Arnold Thomas Collection

Explore the rich history of boxing in Australia through the Arnold Thomas Collection. This unique resource features over 1,000 photographs, souvenir programs, match day cards and ephemera spanning from the 1870s to the 1990s.

Sport

Key items in the collection

Highlights from this collection demonstrate its historical significance and variety.

The Arnold Thomas Collection includes 17 photograph albums and 169 loose photographs and about 1,161 images in total. It documents the history of boxing in Australia from the 1870s, when the Queensberry rules were first adopted, through to the 1990s.

The collection is notable for its original photographs from boxing’s ‘golden age’ (1908–27). Most images are studio portraits of boxers or photographs of fights. There are also images of training sessions, weigh-ins and group portraits.

Featured Australian boxers include:

Albert Griffiths
William Miller
Larry Foley
Abe Hicken
Joe Goddard
‘Snowy’ Baker
Les Darcy
Jerry Jerome
Bert Spargo
Mick Dooley
Ambrose Palmer
Dave Sands
Jimmy Carruthers
Jimmy Sharman
Rocky Mattioli
Jeff White
Lionel Rose
Tony Mundine (senior)
Jeff Fenech

International boxers include Clarence Reeves and Jack Johnson.

Many photographs provide detailed views of Sydney and Melbourne stadiums and other venues, including outdoor matches in country towns. The collection also includes photographs of the gravestones of boxers such as Larry Foley and Les Darcy, and memorials to Dave Sands, the British Empire middleweight champion who died in 1952 at age 26.

The earliest work in the collection is a watercolour by CH Hunt of Larry Foley, who was undefeated in prize fights and exhibition matches during the 1870s.

The collection also includes several journals, 2 books, souvenir programs, match day cards and flyers.

The journals are:

The Fist (Sydney, 1991–2000)
Fighter (Melbourne, 1968–2002)
Boxing and Sporting Judge (Sydney, 1917)
Australian Ring Digest (Sydney, 1951–66)
Square Ring (Sydney, 1982–87)

Most of the match day cards date from 1914–15. Boxers featured include:

Les Darcy
Eddie McGoorty
Tom McCormick
Jeff Smith.

About Arnold Thomas

Arnold Thomas was born in Melbourne in 1937 and has lived there all his life. After leaving school, he worked briefly in a factory and at the Post Office before becoming a carpet layer. He went on to own and manage a carpet-laying business for around 50 years.

A lifelong passion for boxing

Although not a boxer himself, Thomas developed a passion for the sport at an early age. He attended his first fight at the West Melbourne Stadium in 1946 and has remained deeply interested in boxing ever since.

He was one of the founders of the Australian National Boxing Hall of Fame and served as its second president. The Hall of Fame is based at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Collecting and preserving boxing history

As a schoolboy, Thomas began keeping scrapbooks on boxing. He returned to collecting in the 1980s, and in 1991 purchased a large part of the photographic collection of Merv Williams (1902–1980), a boxer, journalist and television commentator. This collection became the core of his own.

Thomas soon gained a reputation as a collector. He acquired both original photographs and copies through purchase and exchange from many sources. He also took photographs himself, mainly of boxers' memorials and graves in Australia and overseas.

Author and historian

Thomas is the author of Heroes of the Fancy: A History of Australian Boxing (1999).

Background to the collection

We purchased the collection from Thomas in 2003.

Arnold Thomas boxing collection

Most of the photographs from the Arnold Thomas Collection are available in the Pictures Collection. Older photos have been digitised and can be viewed online and Picture Australia.

Boxing journals from the collection are part of the Australian Collection. Match cards and other printed items are grouped in the Boxing files in the General Ephemera Collection.

Papers of Merv Williams, 1883-1979

The Merv Williams Boxing Collection, mostly comprising cutting books, is held in the Manuscripts Collection (MS 6862).

This guide was prepared using these references: