Jockey - Waverley Council

54
WALTER LAIRD KERR Cyclist
BORN: 1871, Paddfrigton, N.S.W.
DIED: 31 August, 1953, Centennial Park, N.S.W.
AGE: 82 years
GRAVE: 579 General Select, Section 5
The Bulletin described Kerr as "one of the smallest and most remarkable
of Australian cyclists; he stands 5ft 5in, and stripped, weighs 8st 9lb. He
is a game and clever racer, paced or unpaced; he is a most consistent
performer, and always does better in the actual race than in a trial, partly
because he has the pluck and mosfly because he is not a cash-amateur"
Kerr's sporting career began in rowing from the age of 13 to 18, and then
changed to cycling. He raced on aU types of bikes and on aU kinds of
roads and tiacks, against aU sorts of competitors. By 1896 he had gained
some 160 tiophies. At the 1891 and 1893 AustiaUan Amateur Track
CycUng Championships he won the one mUe event, fri October 1896 he
set a new one mile cycUng record of one minute 57 seconds, estabUshing
"Australasian records for the quarter-mile and mile, and tied Jack
Parsons for the half-mile," announced the SMH.
In 1897 Kerr and Ben Goodson were the first AustiaUan representatives at
the world cycUng championships held in Glasgow, Scotland. By then Kerr
had the "N.S.W. amateur 10-mile record of 30min. 56sec.", advised The
Bulletin, which also claimed Kerr "was the first man to cycle across
N.S.W. Blue Mountains. Training, so far, he has believed in one ride
daily, one walk, one quarter hour's dumb-bell exercise, one short swim,
one sun-bath on a beach; three square meals,"
"Bicycling has made rapid strides, and
since cash prizes have come into fashion
the competition has been keen. Mr Kerr is
perhaps the best all-round man in the
Colonies," wrote Nat Gould.
SOURCES.- Waverley Cemetery Archives; Australian Sport Through Time senior consultant Richard Gasman; On
and Off the Turf in Australia by Nat Gould; The Bulletin 21-11-1896,24-7-1897; Daily Telegraph 30-10-1896;
SMH 16-7-1890,29-10-1896,30-10-1896,3-11-1896,5-11-1896,3-8-1897,7-8-189725-8-1897,1-9-1897,2-9-1897
Portrait source: The BuUetin 21-11-1896