Born: March 29, 1907, in Firozpur, the Punjab, India
Died: June 15, 1994, in Wyoming, New South Wales, Australia
Position: Left half/right half
Olympics journey: 1928 Amsterdam
Medals: One gold
William James Goodsir-Cullen and his younger brother Ernest John probably learnt their hockey on the "top flat", the biggest playing field of St George’s College in Mussoorie. Their uncle, George Masterson, was a patrician brother at St Fidelis School, which shared the location with St George's College. ‘Uncle George’ was keen on sport, famously roaming the surrounding hills with his gun during hunting season. (Source: family information.) The Goodsir-Cullens were probably still too young to go hunting, but they were old enough to pick up hockey sticks. The brothers bagged a rich haul at the Olympics, William winning gold with the All-India team in Amsterdam in 1928 and Ernest emulating him in Berlin in 1936. They are second only to the most famous brothers of Indian hockey before Independence—Dhyan Chand and Roop Singh.
The Goodsir Cullens were the younger branch of the Blake Cullen family from the West of Ireland. There was a lot of movement back and forward to India over the years. The first Cullen known to have been in India was William James’s great grandfather Valentine Blake Cullen, a cavalryman who went out to the country with the East India Company probably sometime in the 1830s. His son, John, married Susannah Isabella Goodsir and they had two sons, John Blake Cullen and James Goodsir Cullen (Wiliam James's father). (Source: family information.)
William James, or “Willie”, was already reckoned one of the finest half-backs in the country when he helped the United Provinces win the Inter-Provincial Tournament in Calcutta in 1928 and won himself a place in the Olympics-bound team (The Statesman, March 8, 1928, page 13). He played three matches in Amsterdam, including the final where he had to play in the unaccustomed position of outside left as an injury-ravaged India reshuffled their forward line. India still managed to beat hosts Holland 3-0 and clinch their first Olympic gold.
Willie Goodsir-Cullen played for the Telegraph Recreation Clubs of Calcutta and Agra, where he was based. In 1926 and 1927 he won the Gwalior Gold Cup with the Agra Telegraph Club (The Statesman, March 8, 1928, page 13). The list of incoming passengers at the Port of London on March 30, 1928 put his name down as William James Cullen and said he was employed by the Imperial Telegraphic Department (Ancestry.com. UK, Incoming Passenger Lists, 1878-1960 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2008). He married Monica Agnes Pearson, daughter to Elof Pearson (originally Persson), in Rawalpindi on May 9, 1934. (Source: family information; also Ancestry.com. India, Select Marriages, 1792-1948 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014.)
In 1947, weeks before India's independence, William and Monica, along with their three children, immigrated to Canada; they sailed from Bombay on the American President Lines' SS Marine Adder on July 1, 1947 and arrived, in transit, at San Fransisco on July 28, 1947. In the list of passengers, William James Goodsir-Cullen's occupation was given as "military", race Irish and final destination Vancouver, Canada. The whole family's passage was paid for by the Indian Government. (Ancestry.com. California, Passenger and Crew Lists, 1882-1959 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2008.)
William James Goodsir-Cullen later moved to Australia (source: family information).
*The post was edited on October 10, 2014 to include information on the Goodsir-Cullens' immigration to Canada and, later on, to Australia.
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