On November 24, 1881 a meeting was held at the home of Mr W.J. Taylor of Wagga Wagga. There were twelve gentlemen present. Over port and cigars, it was resolved that a club be formed and called The Riverine Club. The committee formed consisted of a president, two vice presidents and eight other members. Although it is not clearly recorded, the aims of the club are thought to resemble other such male institutions throughout the British Empire. Indeed, the Riverine Club's priceless leatherbound volumes of Punch from Victorian times probably best attest to this.
The original clubhouse was leased from Dr M. O’Connor who had occupied the building since 1873. The building was originally the first public school in Wagga Wagga, built in 1861 and closed in 1871. In 1890, The Riverine Club was able to purchase the building outright for £1,250 . The same year, the billiard area was completed to the plans of local architect George Sheppard for £428.
Portions of the Club's Library and Reading Room are the only sections of the early school to remain in the present building.
In 1906, the NSW Liquor Act determined that the Club was to provide accommodation for its members. In its wonderfully glacial pace, by 1925 the Club managed to get around to this demand and purchased an adjacent two storey building to provide the charming accommodation we enjoy today.
In 1930, major alterations and extensions were carried out to the plans of Melbournian architects Messrs Bunnet & Alsop and the building was completely transformed. The entrance was transferred to Sturt Street and approached via a deep arched colonnade across the new façade.
During the Second World War, The Riverine Club was utilised by the RAAF and American Air Force officers. Flight training was conducted in Wagga Wagga and surrounding districts. After the war, the club officially returned to being a Gentlemen’s club.
The Whaler
"The Whaler" is the most prominent image in our old Club. There are several works showing the image around our walls, from photograph to oil painting, they are all by Chas E Astley, 1908. The two main works are an original oil painting (Ex Dono Mr T.S. Bellair) and a framed photograph of the same (Ex Dono W.M.J. Walsh) with title "The Whaler", and subtitled, "You talk about ‘ard times", complete with a paper clipping of December 22, 1931 - a satirical piece by journalist Will Carter which describes them as "odoriferous old schemers of the road", and that "the most conspicuous of all was the Murrumbidgee Whaler".
The artist: Charles Ernest Astley (b 1869 Deptford, Kent, UK d June 1929 Warwick, Queensland, Australia) is described by Design and Art Australia Online as one whose "paintings were no more than competent". Never-the-less, Chas was "a significant cultural figure in both Toowoomba and Warwick".
However, it is not the brush strokes but the image itself that our members heed. The Whaler shoulders the Bar, a conscience moment, as to that which sets one apart from one's present comfortable circumstances to a far paler state – could it be just as simple as a failed season, or a bad hand?
The swagman is an image of rural Australia that persisted during the two periods of growth for our Riverine Club. Swagmen were men down on their luck. Lore would have it that they only took food and clothing in exchange for some menial work, such as splitting a pile of wood. Hearsay puts it otherwise, that often the exchange was schemed to the swaggy's favour. Either way, these men were "waltzing Matilda" along the roads and the Murrumbidgee and had the respect and help of many landholders along the way.
Army barracks
We housed the US armed forces during WWI and WWII
During the Second World War the RAAF, USAF and the Australian Army established air and ground combat training establishments in the Wagga Wagga district at Forest Hill, Uranquinty and Kapooka. The RAAF and USAF began seeking various accommodations for their purposes and enquired of the Wagga Wagga City Council through the Air Board about premises in town for an Officer's Mess. The Council suggested the Riverine Club.
The Club did not welcome this referral and was lukewarm on the prospect as it would lose control of its affairs as well as floor space and the ability to generate revenue from normal activity carried out in these spaces. However, the Club reluctantly went along with the proposal and leased its spaces to the Air Board.
The Riverine Club site was previously Wagga’s first public school
The club opened it's premises situated in Tarcutta Street just off the Sturt Street corner and opposite the law courts complex. The building had formerly been the National School, erected 1861 and used to 1871 when it was closed and the site sold. John Cox bought the block and in 1873 sold the former school building to Dr O'Connor to occupy his premises in return for an annual rental of 100 pounds. By this time O'Connor owned the whole block along Tarcutta Street from Sturt Street to the Police Reserve and had erected several rental cottages on the site in the mid-1870s. O'Connor duly vacated the Club premises and moved next door into one of his other buildings.
LIFE MEMBERS
The Riverine Club confers Life Membership to members who have contributed a great deal to the Club over time. It counts its Ordinary Members of 50 years good standing among these.
Mr J Brockhouse
Mr P Crozier
Mr F Horsley
Mr I Horsley
Mr M Kennedy
Mr R Osborne
Mr K Foley
Mr S Dwyer
PAST CLUB PRESIDENTS
2016 - Present Mr R. Pottie
2013 - 2016 Mr G.N. Burmeister
2011 - 2013 Mr D.S. Stratton
2007 - 2011 Mr L.K. Taylor
1995 - 2007 Mr J.H.T. Brockhouse
1987 - 1995 Mr P.J. Morrow
1984 - 1987 Mr C.F. Brown
1969 - 1984 Mr J.H. Henderson
1968 - 1969 Mr G.P. Osborne
1963 - 1968 Mr J.L. Watts
1959 - 1963 Mr H.V. McKay
1949 - 1959 Mr P.W. Williamson
1939 - 1949 Mr W.M.J. Walsh
1920 - 1939 Mr I.C. Thomas
1916 - 1920 Mr G.P. Wilson
1904 - 1916 Mr C.F. Bolton
1882 - 1904 Dr Erasmus Wren
1881 - 1882 Mr John Leitch