In the scheme for the reorganisation of the defence force submitted to Parliament last session, Lieut Colonel Sargood urged that encouragement should be given to rifle clubs formed in localities where militia corps were not raised. With this object in view, the Minister of Defence has given every possible assistance in the establishment of rifle clubs by the issue of Enfield and other rifles on loan, and the supply of Martini-Henry rifles and ammunition at cost price (1).
A club needed 20 active members of men aged over 18 years and had to receive approval from the Governor in Council. The men had to swear the following oath
I, A.B., do swear that I will well and truly serve our Sovereign Lady the Queen in the Victoria Defence Force for a period of three years or until sooner legally discharged, dismissed, or removed, and that I will oppose and resist Her Majesty's enemies and cause Her Majesty's peace to be kept and preserved whether employed upon land or at sea, and that I will prevent to the best of my power all offences against same, and that while I continue to act in the same I will to the best of my skill and knowledge faithfully discharge my duty according to law, So help me, God (2)
Regulations for Rifle Clubs, there were 16 regulations in all
Victoria Government Gazette, June 19, 1885, p. 1773
The combined staffs of the Departments of Agriculture and Public Works met, under the presidency of the Secretary, Mr. Martin, on Monday evening, and discussed the desirability of forming a rifle club. The matter was taken up with much enthusiasm, and after a resolution had been passed affirming the desirability of establishing a rifle club in connection with these departments, 40 intending members handed in their names.(4)
The Public Servants were enthusiastic members of Rifle Clubs as The Argus reported
No class in the community has shown a strong desire to join in the movement for the formation of rifle clubs than the civil servants. In connection with most of the Government departments meetings of officers and employees have been held, and preliminary steps taken to form clubs. Some of the officers are old marksmen, and have offered to instruct their fellow employees how to shoot with accuracy. There are, however, some obstacles in the way of these clubs, which will have to be removed before the civil servants can indulge in practice. The Order in Council prohibiting the formation of a club within a radius of 10 miles of an existing club will have to be rescinded and arrangements will have to be made to obtain suitable ranges (5).
There was rifle range at Williamstown (6) and one at Elwood (7), but as they did not operate on Sundays, it was only Saturday afternoon after work had finished that most members had the opportunity to practice where they found themselves crowded together at the ranges at Williamstown and Elwood, to the certain danger of human life (8).
There was a proposal to establish a Rifle Rage at Fisherman's Bend. It was reported in November 1900, that Mr Catani of the Public Works department, had stated that the work could cost £3,000, however progress was held up by the fact the the Defence Department would shortly be transferred to Federal control from the States, so presumably they didn't want to spend money on infrastructure that would end up in the control of the Commonwealth Government (9).
Carlo took an active role in the Public Works Department as these reports note -
From September 1901 - The Public Works Rifle Club fired their monthly match for the president's trophy and silver spoon at Williamstown on Saturday at 500 and 600 yards 7 shots at each distance. Mr J. C. Morrell won the spoon with 62. C Robertson (handicap 9), 58; Murphy (11), 57; Hewett (11), 56, and Stockfeld (2), 54, score points for the trophy. The quarterly trophies, presented by Mr Catani (vice president) and Mr Bartels have been won by Mr Morrell and Mr Thomas respectively. (10)
From March 1902 - The second annual meeting of the Public Works Rifle Club as held yesterday, there being a large muster of members present. The annual report disclosed that several members had obtained marksman's badges, and that others had shown great improvement in their shooting. The president's trophy had been won by Mr. Morrell, while Mr. Stockfield secured the bronze medal for the junior aggregate at the last Victorian Rifle Association meeting, the club thus having the honor of gaining this coveted distinction for two years in succession. Mr. D. Martin was re-elected president, and Messrs. W. Davidson and C. Catani vice presidents, Mr. J. C. Gamble captain, Mr. W. Campbell treasurer, and Mr. C. Robertson secretary. Mr. W. Davidson presented £5 for a trophy to be competed for during the season. The club held a competition at Elwood on Saturday, for a trophy presented by Mr. Ferguson, at 400 and 500 yards. (11)
In May 1902 the Public Works Department Rifle Club held a presentation evening -
Riflemen were again in evidence last evening, when the members and friends of the Public Works Department Rifle Club assembled at the Winter Garden Tea Rooms in The Block for the purpose of presenting the large number of handsome trophies donated by the officers of the Public Works department to the successful shots throughout the year's operations ''on the bullseye." The gathering took the form of a pleasant smoke concert; but apart from the usual list of formal toasts, no speechifying was indulged in. The president of the club. Mr D. Martin (Secretary of Public Works), presided, and at an opportune interval in the proceedings made the various presentations. Amongst the gathering were:— Mr W. Davidson, Inspector-General of Public Works; Mr C. Catani, Engineer of Roads and Bridges; Mr E. G. Duffus, Secretary for Agriculture; Mr J. Blackbourne, Federal Engineer of Defences; and Captain J. C. Gamble, secretary of the P.W.R.C. A large number of members of the departmental service contributed musical items to the enjoyable programme which was engineered by Mr T. C. Morrell, the club's crack marksman of the year. (12).
It would be interesting to know if Carlo engaged in shooting and, if so, how good a shot he was. In February 1915, the Public Works Department Rifle Club held a meeting to extend the scope of the Public Works and Agricultural Departments Rifle Club, to enable it to include officers of the whole State service (13). The name changed to the State Service Rifle Club and as The Argus reported in May 1915 -
The State Public Service Rifle Club is already a strong body but within the last few days its numbers have been considerably augmented the reason of the rush to obtain membership lies in the fact that the State Ministry has authorised the construction of a miniature rifle range in the basement area space at the State public offices. The miniature range will be used mostly during the luncheon hour. Instruction will be given to the novices by the more experienced members of the club (14). The Club was still in existence in 1920, but I have no information after that.
To give you some idea how popular Rifle Clubs were, this report was published in The Age in 1916 -
An interesting record of the part played in the war by members of the citizen forces and of members of rifle clubs, is contained in an answer given yesterday in the House of Representatives by the Minister for the Navy to a question asked by Mr. Fenton. The Minister stated that the total number of men in the citizen forces was 70,154, and of these 22,759 had now enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force for active service. The total membership of the rifle clubs of the Commonwealth was now 104,184. Of these 14,499 had enlisted for active service. ln addition, he stated that the strength of the senior cadets was now 82,107, and of the junior cadets 47,765 (15).
The male population of Australia in 1916 was around 2.4 million, which meant about 12% of Australian men belonged to one of the above organisations. However, given that 65% of men at this time were aged between 15 and 65 - the 'target' age for these groups - it actually meant that around 20% of that demographic were participants. (16).
Trove list - I have created a short list of articles on the Public Works Department Rifle Club and general Rifle Club articles, access it here.
Footnotes
(1) The Argus, April 8, 1884, see here.
(2) Victoria Government Gazette, June 19, 1885, p. 1773 http://gazette.slv.vic.gov.au/images/1885/V/general/60.pdf
(3) Victoria Government Gazette http://gazette.slv.vic.gov.au/
(4) The Age, March 7, 1900, see here.
(5) The Argus, March 29, 1900, see here. The regulation that Rifle Clubs could not be within ten miles of each other seems to have been gazetted in August 1890 - Victoria Government Gazette, August 22, 1890, p. 3389 http://gazette.slv.vic.gov.au/images/1890/V/general/69.pdf
(6) Williamstown Rifle Range operated from 1878 until 1987 (Source: https://www.victorianplaces.com.au/williamstown)
(7) The Elwood Rifle Range, known as the Elwood Rifle Butts operated from 1874 until 1909 and was located on 11 acres along Head Street. (Source: Isaac Hermann).
(8) The Argus, March 29, 1900, see here.
(9) The Argus, November 16, 1900, see here.
(10) The Argus, September 17, 1901, see here.
(11) The Argus, March 27, 1902, see here.
(12) The Herald, May 9, 1902, see here.
(13) The Herald, February 13, 1915, see here.
(14) The Argus, May 31, 1915, see here
(15) The Age, September 15, 1916, see here.
(16) Population statistics
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