Deer Lodge Curling Club : Fred Smith

Fred Smith – Curler
1904 - 1970

Fred Smith was born in Worcester, England in 1904 and came to Canada with his family when he was nine years old. He started his curling career when he was in his mid twenties. First, at the Grain Exchange in 1928 and then at the Thistle, and at the Strathcona before moving to the Deer Lodge to play with the Jimmy Welsh team. This team consisted of Jimmy Welsh, third Fred Smith, second Jock Reid and lead Harry Monk. In 1934 they began to dominate the men's curling scene in Winnipeg and Manitoba.

1937 was the Welsh team's record breaking year. They won 29 straight games leading up to the Manitoba British Consols Championship as well as a record setting total of 33 out of 34 wins to take the Grand Aggregate in the Manitoba Bonspiel.

Representing Manitoba at the Macdonald's Brier, the youthful Welsh team finished tied with Alberta for first place at the end of round robin play. Their record was 8 wins and one loss. The Alberta team skipped by C.R. Manahan, defeated the Welsh team in a playoff by a score of 19 to 7.

Fred Smith curled on teams that made 10 appearances in men's provincial championships. He curled with skips J. Welsh (1934-1945), Walter Carswell (1947), and Leo Johnson (1952) in the Manitoba British Consols playdowns.

He also won the Manitoba Senior Men's Championship in 1965 curling second for Strathcona Curling Club's Leo Johnson. Other team members included third Marno Frederickson and lead Cliff Wise. That year the Johnson team won the inaugural Seagrams Stone National Seniors Curling Championship defeating British Columbia's Fred Finling in a playoff. He also made two other senior provincial playdown appearances with Marno Frederickson (1965 and 1967).

In Manitoba Curling Association Bonspiels and accompanying events it appears that Fred Smith won a total of 20 event trophies! Fifteen of these were won in the years between 1934 and 1942 while the Welsh team was amazingly sweeping through the curling scene in Manitoba.

Fred won his family' s first car in the 1950 Edmonton Curling Bonspiel playing third for Leo Johnson. The team defeated Frenchy D'Amour's team in a nationally broadcast third game of the best of three final. That bonspiel also included the Grant Watson team and Garnet Campbell's team from Saskatchewan.

The following 1937 story relates to an example of how seriously men took their curling games. During a semi-final game in the Dingwall Event against Tommy Thompson of the Strathcona Curling Club Thompson had scored a six ender in the 11th to go five up with only the 12th end to play. E.A Armstrong, sports reporter wrote that, because the Welsh team had an event final to play that evening " as far as Jimmy Welsh was concerned he was prepared to shake hands ... five down seemed like a waste of energy to throw the rock ... his third man Freddy Smith was having none of that ...He insisted the end be played out ... and then what happened? ... if you weren't there you wouldn't believe it ..." The Welsh team scored a six to win the game. Remember that in 1937 games were 12 ends and teams often played 4 games a day.

The Manitoba Curling Hall of Fame welcomes this legendary curler into the Manitoba Curling Hall of Fame for posthumous induction.

Last modified : May 2, 2011, 10:00 am