Charles Carteret Corfe (8 June 1847 – 26 June 1935) was a

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

er in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

and a school headmaster in New Zealand and Australia.

Early life

Corfe's father Arthur Thomas Corfe was the headmaster at Elizabeth College in

Guernsey Guernsey (; Guernésiais: ''Guernési''; french: Guernesey) is an island in the English Channel off the coast of Normandy that is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a British Crown Dependency. It is the second largest of the Channel Islands ...

, where Charles gained his school education. He then studied mathematics at

Jesus College, Cambridge Jesus College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college's full name is The College of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Saint John the Evangelist and the glorious Virgin Saint Radegund, near Cambridge. Its common name comes fr ...

, gaining his BA degree in 1869. He won athletics

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

in 1867, 1868 and 1869.

Teaching career

Corfe went to New Zealand to teach at Christ's College in

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

in 1871. He was headmaster at Christ's College from 1873 to 1888. His resignation was forced by the board as they wanted to see a classically trained cleric at the helm of the school rather than a scientist. However, he received high praise from the ''Christ's College Register'' in his obituary. One of the school's houses—Corfe House—is named for him. Among Corfe's initiatives at Christ's College were the gymnasium, the swimming pool, the chapel organ, the cadet corps and the annual athletic sports. Corfe went from Christchurch to

Toowoomba Grammar School , motto_translation = Faithful in All Things , city = Toowoomba , state = Queensland , country = Australia , coordinates = , type = Independent, day & boarding , denomination = Non-denominational , established = ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

, where he was headmaster from 1890 to 1900. The Year 7 boarding house, Corfe House, is named after him. He later occupied relieving positions at schools in Australasia, including at Christ's College during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, for which he refused to accept payment.

Cricket career

Corfe played

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officiall ...

for

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. ...

from 1871 to 1884. In 1875 against

Otago Otago (, ; mi, Ōtākou ) is a region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local government reg ...

he scored 88 in a little over two hours from "some really fine cricket, playing the bail balls from all the bowlers well down, and hitting well when a chance offered". It was the highest first-class individual score in New Zealand until George Watson of Canterbury made the first

century A century is a period of 100 years. Centuries are numbered ordinally in English and many other languages. The word ''century'' comes from the Latin ''centum'', meaning ''one hundred''. ''Century'' is sometimes abbreviated as c. A centennial or ...

in 1881. The

Canterbury Cricket Association Canterbury is a first-class cricket team based in Canterbury, New Zealand. It is one of six teams that compete in senior New Zealand Cricket competitions and has been the second most successful domestic team in New Zealand history. They compete ...

adopted their colours of red and black in honour of Corfe's

college A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offering ...

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

Personal life

Corfe married Emily Hudson Evison in St Paul's Cathedral, Melbourne, on 17 December 1874.''Argus'', 19 Dec 1874, p.1. They had four sons and a daughter. After the

they lived in the Christchurch suburb of

Sumner Sumner may refer to: Places Antarctica * Mount Sumner, a mountain in the Rare Range, Antarctica * Sumner Glacier, southern Graham Land, Antarctica Australia * Sumner, Queensland, suburb of Brisbane New Zealand * Sumner, New Zealand, seaside sub ...

, but when Emily died, Charles went back to England and lived with his widowed daughter for the last seven years of his life.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Corfe, Charles 1847 births 1935 deaths Guernsey cricketers People educated at Elizabeth College, Guernsey Alumni of Jesus College, Cambridge Canterbury cricketers New Zealand cricketers New Zealand educators Heads of schools in New Zealand Australian headmasters