Harold Alderson
Australian sports administrator
Sir Harold George Alderson (18 August 1890 – 4 October 1978) was an Australian sports administrator including President of the Australian Olympic Federation and Australian British Empire & Commonwealth Games Association.
Personal
Alderson was born 18 August 1890 at Balmain, a suburb in the Inner West of Sydney. He was the second child of James Bull Alderson, architect, and his wife Lilias Maud, née Smith. Alderson attended Mosman Public School and Fort Street Model School. In 1919, he opened a public accountancy business in the city. He died on 4 October 1978 at Mosman and was survived by his second wife Hilda Nancy Buddee and a daughter.
Sports administration career
Rowing
In 1911, Alderson became a member of the Mosman Rowing Club and in 1915 was the club captain. He then became involved in the New South Wales Rowing Association. He was Secretary from 1918 to 1920, chairman from 1920 to 1970 and president from 1970 to 1978. He was Secretary of the Anniversary Regatta Committee for over 50 years from 1920.
The public source identifies “Harold Alderson” as australian sports administrator. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Harold, Alderson and Australian.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Harold Alderson”, the useful work is to connect “australian sports administrator” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jan 19, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q19974327. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1890, 1978, 1919 and 1911.
A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Harold Alderson”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Harold Alderson primary sources, Harold Alderson archive and Harold research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Harold Alderson”?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Harold Alderson” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.