Line and Length
Cricketer Of The Year
Claude Tozer was an Australian medical doctor and first-class cricketer who played for New South Wales. He was the nephew of Australian Test cricketer Percie Charlton.
Tozer juggled his medical studies and cricket while at University and, prior to WWI, he played 4 first class games for NSW as a middle order batsman.
During the Great War he served as a captain in the Australian Army Medical Corps during which time he saw action at Gallipoli and the Western Front. After the evacuation from Gallipoli he suffered typhoid and, after his recovery, was severely wounded in the head and leg during the Battle of Pozieres. Following an extended convalescence he returned to France in January 1917 and served in various capacities in hospitals and field units. He was promoted to the rank of Major in June 1917. In November he was mentioned in dispatches by Field Marshall Douglas Haig and awarded a DSO.
Returning to Australia in early 1919 he resumed his duties with the state cricket team, this time as an opening batsman. In 1919/20 he played his fifth first-class match, against Queensland at Brisbane and made innings of 51 and 103. His prolific 1920-21 season in grade cricket, which saw him make 452 runs in three matches earned him selection for an Australian XI to play against the touring MCC. Opening the batting, he made a pair of half centuries.
By now Tozer was being mentioned as Test candidate and was named to play as NSW captain in a match against Queensland on 1 January 1921. He never played that game! On 21 December, at Lindfield in Sydney, he was shot three times and killed by a depressed married female patient who had fallen in love with him. At her trial, the woman, Dorothy Mort, was found not guilty on the ground of insanity but was imprisoned in Long Bay Gaol at the Governor's pleasure, and was released nine years later.
Claude Tozer played just 7 first class games scoring 514 runs at a more than respectable 46.7 with a century and 5 first class fifties to his name. He was 30 at the time of his death.
A newspaper report stated:
"On the morning of Tuesday, 21 December 1920 Claude Tozer, well-known North Shore GP and recently selected test cricketer paid a house call on Mrs Dorothy Mort of Lindfield, to announce the end their adulterous love affair - Tozer was a bachelor, Mort was married with children. 'Lady's companion' Florence Fizzelle, elsewhere in the house at the time, later testified that ten minutes into the consultation she heard gunshots from the drawing room. Mrs Mort assured her through the locked drawing room doors that all was well, and asked for a glass of iced water. After ten minutes more shots were heard. Sometime during the day Mort retired to her bedroom, leaving the drawing room locked behind her. Eventually Fizzelle forced her way into the bedroom, where she found Mort covered in blood, with a gunshot wound to her breast, and apparently under the influence of a narcotic. A doctor and policeman were summoned. They found Tozer dead, in the drawing room, shot in the back of the head, in the temple and in the chest. His vest had been rebuttoned over the chest wound. A Colt pistol, a bloodstained kimono and a bottle of laudanum were also found in the room. Dorothy Mort recovered and was charged with murder"
I could find no evidence of Tozer being a "recently selected test cricketer" but his tragic death was definitely a loss to cricket.
Title:
Scene of the shooting murder of Dr Claude Tozer, at the home of Dorothy Mort, Lindfield, NSW, 21 December 1920.
Creator:
New South Wales. Police Dept.
Date:
December 1920
Format:
Glass plate negative:
Inscription:
Emulsion side
Click on the small image to view a larger version, The photographers among our ranks might appreciate the clarity.
Tozer juggled his medical studies and cricket while at University and, prior to WWI, he played 4 first class games for NSW as a middle order batsman.
During the Great War he served as a captain in the Australian Army Medical Corps during which time he saw action at Gallipoli and the Western Front. After the evacuation from Gallipoli he suffered typhoid and, after his recovery, was severely wounded in the head and leg during the Battle of Pozieres. Following an extended convalescence he returned to France in January 1917 and served in various capacities in hospitals and field units. He was promoted to the rank of Major in June 1917. In November he was mentioned in dispatches by Field Marshall Douglas Haig and awarded a DSO.
Returning to Australia in early 1919 he resumed his duties with the state cricket team, this time as an opening batsman. In 1919/20 he played his fifth first-class match, against Queensland at Brisbane and made innings of 51 and 103. His prolific 1920-21 season in grade cricket, which saw him make 452 runs in three matches earned him selection for an Australian XI to play against the touring MCC. Opening the batting, he made a pair of half centuries.
By now Tozer was being mentioned as Test candidate and was named to play as NSW captain in a match against Queensland on 1 January 1921. He never played that game! On 21 December, at Lindfield in Sydney, he was shot three times and killed by a depressed married female patient who had fallen in love with him. At her trial, the woman, Dorothy Mort, was found not guilty on the ground of insanity but was imprisoned in Long Bay Gaol at the Governor's pleasure, and was released nine years later.
Claude Tozer played just 7 first class games scoring 514 runs at a more than respectable 46.7 with a century and 5 first class fifties to his name. He was 30 at the time of his death.
A newspaper report stated:
"On the morning of Tuesday, 21 December 1920 Claude Tozer, well-known North Shore GP and recently selected test cricketer paid a house call on Mrs Dorothy Mort of Lindfield, to announce the end their adulterous love affair - Tozer was a bachelor, Mort was married with children. 'Lady's companion' Florence Fizzelle, elsewhere in the house at the time, later testified that ten minutes into the consultation she heard gunshots from the drawing room. Mrs Mort assured her through the locked drawing room doors that all was well, and asked for a glass of iced water. After ten minutes more shots were heard. Sometime during the day Mort retired to her bedroom, leaving the drawing room locked behind her. Eventually Fizzelle forced her way into the bedroom, where she found Mort covered in blood, with a gunshot wound to her breast, and apparently under the influence of a narcotic. A doctor and policeman were summoned. They found Tozer dead, in the drawing room, shot in the back of the head, in the temple and in the chest. His vest had been rebuttoned over the chest wound. A Colt pistol, a bloodstained kimono and a bottle of laudanum were also found in the room. Dorothy Mort recovered and was charged with murder"
I could find no evidence of Tozer being a "recently selected test cricketer" but his tragic death was definitely a loss to cricket.
Title:
Scene of the shooting murder of Dr Claude Tozer, at the home of Dorothy Mort, Lindfield, NSW, 21 December 1920.
Creator:
New South Wales. Police Dept.
Date:
December 1920
Format:
Glass plate negative:
Inscription:
Emulsion side
Click on the small image to view a larger version, The photographers among our ranks might appreciate the clarity.
Last edited:
