John Austin Roberts (1928 - 2017)

Born 17 Jul 1928 in Haberfield, New South Wales, Australia

Ancestors

Son of Edward Arthur Roberts MM and Mona Veronica (Murphy) Roberts

Died 16 Jul 2017 at age 88 in Camperdown, New South Wales, Australia

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Veronica Williams [send private message]

Biography

John ROBERTS - The Collector

John's prize possession was the Championship Belt of the Bare Knuckled boxer, James 'Jem' Mace, purchased in 1955, age 27. He could not part with it when forced to sell most of his treasures at an auction in 2015. The huge collection was sold over three separate auction days at Lawson's. The most significant piece a pencil drawing by Australian artist Norman Lindsay, of the famous Tommy Burns-Jack Johnson fight. The auction catalogues introduction about the collection was written by his niece Veronica Williams, 30th March 2015.

"The Sun' Newspaper - 19 Nov 1955

John Roberts has had a passion for collecting since he was a boy, a passion that has stayed with him all his life. His early interests being boxing (the bare knuckled boys, his favourites), football (soccer, Arsenal his favourite team) and as he grew into adulthood he developed a love for opera and the cinema, particularly the screen sirens of the 30’s and 40’s.

John started collecting boxing memorabilia in about 1940, at age twelve, records of matches, pictures of the glove performers and listened to them on the radio. By 1955 his collection had grown and he had amassed a boxing library of over 400 books, the oldest dating back to 1747. A collection that grew into the 1000’s over more recent years. His prize possession was purchased sixty years ago, the 1855 Championship Belt of Jem Mace ‘Champion of England’, a treasure he couldn’t part with, having managed to secure the purchase from England by placing his bid by ‘telegram’.

His love of ‘football’ or as we Australians call it, soccer, also began around 1940. It could easily have been rugby league, but for a chance occurrence. His father Edward Roberts decided to take him to a local rugby at Newtown. When the bus arrived his father was unsure of the way to the oval, so they followed the crowd, which turned out to be the local soccer match! John still has the programme that his father bought him on that day. Over the years he followed Arsenal in the Premier League, an avid fan who used to get up in the middle of the night to listen to matches live on a short wave radio, before pay TV. His thousands of reference books on the code range from club specific, championship records, along with a range of memorabilia and many items associated with the World Cup, which he attended in Spain in 1982. Not surprising that his lifelong profession was that of an accountant and auditor, given his love of sporting facts and statistics.

But his passion for collecting wasn’t just sport, John loves music, particularly opera, he has a high regard for Maria Callus but a fascination for all the stars. He also loves film, from film noir to the classics, silents, talkies and the modern day. Mostly, however, he loved the screen sirens and film musicals, the classical era including Busby Berkeley, throughout the genre’s heyday up to the 60’s and even extended to more recent productions. He also collected film facts throughout his life, in the early days aided by his six siblings and later their children. It was not unusual for us after the end of a film on TV in the 60’s to try to handwrite as much of the credits as we could get down, hoping to unearth some little known fact of a star in a ‘bit’ part early in their career for John. This was well before volumes such as Halliwell’s or the world wide web even existed which has made it so easy for everyone today. John clearly has an eye for the screen beauties, his favourite film stars including Ava Gardner, Garbo, Marilyn Monroe and Diana Rigg. He is still surrounded by several statues and portraits of these ladies in his home. John has had an enduring fascination with art of photography and included in his collection are thousands of studio portraits and still photographs of scenes from the movies, with a particular focus on opera stars on film.

John has commented that parting with his collection will ‘break his heart’. We can only hope that the sale will bring joy into the hearts of many and that his beloved possessions will be treasured for many years to come by a new generation.

The John Roberts Collection, 2015

Eulogy delivered by Veronica Williams at John's funeral, held at Rookwood on 4th August 2017.^[1]

John Austin Roberts was born on 17th July 1928. John was the third child of Edward Arthur Roberts and Mona Veronica Murphy, one of 7 children, Veronica, Margaret, John, Joan, Barry, Mary and Laurie. Sadly, Veronica died in 2001, Laurie in 2006 and Mary in 2015.

The Roberts Family c1930

My mother always said if Grandma could have ordered the perfect son, John would have been it. His mother had said on her deathbed that John had never given her a moments worry. That was the kind of person he was, kind, considerate and a complete gentleman.

To me, he was always my Johnny. I loved him from the day I set eyes on him. As a child I was very protective and even a bit possessive of him. I remained that way all his life.

Like all the Roberts children John started school at St Joan of Arc, Haberfield. Later attending De La Salle firstly at Haberfield, then Ashfield.

c1938 - John is 5th from left, back row

John was a boy soprano and is said to have had the voice of an angel. He was in the choir and the Eisteddfod winning group, something his mother was very proud of. Johnny was always embarrassed when Mum brought this up, saying he didn’t think they won, but we have the school photo with the trophy to prove it.

It was at school he met his lifelong friend Neville Bonnie. They took turns in obtaining 1st and 2nd place at school. In adult years they remained good friends, often travelling together attending antique and collectable fairs, one of John great passions. The main ones being, Boxing and Wresting; Soccer - Arsenal of course, or as he referred to them The Gunners; Film - particularly the glamorous ladies, Garbo, Ava Gardner and Marilyn his favourites; and Opera, one of his specialties being opera stars on film - the book that was never written.

Johns earliest and most passionate collection was wrestling, particularly the bare knuckled boys. He was just a schoolboy when he became interested in the sport. People were always surprised that Mum knew the names of all the wrestling holds, but that was because Johnny used to practice them on her.

John left school early and studied at night to become a chartered accountant, later qualified as a company auditor. In the 50’s he worked in an accounting firm Farley Meyer & Co, later becoming a partner.

My earliest memories of Johnny are from the days at Rawson Street, Haberfield.

Roberts Family, Domremy College

* When he put me in a box on the top of the wardrobe

* Sitting on the side of his bed when grandma gave him his morning cup of tea

* Talking about the pictures of his musclemen on the walls

* Inspecting his latest pipe - bought with the help of Lipton Tea Coupons

Johnny was a great walker, he worked out early in life that it was uneconomical to own a car. After moving to Strathfield he walked to Grandmas at Haberfield every Sunday. Mum and I often went there on Sundays too, joined by Aunty Mary, and my two cousins. We would all wait impatiently for Johnny to arrive, Jostling for his attention. He would usually walk us down to the HMD milk bar to buy us milkshakes. We all felt spoiled by this attention, but really it was to give Mum and Mary time alone with Grandma.

John loved the opera, his favourite was Puccini’s Turandot. He was always very pleased that Nessun Dorma was chosen as the 1990 World Cup theme. A slideshow shown at the funeral was set to the music of Bellini’s - Norma, Casta Diva, sung by his beloved Maria Callus, chosen by his brother Barry. Whilst over the last couple of years he hasn’t listened to many of his CD’s or watch many of his DVD’s, John did continue to regularly watch the DVD of Maria Callus. The postcard of her that Barry had sent him long ago when on a trip to France, was a treasured possession, still on display in his room at the nursing home.

Johnny was an early adopter of gadgets. He regularly gave his mother gifts of the latest ‘labour saving device’. At Strathfield I can remember being thrilled to try his very own home ‘milk shake maker’. His 3 TV’s, piled on top of each other - each for certain types of programmes. It was before colour TV - but he had his own version, the middle TV had an attached screen that was blue, brown and green. It worked Ok for westerns, but other programmes were a bit questionable

By the 70’s he was operating his own accounting practice in Burwood. Around that same time he bought his unit in Park Ave just around the corner. The love of gadgets continued. At his Park Avenue unit he had an impressive wall of built ins, they housed all his books and records. Shelving for 5 different stereos - each one specifically for a different type of music. He even had an anti static gun - which he used to shoot the records! Back then, his collections fitted nicely in the lounge room and study.

John was very compulsive about collecting facts and items of interest relating to his passions. A family failing that some of us have also inherited. It was before the days of the internet. As a child I was allowed to stay up as a ‘special treat’ when an old film was being aired on TV. One of my jobs was helping Mum write down as many names from the credits we could capture . Mum would give them to Johnny who would be very excited if a new fact emerged.

Between them all, the Roberts siblings had the world wide web covered. The ‘ring arounds’ happened when someone wanted to know some information, various family members looking up books or their own notes and phoning back the answer. Johnny had loads more information on the movies than Bill Collins or Halliwell's in those days.

After his mother died in 1973 John came to our place at Christmas. He never missed a year for over 40 years. in 2009 when my husband and I were living in the Northern Territory. my son, Mum and Johnny met us in Adelaide where we hired a fancy apartment. John kept saying it was the best Christmas ever. Something we would never forget. He hasn’t been with us at Christmas for the last couple of years, saying he wasn’t up to it, but It hasn’t been the same without him. It is much worse now, knowing that he will never be with us again.

Christmas 1982, 2019

Johns first big overseas trip was with Aunty Margaret, Mum and Uncle Laurie in 1976. He got to see his beloved Arsenal play in England. On another trip in 1982 he attended the World Cup in Spain. I’ve always found it amusing how he started following the soccer. Apparently his father or ‘Pop’ as he called him, followed the wrong crowd when they got off the bus. They were meant to go to a Rugby League game. Grandpa bought him a small booklet at the game that day, he still has it and treasured it all his life, the first item of what would become very large collection of soccer memorabilia .

Johns collections continued to grow over the years. He acquired his own registered business name, the ‘Sydney Opera House’ and a Book company called - ??? (Can’t quite remember) so he could acquire collectible items from overseas. They outgrew the unit, they encroached the office. In the end there wasn’t much room for Johnny.

It broke his heart to have to sell his precious collections when he had to move into care. The collection was so unique it was covered in a segment of Tony Delroys show on the ABC. He was quite chuffed about that.

It was one of his great disappointments in later life when he started to lose his mobility. He said to me one day probably about 3 years ago, ‘I hardly walk anywhere anymore’. When I quizzed him on how much that was, he said quite seriously, ‘Only 5 kilometres a day’! At 86 I thought that was pretty good, better than most people a lot younger!

John was forced to go into care after his second knee operation in 2013. He always thought his knees would come good. He pinned his hopes on that and I suspect when he realised that wasn’t going to happen, he became a bit depressed and his health started to deteriorate. He had many health problems, bone density, kidneys, also celiac disease, but his lungs ended up being the main issue. Not surprising given he had drawn back the pipe for many years.

John maintained his sense of humour even in later years. Whilst he was quick to grumble about his situation, he often joked about it. He enjoyed giving a bit of cheek to all the staff at Pittwood and in the hospital.

Johnny died on 16 July 2017, just one day short of his 89th birthday.

I Know Where I'm Going

The night before he died Ray and I were at Tobermorey in Scotland on the Isle of Mull, the place where the 1945 film ‘I know where I’m going’ was set. It seems quite poignant that I was thinking strongly of him that night, looking forward to telling him all about it. I had sung the theme song from the movie to my husband, the one I used to sing to Johnny as a child. The key line being ‘my handsome, winsome, Johnny’.

I found out the next morning that he had passed away overnight.

It is my one great regret that I wasn’t with him when he died, but he always said, don’t worry about me. Johnny was always fiercely independent. He had looked after himself all his life, finding it very hard in later years to be dependant on others and he wasn’t happy about that. Johnny was good, kind and considerate. He went out of his way to help others when he could. He was reliable and dependable with a calm temperament. Johnny was always the same and as his brother said to me recently, he was a really good soul.

Everybody loved John.

We will all miss him dreadfully, the only comforting thought is that we have all been so fortunate to have had him in our lives.

May he rest in peace.

John is buried in the Catholic section at Rookwood Cemetery.

DNA

John and three of his siblings had their DNA tested enabling the Visual Phasing technique to be utilised to map John's DNA back to his 4 grandparents. Through these tests both the maternal and paternal lines have been confirmed back to their parents Edward Roberts and Mona Murphy.^[2]

• For details of further DNA confirmations on the ROBERTS line please click here.

• For details of further DNA confirmations on the MURPHY lines please click here.

Sources

1. ↑ Provided by Veronica Williams, some editing for privacy considerations of living people. August 2017.
2. ↑ GEDmatch confirmation of relationships between Veronica Williams GEDmatch T350954, Joan Coates GEDmatch T485376 Private Roberts T545719 and John Roberts T766864 within expected sibling ranges.