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Alcock tables
were purchased by many prominent clients, both private and institutional.
They were (and still are) at Victorian Government House, The Victorian
Parliament, the Melbourne Club, Australian Club, Athenaeum Club,
Melbourne Savage Club, Victorian Club, Tattersalls Club, Sydney,
Australian Club, Sydney, and many others. Alcock tables were also
in most of the prominent Melbourne hotels of the day including the
Prince of Wales, Scotts, Menzies, the Bull and Mouth, etc. Many
of the hotels in Victoria's major country towns had one or more
Alcock tables, as did clubs and hotels in New South Wales, South
Australia, Tasmania, Western Australia, and New Zealand. Some tables
were also exported to London, Japan, New Caledonia, The East Indies,
Fiji, and Hawaii.13
Important visitors to Melbourne like the Duke of Edinburgh and later
Prince George, Duke of York (later King George V of England) and
his brother, visited the Alcock Manufactory as part of their tour
of the City.13 In 1883 the Royal Commission on the Tariff visited
the premises on a fact-finding tour (Alcock was very much against
tariffs charged between the Colonies) and in July 1885 the Victorian
Governor, Sir Henry Loch, KCB, paid an official Vice Regal visit
as part of his effort to promote Victorian industry. 14
But one of Henry Alcock's major achievements was to encourage enthusiasm
for the game of billiards. Alcock called it "the noble game"
and referred to it as modern, scientific, civilized, and recommended
it for health and relaxation, etc. He also arranged, promoted and/or
assisted the organization of many billiards tournaments and championships.
For example, he brought John Roberts, Jnr, then world champion,
(refer page "History"). to Australia three times to meet
local champions as well as other players like Stevenson and Inman
who were then famous but whose names mean little today. In 1884
he arranged a match to determine the Billiards Champion of Australia,
providing a full-size billiard table as the winner's prize. (This
Championship was won by Englishman, H.Evans.) Again, in 1897,
he provided assistance with a match to decide "the Spot Barred"
Champion of Australia (won by Fred Weiss). In the earlier part of
the 20th century Alcock's set up match rooms specifically for tournament
play, first in their new Elizabeth Street Showrooms in the city,
and later in Sturt Street, South Melbourne. This not only provided
a venue for important matches but also assisted with the emerging
local pennant game.
In August 1912 Henry Upton Alcock died. He was nearly 90. During
his lifetime he had produced several thousand billiard tables of
extremely high quality, had written books on billiards and played
a major role in the development of the game of billiards in Australia.
He did not play the game himself.
By the time of Alcock's death the stage had been well set: excellent
playing conditions, a healthy and developing amateur competition,
the stimulation of seeing the world's best players, and a strong
interest in the game on the part of the general community. This
was the natural seedbed for producing Australian champions. They
had already begun to emerge. A young George Gray came to the fore
about 1906 and toured England quite successfully in 1911-12. In
1910-11 Fred Lindrum, Jnr, beat John Roberts, Jnr, and Tom Reece,
though Lindrum failed in a later English Tour. And by the year of
Alcock's death, Walter Lindrum had made breaks of 504 in practice
and 312 during match play. He was 14 at the time and destined to
be the greatest billiards champion in history. The rise of Australian
billiards was complete.
Following Henry Alcock's death control of the business passed into
the hands of his sons. Frederick Arthur Alcock became Managing Director
and remained in this position until December 1929.
During the later part of the First World War Alcock's developed
a markedly different range of billiard tables with very plain simple
lines in contrast to the more elaborate styles prevalent during
Victorian times. Sensing a change in lifestyles, Alcock's also focussed
on producing billiard tables for smaller sized homes, many of them
billiard-dining tables, and related home furniture.
After the First World War billiards in Australia returned to great
popularity. Alcock's continued to assist in promoting the game through
sponsoring a network of amateur tournaments. One of the most spectacular
of these was their "Colossal Tournament" of 1928.
However, by the late 1920s Henry Alcock's sons were reaching retirement
age. Apparently there were no family members in the third generation
in a suitable position to take up management of the business.
Following discussions with Thomson & Taylor of Russell Street,
Melbourne, a competing business, which had commenced operating in
the 1890s, it was decided to amalgamate. Accordingly, the business
began to operate as Alcock, Thomson & Taylor Pty Ltd commencing
1 January 1930, with George Swanson Taylor as Managing Director.
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