Bob Lampard

Two border collies sit soaking up the early rays of the autumn sun while inside stands a ninety-one-yearold Bob Lampard, keen to share his family’s history.From his prodigious memory and a lifetime of black and white photos, he brings to life his early years when horses meant horsepower and there were jobs to be done before and after school. The ancestors of Robert, or Bob as he prefers, lived at Buckhurst Park, Hartfield in Sussex, England. Thomas Lampard worked as a game keeper for the Earl of Delaware. The De La Warr’s, a name later Anglicised to Delaware, lived in a manor house where the family and their forebears have lived since the reign of Henry the Second. Thomas aged 42, his wife aged 28 and their three sons: George 13, William 12, and James 5 departed England in 1839, with free passage to Australia. Their agent, which we assume to mean referee, was in fact Lord Delaware. The family arrived in South Australia in December and took up residence in Melbourne Street, North Adelaide. In no time at all,Thomas and his sons were to earn respect in the fast-developing colony for their sporting prowess.