Almanac Book Reviews: ‘Harry Hodgetts: The flawed broker behind Don Bradman’s move to Adelaide’ by John Davis
Book Review
Harry Hodgetts: The flawed broker behind Don Bradman’s move to Adelaide by John Davis
John Davis’ Harry Hodgetts: The flawed broker behind Don Bradman’s move to Adelaide is a detailed, accessible and evocative account of the former leading South Australian stockbroker Harry Hodgetts’ rise and fall. From a modest country background, Hodgetts quickly ascended Adelaide’s financial and social ladders. By the mid-1930s, he had enticed the world’s greatest batsman, Sir Donald Bradman, to South Australia to work as a stockbroker’s clerk and take up the captaincy of the state’s cricket team (starting a rift with Vic Richardson that echoed down the years through his grandson Ian Chappell).
Bradman was employed to learn under Hodgetts’ guidance as part of an arrangement with the South Australian Cricket Association (SACA), of which Hodgetts was a Board member. The Bradman deal involved the SACA paying most of his annual income of 700 pounds, which not only helped diversify Bradman’s money flow but also appealed to his need for financial security.
In telling the story, Davis provides insights into life in colonial South Australia as he skilfully tracks Hodgetts’ and his wife Edith’s antecedents. As a teenager, Hodgetts was a keen sportsman and administrator, even taking on the East Torrens Cricket Club’s assistant secretary role while also playing for the club. As Davis writes, Hodgetts initially followed his father’s career by working in the Post Office, which offered ‘ long-term stability.’ As the book progresses, one can’t help but feel the tragedy of what was to follow. If he had stayed in the post office, his life might have been much happier, healthier and longer. However, ambition doesn’t work that way.
Davis writes, ‘It is tempting to conclude that Hodgetts followed a clearly defined path. This is most unlikely. He seized opportunities and reacted to the setbacks as they arose.’
Hodgetts climbs the business and social ladders and later lives up to his wife Edith Gwynne’s more prestigious social upbringing (Edith was born into South Australia’s gentry). Hodgetts is a hard worker and generous, serving various organisations and institutions, including St Mark’s College, Girton, and sporting bodies. Not all his associations are elite. He also worked for the Royal Institute for the Blind (his father had gone blind by age 50).
The author points out that by the mid-1930s, Hodgetts was gambling on ‘wheat futures’ in a highly speculative practice. This risky behaviour and taking on a new client ( Lord Gowrie, the Governor-General of Australia) was a turning point in his life. ‘The first of these steps sowed the seeds of his downfall; the second was to trigger it.’ Hodgetts’ foray into speculative trading and his association with a high-profile client led to financial missteps that ultimately led to his downfall.
As Davis illustrates, by 1940, Hodgetts was on shaky ground, chasing good money after bad. Hodgetts discovered that having big-name clients attracts even more publicity if things go wrong.
There are logical reasons for Hodgetts’ investment failures during the Second World War. Hodgetts, a Menzies’ supporter during the 1941 election, found himself on the wrong side of history when the Labor Government under John Curtin won power; Hodgetts’ investments bore the brunt of war restrictions by prohibiting the sale of investment capital (except for war purposes) while also fixing interest rates. This Tsunami of ill fortune for Hodgetts was worsened when the Japanese bombings of Darwin blew apart his investments in Top End hotels. These losses were compounded by Hodgetts’ desperate belief that he could rescue debt with other people’s money. As Davis reveals, the debt was ultimately substantial, around eight million dollars in today’s terms. By then, Hodgetts had ‘adopted foolhardy and fraudulent business practices based on over-optimistic self-belief in his capacity to trade out of trouble.’
The big questions about Bradman are addressed when Davis discusses what happens when Hodgetts goes to jail for fraud and Bradman takes over Hodgetts’ client list with some haste. This move raises eyebrows and leads to speculation about Bradman’s involvement, but Davis examines it in an even-handed manner. Davis delves into the implications of Bradman’s swift action, providing a balanced perspective on whether Bradman was complicit or acting in the best interest of Hodgetts’ clients.
The final act of this Shakesperean-like tragedy occurs when Bradman replaces Hodgetts on the Australia Board of Cricket Control. The new South Australian delegate was knighted, while Hodgetts went to gaol and died in 1949.
Davis’s adept handling of the four areas of expertise—stockbroking, criminality, cricket, and social history—provides a comprehensive understanding of Hodgetts’ life and the context in which he operated. These are not isolated aspects of Hodgetts’ life; they are intricately interconnected, each playing a significant role in shaping his character and actions. Davis’ exploration of Hodgetts’ life will make the readers feel the complexity and depth of his story. Davis has written a first-class account of an essential part of South Australian history, inviting the readers to appreciate the intricate web of influences that shaped Hodgetts’ life, ultimately contributing to his downfall.
You can purchase the book from the publisher Here.
You can read more from Barry Nicholls Here
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I found the book a bit dull, frankly. It read like an article submitted to an academic journal. Hodgetts was a self-made man who got in over his head & his downfall was gradual (Davis claims it began as early as 1930) but he was a provincial businessman in small town Adelaide & not of much interest outside SA. The important part of his story is his association with Bradman & this link is under-developed in Davis’s narrative. I understand that Davis would claim it’s a biography of Hodgetts & so many books on Bradman have already been written. However, there are so many questions still unanswered about what happened. Was Bradman recruited specifically to get rid of Vic Richardson & alter the ‘character’ of SA cricket? Why did Bradman skip the ’35-6 tour of S Africa? Why did Bradman suddenly become a ‘board’ man? How hands on was Bradman in his business dealings & why did he suddenly ‘retire’ from business in 1954 at a relatively young age?
I’m not sure about responding to someone who fails to clearly identify themselves other than as Vagabond. It makes them sound more like an internet troll with conspiracy theories to peddle than a legitimate member of a writing community. However on this occasion I will. I’d contest a number of statements made in the above comment, including the part about Adelaide at the time being ‘small town.’ Clearly the city presented enough business opportunities for Bradman to make the move from New South Wales. The questions Vagabond raises about Bradman should be addressed to his biographers (Davis’ book is clearly a biography of Harry Hodgetts). As Vagabond seems to have the inside running on the Bradman story perhaps he/ she, they/them could take on the task of writing it? As for the suggestion that the book is dull. I’d ask anyone to read the gentle, informative and vivid opening and then with a straight face suggest the prose is like that found in an academic journal.
An interesting review, Barry.
What is wrong with academic journals anyway?
Thanks for this Barry. Looks like an interesting read with wider insights into the flawed character of Harry Hodgetts. Does Karl Schneider get a mention?
Barry, what does using an online pseudonym have to do with anything? How does it imply that I’m a ‘conspiracy theorist troll’? You reviewed the book then I put in a brief review as to how I found it, having read extensively about Bradman over the years & finding that his move to Adelaide & his subsequent business career to be an area that most biographers have only sketched out. That’s the reason I purchased the book, to get some insight & context on the most controversial part of Bradman’s life; it just wasn’t there. I found the prose a little dull, so what? Sardonically referring to me as someone who has ‘inside running’ is a bit petulant but then you seem to think that my review was all about you rather than a candid appraisal of an item that I chose to buy. BTW, did you purchase your copy?
I note that my reasoned, polite response to a personal attack has been censored by the moderator.
No it hasn’t. The moderator has been busy with various pressing matters in another realm.
John, can you clarify for me the rules pertaining to the comments section of the site. Does a commenter have to be “a legitimate member of a writing community” as suggested by Barry? Is using a pseudonym not acceptable as it implies that the commenter is an “internet troll with conspiracy theories to peddle”?
BTW, I forgot to give the book a rating. 3/5 stars..
Hi Barry, fantastic review as always, I received the book finally last week and have started reading it and cannot wait to learn more about Harry and the Don and the whole “thing” that occurred in 1945. Shakespearean tragedy comes to mind and I don’t know a lot about Shakespeare. I have leapt to the last page and read the last paragraph and found that made a lot of sense. Cheers, Nick
Hi All,
To respond to you Vagabond, I have no idea who you are. I’m happy to know but I don’t need to know.
I am not concerned by nom de plumes. Some choose to use them.
I am more concerned with the words in the comment and the argument.
When, on very rare occasions we see a commenter playing the man, it doesn’t take long for that to be pointed out in a further comment by a reader. We have some good judges who are hot on that. Very, very occasionally I receive an email to say “you might look at the conversation emerging after X’s article.”
We haven’t banned anyone. I have asked some commenters to rephrase their comment or I would take it down.
This was not a consideration in this case.
Some have taken their bat and ball and gone home. They’ve disappeared.
We get the occasional ridiculous comment: “Y is a f#ckwit”. That is trashed without consideration.
Hi John, this has nothing to do with Vagabond etc. It’s about an email I received to tell me, thanks to my bringing it to their attention in Olympedia, the confusion between the 2 top sportsmen in the fifties, both named Peter Box, will be rectified in all appropriate places. The Peter Box in the Australian baseball team that played America in a demonstration game in the ’56 Melbourne Olympics was NOT the ’56 Footscray Brownlow Medalist. That Box was a star southpaw pitcher for the Goodwood Indians during the fifties winter months in South Australia. The SA Box won 2 Capps Medals and was runner up twice (winter baseball) and 3 Shipway Medals (for Night Baseball, played during the summer months). The SA Box was inducted into the SA Baseball Hall of Fame on the 31st of May 2024
John
I left a reasonable review of how I found the book, no trolling, peddling conspiracy theories or playing the man. But I was accused of doing so for some unknown reason. I wrote a response to this allegation on 15 August (it’s time-stamped 9:17pm), came back an hour later & saw that it wasn’t posted, hence my second response (time-stamped 10:13pm). This response posted straight away & the post of 9:17pm appeared simultaneously. There is no delete function at my end that I can detect.
Maybe I’m not ‘a legitimate member of a writing community’ but I’m definitely a legitimate member of a reading community who ingenuously evaluated a product that I purchased.
For what it’s worth, a descendent of Hodgetts (I’m thinking grandson) plays bowls at my parent’s club. Decent bloke. Loves his cricket (but probably don’t ask him his thoughts on Bradman).
I will have to grab myself a copy now.
The people at Wakefield Press are probably scratching their heads at this recent run on the Hodgetts book!
Having just come across Barry’s reasoned review, I should like to make some further comments. Firstly, I am attracted to brief biographies. Sports biographies, especially, often develop into a tedious chronological rehash of performances that we are often well aware of. I love biographies which give us perspective by including brief details of family history and details of the subject’s formative years. Johns Davis’s ‘Harry Hodgetts’ does this well. Like Vagabond, I was also disappointed that some issues were not adequately addressed, though from my perspective, less on Bradman can often be a good thing. My thoughts are that the following could have been addressed:
1. Hodgetts’ connection with CGG Gwynne (his future brother-in-law). Though Hodgetts was 1 1/2 years older than Gwynne, they were both at St Peter’s College in 1898. Later, in 1909-10 and 1910-11, Gwynne played A Grade cricket for East Torrens. Hodgetts was not only a playing member of the club at the time but was also a long-standing member of the committee, for which he was awarded life membership in 1920. As Hodgetts married Gwynne’s sister in 1912, it is likely that their coming together can be attributed to a cricket connection, which resolves the recurring theme of the book that the two were from different social backgrounds.
2. Peter Crossing (above) raised the issue of Karl Schneider, an outstanding cricketer who was attracted to South Australia from Victoria in February 1926. From shortly after the time of his arrival Schneider was employed by Hodgetts as a broker’s clerk. This is clearly more relevant than the acquisition of Grimmett, which is cited in the book. As a trivial matter, Grimmett is described as being a Kensington cricketer, but Adelaide Cricket Club found employment for him. Grimmett played for Adelaide until later moving to Firle. The significant point, though, is that Schneider died in 1928. He was born only three years before Bradman, was clearly a gun cricketer and may have been expected to have been a core member of the South Australian team in 1935, but for his tragic early death. Would Hodgetts have contemplated offering employment to Bradman if Schneider have lived?
3. Davis, like the substantial article in ‘Bulls, Bears and Wildcats’, is essentially sympathetic on Hodgetts undoing. This is largely due to the cause of his undoing being attributed to bad luck. Whilst we can be sympathetic to Hodgetts losing money, this is a separate matter from his prolonged conduct in dipping into clients’ assets to defer the inevitable. Certainly some of these clients (Lord Gowrie, for example) did not have their lives changed significantly by Hodgetts’ actions, but there were others, including Arthur Richardson, who lost their life savings. Richardson describes his dilemma in a series of letters to Les R Hill (which I have recently acquired from a local auction). The initial reluctance of SACA to arrange a testimonial match for Richardson and Bradman’s reluctance to play in the match are both matters of interest.
4. Greg A comments (above) on his feedback from Hodgetts’ grandson, hinting at the families’ attitude to Bradman’s role in this story. I am aware of similar expressions from another member of the family. Perhaps John Davis may have allowed these feelings to have been vented, for he is tactful in handling other issues.