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Boxing legend Les Darcy was the welterweight, middleweight and heavyweight champion of Australia by the age of 20.
Les Darcy's grave in all its glory. Provided by the National Library of Australia, part of the Arnold Thomas Boxing collection. Nla.pic-vn3768816
The second son of ten surviving children of a local share farmer, he was born at Stradbroke on the Paterson River on 31 October 1895 and rose up through the boxing ranks through local and then Newcastle fights.
But his life was tragically cut short when he died in the United States on 24 May 1917, at the age of just 21.
His body was brought back to Australia and buried in the Roman Catholic section of the East Maitland cemetery, a Crown reserve cemetery. A monument was erected over his grave thanks to the efforts of friends and supporters and the grave became a site of national significance as well as of local importance to the people of Maitland.
Now the Keneally Government is providing $20,000 towards the restoration of the grave to its former glory.
These funds have been made available from the Land and Property Management Authority's Public Reserves Management Fund, with a matching contribution from the Heritage Branch.
The Heritage Branch has been working with Maitland Council to determine the exact cost of restoring the grave monument.
