), p. 5.

Death He eventually returned to Melbourne, and died in the suburb of Canterbury, Victoria on 18 May 1932.Deaths: Moysey, The Argus, (Saturday, 21 May 1932), p. 15.

See also List of Western Australia first-class cricketers

Notes

References Holmesby, Russell & Main, Jim (2007), The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers, BAS Publishing. 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. 'Kickero', "Football; The News of the Hour", The (Melbourne) Herald, (Friday, 9 June 1899), p. 3: "George Moysey met with a painful accident on Monday, while chopping wood. The axe slipped, and he was cut on the leg severely."

External links

Pre-VFL Players, at Demonwiki. George Moysey, at Demonwiki. George Bickford Moysey, at WAFL FootyFacts.