Richard Empey’s Story: 1925 Two-Up Prosecutions at Eildon Weir

Digital art of people standing outside a courthouse by Jennifer Empey

Last updated Sep 19, 2026

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Two-Up History at Eildon Weir and the Men Behind the Charges

I came across this 1925 article in the Alexandra and Yea Standard while researching my great‑great‑uncle, Richard Empey. I wasn’t expecting to find him in a two‑up prosecution, but there he was, listed quietly among dozens of men charged at Eildon Weir.

Seeing his name in that long column of defendants stopped me. It wasn’t dramatic, but it was real. And it opened a window into a world I hadn’t connected him to before: camp life, work routines, limited recreation, and the everyday tensions between community and the law in 1920s Victoria.

His appearance in the record is brief, but the story reveals a vivid picture of life at Eildon Weir, the realities of illegal gambling in Victoria, and the social world of the men who lived and worked in 1920s Australian construction camps.

Eildon Weir History: Two-Up, A Game, a Community, and a Charge

When I read deeper into the article, I realised just how many men were living and working at Eildon Weir in 1925, around 300. Long days, basic huts, and limited recreation shaped their routines. In camps like this, two‑up wasn’t just gambling; it was a social anchor. A few pennies tossed from a kip, a ring of men watching, a moment of camaraderie in a place with few distractions.

But two‑up was still illegal gambling in Victoria, and constables Howard and Condon were stationed at the Weir to enforce the law. Their evidence was shaky from the start: they didn’t know most men by name, relied on asking around afterwards, and often wrote their lists long after leaving the scene.

Reading this, I could picture the tension, ordinary workers trying to carve out a moment of leisure, and police trying to impose order on a camp that ran on its own rhythms.

The Alexandra Court House: A Parade of Names

As I kept reading through the article, I found myself drawn into the rhythm of the proceedings at the Alexandra Court House. Across April and May 1925, dozens of men were brought before the bench. Some cases were dismissed; others resulted in fines of £1 or £2 plus costs.

The courtroom exchanges almost read like theater: Mr. Dunlop challenging the constables’ memory, the bench questioning the reliability of retrospective notes, and the crowd reacting with laughter at unexpected moments.

This part of the article helped me understand the broader world my great‑great‑uncle was part of. It wasn’t just a list of names; it was a snapshot of Eildon Weir history, community dynamics, and the way two‑up history intersected with the law in regional Victoria.

10 May 1925: When I Found My Great-Great-Uncle Richard Empey’s Name

Then I reached the section dated Sunday, 10 May 1925, and there it was. My great‑great‑uncle, Richard Empey, is listed among the defendants.

The constables reported a crowd of about forty men, with roughly half playing two‑up. Their evidence was challenged again; Constable Condon admitted he remembered the day only because of the large crowd.

And then the list:

“…Henry Newman senior, J. Retallack, C. Carroll, H. O’Brien, Hec. Kilpatrick, F. Kilpatrick, H. Gilette, J. Anderson, Henry Newman junior, T. Logan, R. Empey, I. Hughes, A. L. Dutton, J. Minogue, and A. F. Smith…”

Seeing R. Empey printed in that line felt strangely grounding. He was fined £1 plus 5s costs—nothing dramatic, nothing sensational, but undeniably real.

No testimony from Richard Empey. No defence statement. Just a quiet presence in a noisy courtroom.

But that quietness is meaningful. It places him inside a documented moment of two‑up history, inside the social world of Eildon Weir workers, and inside the broader story of illegal gambling prosecutions in Victoria.

What This Moment Reveals About Richard’s World

Reading the article, I began piecing together what this moment says about Richard Empey’s life:

He was part of the camp’s social world; two‑up wasn’t fringe behaviour; it was communal.
He was known enough to be identified, whether by sight or by inquiry.
He lived within the rhythms of work‑camp life: hard labour, limited recreation, and shared leisure.
He experienced the same tensions as every worker: the gap between everyday life and the law.

This is exactly why I love family history. A single line in a newspaper can open a window into a much larger world.

The Kip That Never Appeared

The article ends with a detail I couldn’t help smiling at:

The “kip” used in tossing the pennies in the air did not appear as an exhibit in court.

The object at the centre of all the fuss: the absurdity of the prosecutions and the way ordinary men like Richard Empey were swept into the machinery of law for something so trivial.

Why This Matters in My Family History

For me, family history isn’t just names and dates. It’s context. It’s texture. It’s the world my ancestors moved through.

Richard Empey’s appearance in the 1925 two‑up prosecutions gives me:

a documented moment in his life
a glimpse into the social world of Eildon Weir history
a sense of the community he belonged to
a connection between family heritage and broader Australian history

He wasn’t a headline figure. He wasn’t singled out. He wasn’t dramatic.

But he was there, and sometimes, that’s exactly the spotlight an ancestor deserves.

Digital art of a workers' camp by Jennifer Empey

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Who was Richard Empey in the 1925 Eildon Weir two‑up case?

Richard Empey, my great-great-uncle, was one of the workers at Eildon Weir who appeared in the 1925 two‑up prosecutions, offering a rare glimpse into everyday camp life and community culture.

2. Why were men at Eildon Weir charged for playing two‑up in 1925?

Two‑up was illegal gambling, and police constables stationed at Eildon Weir reported large groups of men playing, leading to multiple court cases in Alexandra, Victoria.

3. What does the two‑up case reveal about conditions at Eildon Weir?

The prosecutions highlight limited recreation, long workdays, and the social bonds among the 300 men living at the Weir during construction.

4. How was Richard Empey identified in the Alexandra Court House records?

Richard Empey appeared in the 10 May 1925 list of defendants, fined £1 plus costs, based on constables’ retrospective notes and crowd observations.

5. Why is the 1925 two‑up case significant for Empey family heritage?

It places Richard Empey within a documented historical moment, enriching family history with context about work, community, and daily life at Eildon Weir.

Family History Sources

📰 Digitised Newspapers: Trove (National Library of Australia)

Alexandra and Yea Standard and Yarck, Gobur, Thornton and Acheron Express (Vic.), Fri 26 Jun 1925, pages 2-3, The “Kip” to be Buried.

Digital Art of a People in a Two-Up Courthouse Case by Jennifer Empey

Two‑Up, Camp Life, and What Richard Empey’s Case Reveals

The 1925 two‑up prosecutions at Eildon Weir give us more than a list of fines. They show the social world Richard Empey lived in, a work camp with limited recreation, strong camaraderie, and the everyday tensions between community life and the law. His name appears quietly in the court record, but it links directly to a much wider family story.

Richard Empey was a younger brother of William Arthur Empey, the long‑serving Victorian teacher who helped shape Wattle Day in 1915. Both brothers appear together years earlier in the Alexandra School Prize Day reports, standing side‑by‑side as schoolboys receiving awards.

Those early records, and this later moment at Eildon Weir, help rebuild the world the Empey family moved through, from childhood classrooms to adult working lives across Victoria.