So named after the donor of the shield, Sir Frederick Thomas Sargood 1834 - 1903.
His father Frederick James Sargood was a merchant and his mother Emma Sargood nee Rippon, daughter of a Chief Cashier of the Bank of England. Sargood, in the company of his parents and five sisters, arrived in Melbourne on 12 February 1850 on the Clifton. After a brief stint with the Public Works Department he joined the Wholesale Softgoods business of Sargood, King and Co which his father had already established.
In 1858 he married Marian Australis daughter of George Rolfe merchant and later a Member of the Legislative Council. Next year he became a junior partner in the firm. His father by this time had returned to England. The firm prospered and extended into operations to the other colonies and New Zealand. Partners came and went but Sargood remained dominant.
In 1874 he entered the Legislative Council, his wife died in childbirth on 6 January 1880, he resigned from the Council to take his nine children to England.
On 2 December 1880 (?) Sargood married Julia Tomlin (?) aged 34 and the family returned in October 1882. Sargood held the Legislative Council seat of South Yarra from 1882 to 1901. In 1883 he became Minister of Defence. He had a long interest in defence matters having joined the Volunteer Artillery as a Private, rising to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. He was described as one of the best shots in Victoria and was closely involved in the Rifle Club movement having formed the St Kilda Rifle Corps in 1859. Many of Sargood’s admirers considered the formation of the School Cadet Corps in 1884 his greatest achievement.
He held many other portfolios in his time in politics. By the 1880’s he had become very wealthy. During the 1890 depression his firm actually expanded. He was regarded as a generous host at his mansion “RipponLea” (so named after his mother’s maiden name) designed with superb gardens and a miniature rifle range. Sargood died suddenly on 2 January 1903 on holiday in New Zealand.
Thousands watched his funeral procession which included eight massed bands, 1200 cadets and a firing party of 300. He was survived by his wife and their daughter and five sons and four daughters of his first marriage.
Although it is not known when the shield was first donated, it was won by the Rupanyup Rifle Club seven times including three times in succession.
An article from the Rupanyup Spectator dated 12 June 1890 reports on the Show Window of Mr M Miller of Main Street Rupanyup. There were many other articles written at the time. The difference between when the Rupanyup Rifle Club won the shield and today is that Sir Frederick Sargood was alive and it is possible that the Rupanyup team met him, whereas today it is only a name on a shield.
I think if you were to ask the shooters competing today about the history of the shield they would struggle to come up with an answer. The fact that the shield is there gives competitors something to compete for, but for Rupanyup it is probably the most important piece of memorabilia in its history and yet there are probably only three people in Rupanyup who have seen it.
Up until 1965 the trophies that were won by different sporting clubs in the town were displayed in a glass case on the wall inside the Mechanics Institute. When the Mechanics Institute was demolished in 1965 the trophies were given to the relevant clubs - football trophies to the Football Club, cricket trophies to the Cricket Club and rifle shooting trophies to the Rifle Club.
In about 1970 when the (Rupanyup) Rifle Club folded, the shed at the rifle range was being cleaned out and the shield was thrown out with the rubbish, however one of the members retrieved it and had it restored and then was not sure what to do with it so he gave it to the Wimmera Rifle Association.
It was not given by a motion on the books of the Rupanyup Rifle club, but was handed to them by an individual. The Rupanyup Historical Society had no idea of where the shield had gone and it was forgotten until an active member found it was still in circulation with the Wimmera Rifle Association. Some time after 2000 the Historical Society decided to try to track the shield down.
I went to a shoot in Stawell in 2010 when Warracknabeal was the holder of the shield. I asked one of the members ‘Where is the shield kept?’ and he said “in a cardboard box in my wardrobe”. I was a bit taken aback and thought that it should be displayed for people to see and enjoy.
When we first approached the Wimmera Rifle Association, we had hopes of getting it back but soon realised that was not going to happen, so we came up with the proposition that the shield be shared - housed for display at Woods’ Museum Rupanyup and the rifle shooters could take it when competing for it - but that was knocked back.
There has been much correspondence over the years between Rupanyup Historical Society and the Wimmera Rifle Association but a solution has never been reached.
In 2023 the Rupanyup Historical Society wrote to the Wimmera Rifle Association and all the member branches in the hope they could house and display the shield at the Woods’ Museum for the descendants of the men who won the shield and the general public to see and enjoy.
-Contributed by Mr Sonny Johns, a member of Rupanyup Historical Society.
PS-The original shield has since been inset onto a larger plate or shield and is still competed for by the Wimmera’s four remaining rifle clubs. Stawell, Horsham, Warracknabeal and Natimuk rifle clubs.