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General First nameJames Allister (Ally)
LastnameNish
GenderMale
CountryAustralia
Date of birth1905-01-29
Place of birthKerang, Victoria, Australia
Date of death1972-03-19
Place of deathCanberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia


About

From The Canberra Times, 21 March 1972:

Obituary – Ally Nish dies in hospital

Mr James Allister Nish, known in Canberra for more than 40 years through his sporting interests and business as Ally Nish, died in Canberra Hospital on Sunday at the age of 67 after a long illness. Mr Nish came to Canberra in 1923 with his parents. His father was a roads and bridge engineer with the Department of Works. Ally Nish worked first and for several years as a draughtsman in the architects’ section of the Federal Capital Commission (now the National Capital Development Commission.

In 1929 he married Miss Doris Higgins. In 1930, after being one of several people retrenched from the Commission, Mr Nish opened a small shop in Civic to sell sporting goods. The business, in which his wife also worked, prospered and at one time he had interests in three sports goods stores.

For a short time in 1935, he was sole Australian Capital Territory (ACT) agent in Canberra for Eastern Air Transport, the first air service to the ACT. He was an all-round sportsman, interested particularly in cricket, tennis and gymnastics. Through these interests he was involved from the beginning with the Canberra Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA), as a charter member, instructor, donor and worker.

He made the YMCA Ski Club possible by being one of two people who acted as guarantor for a bank loan to buy a bus for transporting members to the snowfields, in the days before lodges were established. He helped build the original Camp Sturt and in 1966, when the road into the camp needed rebuilding and sealing he acted as both benefactor and voluntary worker.

This led the camp committee to name the road Nish Alley. Last year he provided more finance to reseal it. His name appears again in the camp, on a cabin known as Nish Nook. In 1967, after he had retired from his business, Mr Nish spent almost six months building four cabins and supervising the sub-contractors.

His other major community interest was Canberra Rotary, of which he was made on honorary member. Leading the remembrance for him at Rotary last night, Mr Max Purnell said that Mr Nish had joined in 1953 and would be remembered as a member who was always among the first to volunteer to help on a community job.

He was one of the pioneer businessmen in Canberra who had had a real battle during the depression years but he was never downhearted, weathered the storm and became one of the most successful businessmen in Canberra. “Ally was a shy person, self-effacing,” Mr Purnell said. “He avoided personal publicity, preferring to do good by stealth; so much so, that it is hard to catalogue his contribution to the community. Where he gave assistance to some poor cause it was always on the basis of ‘no fuss’.

Mr Nish is survived by his wife, his son John, daughter Lesley (Mrs Peter Roberts) and eight grandchildren. He will be privately cremated and at his own wish the ashes will be scattered over Canberra.

Media


Archive statistics Career1929 - 1937
Tournament wins1
Matches6
Match wins3


Tournament wins 1929 - Australian Capital Territory Championships (Amateur)


Tournaments Australian Capital Territory Championships - 1937 Australian Capital Territory Championships - 1934 Australian Capital Territory Championships - 1933 Australian Capital Territory Championships - 1929