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Dick Bliss
Personal information
Full name Benjamin Charles Bliss
Date of birth (1881-04-07)7 April 1881
Place of birth Newport, Victoria
Date of death 3 September 1935(1935-09-03) (aged 54)
Place of death Deniliquin, New South Wales
Original team(s) Port Melbourne (VFA)
Height 190 cm (6 ft 3 in)[1]
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
1901–02 Port Melbourne (VFA) 23 (4)
1904 Boulder City (GFL (WA))
1905 Boulder Stars (GFL (WA))
1906 South Melbourne 01 (0)
1906–09 Williamstown (VFA) 19 (8)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1906.
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Benjamin Charles "Dick" Bliss (7 April 1881 – 3 September 1935) was an Australian rules footballer who played with South Melbourne in the Victorian Football League (VFL).[2]

Family

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The son of Henry Bliss (1826-1906),[3] and Emma Bliss (1835–1911), née Buxton,[4] Benjamin Charles Bliss was born at Newport, Victoria on 7 April 1881.

He married Janet Campbell Caldwell in 1907.

Football

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Port Melbourne (VFA)

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'Dick' Bliss commenced his football career with Port Melbourne in 1901, on debut securing the praise of The Age correspondent who wrote that "the best game on the other side was played by a young giant named Bliss, who before last Saturday had never played a game of football with a recognised club of any sort".[5] He played a total of 18 games over two seasons for Port Melbourne, missing four games through a suspension for fighting in 1902.[6]

Boulder City (GFA)

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In June 1903 Bliss travelled to the Western Australian goldfields;[7] and in 1904 he played for Boulder City in the Goldfields Football Association.[8][9]

Interstate football

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In July 1904 he was selected to represent Western Australia in the first-ever West Australian interstate team, which played against a Victorian Football League (VFL) representative side in Melbourne on 6 August 1904,[10][11] and against a South Australian Football Association (SAFA) representative side in Adelaide on 20 August 1904.[12][13] He played well.[14][15]

Boulder Stars (GFA)

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In 1905 Bliss moved to the newly formed Boulder Stars team (one of the few times he appears as B. C. Bliss in football records)[16] and he played for this team for one season.

South Melbourne (VFL)

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In 1906 Bliss returned to Victoria and secured a permit to play with South Melbourne,[17] and played a single game for them against Fitzroy in the Round 7 game played on 16 June 1906.

Williamstown (VFA)

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In July 1906 Bliss transferred to Williamstown,[18] where he played until 1909. He played 20 games and kicked 8 goals for Williamstown in 1906 and 1907 and played one further game in 1909 in round 12 at Port Melbourne when the team was short of numbers. During the 1909 season he ceased playing senior level football and captained Yarraville in the Victorian Junior Association.[19] before retiring in 1910.

In 1911 Bliss returned to Williamstown and successfully stood for the committee,[20] and was appointed an honorary trainer of the Williamstown club the same year.[21]

Death

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Bliss died in Deniliquin in 1935 as a result of injuries sustained in a motor vehicle accident,[22][23] and is buried in Williamstown Cemetery.[24]

Notes

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  1. ^ "SPORTING". The Sun. Western Australia. 11 September 1904. p. 3.
  2. ^ Holmesby, Russell; Main, Jim (2014). The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers: every AFL/VFL player since 1897 (10th ed.). Seaford, Victoria: BAS Publishing. p. 74. ISBN 978-1-921496-32-5.
  3. ^ In Memoriam: Bliss, The Age, (Monday, 20 May 1907), p.1.
  4. ^ Obituary: The Late Mrs. Bliss, The Williamstown Chronicle, (Saturday, 8 July 1911), p.2.
  5. ^ "RICHMOND (5.13) BEAT PORT MELBOURNE (4.6)". The Age. Victoria, Australia. 27 May 1901. p. 9.
  6. ^ "FOOTBALL". The Argus. Victoria, Australia. 7 June 1902. p. 15.
  7. ^ "Items of News". Standard. Victoria, Australia. 13 June 1903. p. 2.
  8. ^ "GOLDFIELDS FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION". Kalgoorlie Western Argus. Western Australia. 31 May 1904. p. 31.
  9. ^ "BOULDER CITY'S WIN FROM". The Sun. Western Australia. 26 June 1904. p. 3.
  10. ^ Football: Victoria v. West Australia, The Argus, (Saturday, 6 August 1904), p.13.
  11. ^ On that same Saturday, another Victorian Football League (VFL) representative side played against a combined Ballarat Football Association team at Ballarat, losing to the Ballarat team 5.10 (40) to 7.8 (62) (Melbourne League v. Ballarat Association, The Age, (Monday, 8 August 1904), p.9).
  12. ^ Devaney, J., "1904 interstate match: South Australia v Western Australia – Sandgropers go west with spoils", australianfootball.com.
  13. ^ "AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL". Western Mail. Western Australia. 23 July 1904. p. 38.
  14. ^ "FOOTBALL. INTERSTATE MATCH". Sunday Times. Western Australia. 7 August 1904. p. 1.
  15. ^ "YESTERDAY'S FOOTBALL WESTRALIANS WIN". Sunday Times. Western Australia. 21 August 1904. p. 3.
  16. ^ "GOLDFIELDS FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION". Kalgoorlie Miner. Western Australia. 16 May 1905. p. 8.
  17. ^ "GOLDFIELDS FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION". Kalgoorlie Miner. Western Australia. 10 May 1906. p. 8.
  18. ^ "FOOTBALL". The Age. Victoria, Australia. 6 July 1906. p. 8.
  19. ^ "VICTORIAN JUNIOR ASSOCIATION". The Argus. Victoria, Australia. 10 May 1909. p. 5.
  20. ^ "FOOTBALL NOTES". Williamstown Chronicle. Victoria, Australia. 25 March 1911. p. 3.
  21. ^ "FOOTBALL NOTES". Williamstown Chronicle. Victoria, Australia. 8 April 1911. p. 3.
  22. ^ "Mr B. C. BLISS". Williamstown Chronicle. Victoria, Australia. 7 September 1935. p. 8.
  23. ^ "Family Notices". The Argus. Victoria, Australia. 5 September 1935. p. 1.
  24. ^ "Benjamin Charles Bliss". Find a Grave.
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