Lindley Alwyn John McLEAN

Lindley Alwyn John McLean was born in 1918 in Marrickville, NSW and baptised on the 5th of May 1918 at St Brigid's Church in Marrickville. Born the 3rd of 4 children of Spencer and Kathleen, they had a rough start to life.

In 1921, when Lindley was 3, his father, Spencer, died suddenly. His mother Kathleen was at a huge loss with debt still owing on the house they lived in at 351 Sydenham Rd, Marrickville. The story goes that she put Lindley and his 2 brothers into an orphanage while she went out of town (need to clarify where?) with Yvonne to make money to pay off the debt and feed the children.

Kathleen worked very hard and saved money to send the kids to private school. Lindley attended Christian Brothers College at Waverley in 1932. His yearbook from 1933¹ shows him as a teenager and that he competed in many sporting teams including the Handball Team¹.

In 1939 Lindley turned 21 and wrote a diary of his day and what he got up to.

In 1939, 3 weeks after his 21st birthday, Lindley enrolled¹ as a student to Hemingway and Robertson¹, an accountancy school in Sydney.

He was married on December 1st, 1951 in St Canice's Church, Elizabeth Bay, Sydney. In all his Marriage Documents¹², his father is listed as an Accountant.

Lindley played for Newtown Rugby League Club.

Although he played for Newtown for 11 years, he stated¹ his claim to fame was coaching the Newtown reserve grade to a premiership in 1951.

In 1943 he was transferred to Perth?

1944 Newtown won Premiership?

In 1946 he was transferred to Melbourne Naval Base and continued to play for Newtown. He was written a letter by Fitzroy AFL Club to come try his hand at Aussie Rules. He agreed to come to training and eventually used the Club as a place to train and stay fit for his Premier grade games while he was living in Melbourne.

1950 he was living in Garden Island (wrote an article in the Newsletter about the local Rugby League team)

In 1974 Lindley's age and poor health seemed to be getting the better of him and the Royal Australian Navy offered for him to retire¹

In September 1986 Lindley was transferred to Royal Brisbane Hospital with Multi Infarct Dementia¹

In January 1987 he was in the Prince Charles Hospital, Chermside, Brisbane and was transferred to the Geriatric ward as a permanent resident¹ after deteriorating health and brain damage from a stroke.

January 1990 Lindley's condition deteriorated and he began to worsen¹ until he eventually passed away on January 15th 1990.

PHOTOGRAPHS

Lindley Alwyn John McLean - Bexley 1921

1. Margaret Beryl Douglas with Lindley