John Wren

John Wren (3 April 1871 – 26 October 1953) was an Australian bookmaker, boxing and wrestling promoter, Irish nationalist, land speculator, newspaper owner, racecourse and racehorse owner, soldier, pro-conscriptionist and theatre owner. He became a legendary figure thanks mainly to a fictionalised account of his life in Frank Hardy's novel Power Without Glory, which was also made into a television series. After his death in 1953, Wren was buried at Boroondara Cemetery in Kew, Victoria. Early life John Wren was born in Collingwood, Melbourne, on 3 April 1871. He was the third son of Irish immigrants John Wren Snr., a labourer, and Margaret, née Nester. He left school at the age of 12 and worked in a woodyard and as a boot clicker, while supplementing his wage through various gambling activities. Losing his job in the 1890s depression, he commenced a successful horse-racing gambling venture at his Johnston Street totalizator, which eventually earned him £20,000 per year (A$2,646,000 in 2021 terms). In 1916, he took over J. L. Garvan's Stadia Ltd, of which Snowy Baker was general manager, and parlayed it into a major business — Stadiums Pty Ltd. Power Without Glory In 1950, the novelist Frank Hardy portrayed Wren negatively in his self-published 1950 novel Power Without Glory, in which Wren appears thinly disguised as a character called John West. The book also included characters based on other important Victorian and Australian political figures, including Victorian Premier Sir Thomas Bent and Prime Minister James Scullin, as well as Roman Catholic Archbishop Daniel Mannix. Due to the fact that Hardy was a member of the Communist Party of Australia, the book, and its criticisms of Wren, became politically embroiled in the anti-communist culture of the Cold War. John Wren's wife, Ellen Wren, sued Hardy for libel after the book's publication.