While trying to dig up more on John Joseph Keane (our mysterious bookmaker and Adelaide nitkeeper), I stumbled across a South Australian jockey by the name of J. J. Kean – or rather, across those few parts of his sporting life that made it into the newspapers of the day.
It really shouldn’t take a huge stretch of the imagination to wonder whether a bookmaker might have previously had a career as a jockey, so this seems like it could easily be the same person. Similarly, all Somerton Man researchers worth their salt know Paul Lawson’s speculations about the Somerton Man’s pronounced calf muscles: but rather than being a transvestite wearing high-heeled shoes, might he have simply been a jockey?
Anyway, here are my preliminary research notes, please feel free to chime in with anything else interesting you can find in Trove, because back then newspapers were full of racing news (hence I’m bound to have missed tons of stuff).
Orroroo Jockey Club
HANDICAP JUMPERS’ FLAT. […] £93 15/—Korea. 10.0 (J. Kean) […] Dividend Korea. £1 16/. Time. 2 min. 15 1/2 sec.
WELTER HANDICAP. […] £18 15/—Albaree, 8.2 (J. Kean) .. .. 3
Adelaide Express and Telegraph, 20 Feb 1919:
The rider of Korea in the Jumpers’ Flat was questioned by the stewards for his exhibition, and was suspended for one month. […]
Orroroo Handicap, one and a quarter miles. — Mr. H. E. Gregory’s Wee Spec by St. Anton— Escopete, 7 st. 11 lb. (Florence), 1; Mr. T. D. McGahan’s Warcast, 7 st. (Kean), 2; […]
Jumpers’ Flat, one and a quarter miles.—Mr. A. McDonald’s b g Lulabar, by Curtain Lecture —Miss Musk, 9 at. 13 lb. (McDonald), 1; Mr. T. D. McGahan’s Korea, 10 st 2 lb. (Kean), 2; Mr. E. A. Wickens’ Dextral, 9 st 2 lb; (Mr. F. Gammon). 3. Other starter-Conning Tower, 9 st.” (Cilento). Lulabar led out from Conning Tower, Dextral, Korea, and they continued in this order to the back of the course, where Lulabar increased his lead by ten lengths. At the home turn, Korea put in a run, but never troubled the leader, and at the finish ten lengths separated first and second, and a similar distance third.
Kean (the rider of Korea) was stood down for a month over his showing in the Jumpers Flat, which was very lenient treatment for a miserable performance.
Adelaide Advertiser, 12 Mar 1919 (and copied in many other newspapers):
The suspension by the stewards of the Orroroo Jockey Club of J. J. Kean for one month from February 13, 1919, for incompetence, has been adopted by the committee of the S.A.J.C.
At this point, J. J. Kean seems to disappear from Orroroo Jockey Club races: it seems overwhelmingly likely to me that Mr T. D. McGahan (the horse owner for whom Kean had been riding) had given Kean his marching orders following this suspension for ‘incompetence’.
Morphettville
Adelaide Chronicle, 05 Jan 1924:
J. J. Kean was suspended by the stewards from riding in races for two months for the careless riding of Tookawarrina in the first division of the Maiden Plate at Morphettville on Tuesday, caus[ing] interference to Pistolorgat and Royal Rip.
Adelaide Observer, 5 Jan 1924:
The stewards found that J. A. Hawthorn (rider of Lacepede in the Handicap Hurdle Race) accidentally interfered with Jim Cleary (ridden by J. Kean).
Later that same year, Tookawarrina broke a leg and was destroyed, according to the Adelaide Observer of 01 Nov 1924:
Tookawarrina was an aged gelding by Persian Chief, from Cilika, and was owned by Mrs. P. H. Suter. He displayed a bit of promise a year or two ago, but had been running disappointingly for some time.
Given that Kean never seemed to ride Tookawarrina after Jan 1924, it again seems fairly likely to me that he got the Order Of The Elbow from Mrs Suter following his two-month suspension.
Other Horses
Given the pithy nature of racing notes, it’s hard to be sure what other horses that “J. J. Kean” rode: but the name “Kean” appears as a jockey for numerous other horses from the time:
- Coal King
- St. Ality (Mr A. K. Hamilton, St. Spasa-Reality)
- Yellow Arry
- Departure
- Strzelecki King (Mr. M. R. Oakes’ b.g., aged)
- Miss Netley (A. E. Hamilton’s b m, 4yrs)
- Haylander
- Passado
- Wee Trunnion (Mr. J. E. Bend’s br. g)
- Sir Archibald
- Full Dook
- Some Seal
- Tripedy
Interestingly, both St. Ality and Wee Trunnion are also ridden by “K. B. Keane” (definitely not a typo): might this be a younger brother or cousin of J. J. Kean(e)?
Concussion
The Adelaide News of 14 Jun 1924 reported on a fall during a jump race, “in front of the Derby Stand”:
J. Kean, rider of Sir Archibald, suffered from slight concussion as the result of his fall from that horse in the hurdle race.
Peterborough’s Times and Northern Advertiser of 3rd Apr 1925 reported on an injury to K. B. Keane:
Jockey K. B. Keane also received injuries when his mount, Jim Cleary, toppled over in the Hurdle Race.
The condition of jockey K. B. Keane showed a slight improvement on Monday last.
“Successful Lightweight”
Perhaps most usefully of all, there’s an overview of his career in the Adelaide Register News-Pictorial of 17 Feb 1931, which sounds a lot to me like an interview with someone returning to Adelaide after a period away and now looking for work afresh:
J. Kean, who recently won a double at the Port Lincoln carnival, was a successful lightweight in this State a few years ago. He was apprenticed to T. D. McGahan for several years. Kean won the Tennant Cup at Port Augusta in 1923 on St. Ality, which later was a useful jumper. With Kean in the saddle St. Ality was successful over the battens at the Port.
Kean was also associated with C. A. Northway’s stable at Victoria Park, and when the master of the Roachfield stables had Vesper Song in hand, Kean won on the gelding in the north. Arltunga King was ridden by Kean when he won the Copper City Cup at Kadina.
Kean was also successful on Cappeedee, dam of Some Seal, which he rode to victory at Port Lincoln.
He can go to scale at 7.3 and rides over hurdles as well as on the flat. Kean holds only a B licence, but he intends to apply for a permit to ride in the city area. Kean rides several horses in their work at Victoria Park every morning, and he should not find it difficult to get mounts in races.
I can’t find any race with Kean after this date: it seems as though this interview was effectively at the end of his career as a jockey.
Nick; I think you’re beating a dead horse.
scott j konyn: hahahahaha! 🙂
Next!
scott j konjn: A hundred and one pounds of fun; that was Kean 1931. He could in time have made the weight , though there’s his height to contemplate. Those suitcase threads were deemed to fit a large framed man…hold up a bit; the ‘jockey briefs’ might steal the vote, for SM/Kean, that’s all she wrote…..
john sanders: 1948 was nearly two decades later, so who can tell?
I said “He could in time have made the weight”, like nineteen forty bloody eight!…
KB Keane rode the same horse as JJ but 3 months later (Jim Cleary) – At the very least they must have known each other if they rode for the same stables, yet the Kean vs Keane makes me think they likely weren’t directly related
2c
I’m wondering whether Kevin B. Keane may not have succumbed to a race fall. He was yet another 1898 birth and apparently died, according to cemetery lists, at Port Lincoln on 26/2/28.
John Sanders: indeed he did die of his injuries, leaving a grieving mother, wife and sisters, plus a lady friend in Mt Gambier.
J Kean seems to have raced as an apprentice for Mr T. D. McGahan as early as 1912, which would be entirely typical for a 13 year old (assuming an 1898 birth date, which is what all these Kean men seem to share 🙂 ).
A famous New Zealand owner/trainer called James Kean died in 1899 at the age of 52:
* https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/OW18990727.2.74.4
* https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/OW18990810.2.114
What is interesting is that James Kean had a brother called John Kean who was an Australian jockey:
* https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/ODT18840913.2.35.12
This article mentions “The Australian Turf Register”, which is where I’m heading next… 🙂
You could call it a twist in the taiI I guess, in that James Kean’s brother John Kean married Marion Powell in New Zland quite some time before our friend SM came along. There was also a young lass named Lorna Jessie Powell bn. 1915 (by Henry John Kean out of Elsie Drusella nee Green), who strangely enough was one of young Marjorie Kean’s intermediate class mates in 1936. She went on to become Sister Scholastica and left us in 1997. It also seems that John Kean rode for the famous Etienne de Mestre stables in Australia, which managed to get Archer first over the line in the inaugural Melbourne Cup in 1861and again in 1862, both times with ease. My man James Thomas Kean bn. 1896 was also into horses, but of the “farting into the dray” kind, so there’s obviously little irony there. Think I got that right!…
john sanders: I was thinking possible grandfather rather than possible father, but you get the basic drift.
Possibly going to visit the National Archive over Easter if anyone has things they want looked up…
milongal: James Thomas Keane WW1 2319 & his deserted wife Helen Duncan nee Leckie have unread Dept. repatriation files that might reveal some insight as to what became of the man that his main posted service history doesn’t show…That would be a nice one to get out of the way if you have the time.
NB: Just found in old notes JJ Keane of Richmond was 68 Shierlaw St….
@JS: I’ll have a look. I’ve not looked for stuff at the Archive before so not sure how it all works, but we’ll see what we can do
milongal: Both J.T. & H.D. Keane files are in Brisbane unfortunately but thanks.
milongal: I’ll have a rake around my notes, see if there’s anything interesting at the NAA I can pass your way.
As an aside, I’m hopeful that my recent emails to the nice people at the Australian Racing Museum, the SA Bookmakers’ League, and the CBS will yield a little bit of insight into J. J. Kean. It would be nice to develop and/or eliminate him, but the scattered Trove fragments we have to work with aren’t yet coming together. Maybe there’ll be something in the NAA – I haven’t yet dug up anything relating to the SA Betting Control Board, but their abundant archives must surely be somewhere, right? :-/
Next time I’m in Adelaide, I’ll have to to remember to visit one of my old haunts – the Wurst and Stein.
Well actually, same building but a couple of floors up in the Tattersalls building at 14 Grenfell St. It’s only just occured to me that (from memory) there’s a whole bunch of horse racing memorabilia in the ‘Tatersalls Room’ on the first floor (don’t let the nice pictures online fool you, it’s much darker and dingier in real life) – and there’s probably someone there who knows a whole heap of Adelaide racing history….
Fun fact: I think it’s part owned by the brother of politician Cory Bernardi – but it’s a nice group of bars all the same (they used to have $13 litre Steins on Wednesdays which could get a touch messy).
I seem to recall that in Gerry’s little gem, he almost skipped mention of the missing Adelaide stable hand, upon which some of us have commented upon in the past. I’m thinking that Kean the jockey, had he lived long enough to hang up his boots cap, silks and goggles, may then have stayed with nags in the less dangerous capacity above mentioned. It would certainly have kept him in touch with others in the racing game, including a young strapper and his his not so young fully fledged jockey friend, out excercising their steeds on Somerton beach one early summer morning in 1948.
Hi, interesting reading. As a Keane myself I have in the past took a little interest in the Somerton man. You can discount my Grandfather James Thomas Sydney Keane b 1896 Howard Qld, previously married to Helen Duncan Lackie (as noted above) WW1 service #2319. JTS Keane died 21 Dec 1950 at Rockhampton Qld, probably from complications of all that VD he got while in France during WW1. Apart from a few years in Darwin in the early 1940s James Keane lived in Qld all his life. Orphaned and having spent most of his young years in the Westbrook Boys Home we do not know any other Keanes.
milongal: Now that we are done with James Keane, thanks to Alison, hows about saving me some dosh and checking these out on NAA if its still on over Easter week, with fingers crossed if you will….Wolf Cohen bn. Sydney 8/5/03, WW2 army inlistment Nos. VX 8339 (not yet read) & V13145 (open), both being held In Canberra.
Written them down, and will have a look
I can well understand that a WW1 veteran like J.T.S Keane could have experienced some serious, possibly war caused infirmity in his later life. So called self inflicted wounds ie. venerial diseases in various forms such as gonhorea and syphilis would also have been prevalent, due to poor hygene conditions at the front as well as the bordillos of Cairo where Jim picked up his first dose. A known contributing factor for VD infection in those days was the low rates of circumcision. especially in boys from the bush including James Keane. It is known that our SM appeared to have been afflicted with some serious affliction, possibly syphilis, though not identified in his post mortem autopsy. It wasn’t so hard to visually confirm his suseptable unmodified phalic state by those in attedance however. So bearing in mind the similiar make up of both men in a physical sense, mention of James may in any case have served to help us in our relentless efforts to identify SM at some stage down the track.
So now I’m looking at ‘lucky’ Stan Keane bn. 8/02 St. Kilda who like JTS (above) has all the physical requisits of SM with no marks or blemishes worth recording on his inlistment in ’42 for 2nd AIF duties. Lt. Keane served in PNG & Solomans as a rear echelon publishing officer, the downside being that Stan the man had married during his time in the military and was also a father; The upside is that he took off to the islands, same time as Alf Boxall and didn’t RTA until before his discharge in ’47. He was an interstate traveller for a publishing supplier pre war and one might assume that he resumed that profession; Could he have been pushing cheap, popular books with same size post envelopes to local agents for commission. Stan can’t be found in the usual trap search indices as yet, although mum and dad are reported to have married 1/02, hence the lucky label. Of course lucky Stanley was your main character in Street car named desire, so that may be fair reason for the ‘lucky’ 7. Keane signature on a certain neck tie… PS: I’m not super keen on the 1942 NAA photo of Stanley Martin Keane for an SM fit, and you might bare in mind that the nickname is also my invention.
So much for lucky Stan Keane; his good fortune ran out in ’79, which comes as no surprise…Moving right along to another SM suspect Joseph James Keane, also with AIF WW1 credentials, who must hold record for longest continuous drip of any digger who ever served on the western front (79 days), including our recent past record holder JTSK and a former champ TLK. This Jim was a miller from Sydney who shared much the same physical attributes as SM and the previous two Keane (sic) contenders, apart from a possibly troublesome GSW to his face ala Thomas Lawrence…Nah, let’s give him the flick, shall we?..
No one within Det. Sgt. L. Leane’s intelligencia clique seemed to know the meaning of ‘Taman (sic) Shud’, according the club president, OIC SM case and our humble informant; until told by Frank Kennedy that it meant ‘termination’ or words to that effect in a rough Persian translation. ‘The News’ racing editor, obscure police roundsman and man of languages may also have been able to tell the fuzz, that ‘Keane’ can mean bold, brazen, pretentious, up-front, or ‘within plain sight’. Perhaps crafty Lionel Lean was himself, familiar with high German, at least enough to enable creation of a simple cipher, formed from an olde English like form Keene (sic) which as we know translates to being pissed off in regional Gaelic.
We can now, in hindsight, make a fair guess as to why Det. Insp. & ex Colonel G.M.Leane delegated the SM job to older brother Det. Sgt. R.L. Leane who had missed out on the most recent war; enough said. Of course everyone will be aware of those fighting Leanes and their feats of derring do through all three big stoushes in the first half of the 20th century. Brithers Edwin, Alan and ex Sapol Commissioner Ret. Raymond being best of the litter, plus heirs apparent who mostly ended up in the poppy field of Flanders &c. One not so fighting sib. was Ernest who served through the war, alongside his constantly dripping son William, a malingerer and defaulter, mostly towards the rear. Young Bill once did a tough three month MCE stretch after his recent seventeen day drip fest, but still he remained safe from harm’s way. Needless to say both enlisted clerks managed their RTAs in 1920 none worse for wear and it seems that the stud also brought home Lillian, a widow-of-Chelsea, whom he had wed under the NdP William Leave (sic)…We know that old Ernie gave up his ghost in ’36 following a second marriage; As for William, it seems that he had taken new vows in ’28 with Vera. who hung about til passing in ’58. Yet another wife Eleanore wrote off to Army records in ’67 begging respectfully that her deceased hubbies medals be forwarded to her at 33 Thomas St. Unley, SA. which meant we were in with a rough chance; alas hopes were dashed with subsequent advice that her main man had apparently passed in 1964, the mug!…
A little intrigue if you can cope with it. William ‘the drip’ Leane worked as an insurance investigator (private eye?) after his war in the rear. He had ten siblings including brother Arnold Harry bn. 1896 who was posted as being MIA/KIA in November 1916. It seems that mother Martha May never saw hide nor hair of her other two menfolk ever again, even though she lived until 1946. In the early twenties she had been a prolific letter writer to Army HQ in Melbourne trying to get some answers concerning her missing son’s remains and information as to the last known whereabouts of her missing husband Ernest, whom she eventually divorced. Answers came directed, not so unexpected, from the comptroller of deceased digger’s property and effects Col. Leane, who did his best to re-assure ‘May’, as if he were a concerned member of the family, which I guess he may well have been…
milongal: I did take note of your recent Keane/Reane conversion, so have now borrowed the concept and taken it a logical step further; that is to say, if one can accept that the surname initiator might well have started life as an ‘L’ as in L for Leane. The great thing about such a name is that the famous ‘fighting’ family are plastered up all over the web, unlike the less heroic Keane mob; downside being that good candidates ie. Bill’s brother Tom bn.1901, happen to have deceased at an inappropriate point in time….By the way, I found another file tucked away concerning Martha May’s abandonment by that bounder hubby Ernie, Police Commisioner Leane’s brother, who jumped ship at Freemantle, rather than return to the nest in 1920, after five years holidaying with son Bill in war-torn Chelsea. Seems to relate mainly to her claims of impoverisment, responded by sympathetic re assuring letters in support, penned by Maj/Col J.M. Lean.