Premiership cup finds its way back to the region after almost a century

Melbournite Glenn Felsenthal, whose grandfather William Hilton was the captain of the victorious 1926 team, has donated the piece of history to the Lockington and District Living Heritage Complex.

He said he did not know how his grandfather came to be in possession of the trophy.

“I don’t have a story around how he’s managed to take it from the club,” he said.

“(The club) would have said ‘hey, where’s the cup gone?’

“Who knows what went on in those days, but I can’t imagine the premiership cups going missing these days.”

Felsenthal’s family has a long history in the region. His grandmother resided in Rochester until her passing in 1999.

He would often visit Campaspe Shire but never thought much of the historic trophy residing in his midst.

“I’ve come up here all my life and we’ve just held it in the house. When you’re a kid you don’t question that sort of thing,” Felsenthal said.

“As you get older you go ‘actually, why do we have that cup?’

“We decided (Lockington) was a better place for it to go than one of our houses. My parents were just using it as a fruit bowl.”

Inscribed on the cup are the 18 names of the Bamawm premiership team, with plenty of surnames that are still prevalent in the region today.

The cup is now in the collection of the Living Heritage Complex, which is open from 1pm to 4pm on Sundays.