The eldest of the seven children of Edward Arthur Bourke (1877-1936), and Ellen Mary Bourke (1879-1949), née Lonergan,[2][3] Edward Arthur Bourke was born at Yarrawonga, Victoria on 17 February 1904.[4]
He married Violet Elizabeth Gould (1904-1936) in 1926; they had four children.[5] He married Lilian Grace Taylor (1916-1989) in 1941; they had three children.[6]
Football
Often playing at centre half back, Bourke spent his early football years with Muckatah,[7] Tungamah and Brunswick.
He kicked three goals on debut for Richmond in the opening round of the 1924 VFL season and participated in the round robin finals series which took place that year.[8]
After crossing to South Melbourne without success in 1927, Bourke missed the entire 1928 football season while he waited for a clearance to the Victorian Football Association. He was signed by Sandringham in 1929 and won the Recorder Cup in his first season.
Bourke coached Bentleigh to the 1930 Metropolitan C. Section Amateur premiership.[9][10]
Bourke later served as captain-coach of Yarraville in 1933 and Ararat in 1934.
Bourke was cleared from South Ballarat to McKinnon in May 1936,[12] where McKinnon[13] won the 1936 premiership[14] of the Caulfield Oakleigh District Football League.[15]
Holmesby, Russell; Main, Jim (2014). The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers: every AFL/VFL player since 1897 (10thed.). Seaford, Victoria: BAS Publishing. ISBN978-1-921496-32-5.
Hogan P: The Tigers of Old: A Complete History of Every Player to Represent the Richmond Football Club between 1908 and 1996, Richmond FC, (Melbourne), 1996. ISBN0-646-18748-1
