General News
19 February, 2026
Historic discovery returned home
TROPHIES which date back almost a century have been returned to Mortlake Golf Club after being unearthed during excavations in Ocean Grove.
The three trophies include a 1936 Archer Cup won by Dr Ian McInnes and some won in women’s championships by his wife, Jean.
The trophies were delivered to the club last Friday after former Mortlake resident Cynthia Berry, who now lives in Ocean Grove, made the trip back to play a round of golf.
“The trophies were found during the excavation of vacant land at Ocean Grove,” Mrs Berry said.
“The builder came across the trophies and contacted Mortlake Golf Club and spoke with Mortlake Golf Club secretary John Snowden.
“He contacted me as I was from Mortlake, live nearby and was coming to Mortlake to play golf on February 13.
“The builder brought them around, which was nice because he went to school with our son so we knew him when he came to the front door.
“It was very kind of him to make the effort rather than just throwing them out.”
The discovery captivated the interest of Mrs Berry, who began trying to piece together who the trophies had belonged to based only on the initials on the inscription.
She soon discovered the trophies had belonged to the prominent Mortlake doctor and his wife, but it wouldn’t be long before she made an interesting connection.
“The doctor whose name is on the trophy, Dr Ian McInnes, delivered me here in Mortlake,” Mrs Berry said.
“He delivered a lot of people – there were five in my family.
“My older sister was delivered by another doctor but I was born in 1949 and he delivered me then.
“Dr McInnes was a doctor in Mortlake in the 1930s and 1940s, which you see in some of the trophies being from 1936.”
Mrs Berry said she was still in the process of gathering information on Dr McInnes and had begun contacting historical societies.
“We know he retired to Ocean Grove,” she said.
“We believe the block of land where the trophies were found had not had a property there for 20 or 30 years.
“Whether the McInnes’ family lived on that block, we’re not sure.”
Mr Snowden said he had contacted family to get answers himself and plans were already underway to refurbish the trophies.
“I spoke to a relative who said he had retired to Ocean Grove,” he said.
“He died in Ocean Grove in 1977.
“We’re not sure how the trophies ended up buried, but they got damaged when they were being dug up.
“In our trophy cabinet we’ve got a cup played for in 1954, they called it the Marrum Cup, a women’s event played at Barwon Heads which is still played for today and one year Mortlake won.
“The trophy has the names on it and Jean McInnes was on that.”
Mrs Berry found Dr McInnes had also represented Australia as a professional tennis player, which included playing at 1923 US championships, advancing to the quarter finals in the 1924 Australian Open following an upset win over two-time Wimbledon champion Gerald Patterson and playing in the 1927 Australian Championships.
“He played Davis Cup in 1923 for Australia,” Mr Snowden said.
“He was very good.”
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