Donald "Don" Cameron Hamilton (19 January 1883 – 14 April 1925) was a New Zealand

rugby football Rugby football is the collective name for the team sports of rugby union and rugby league. Canadian football and, to a lesser extent, American football were once considered forms of rugby football, but are seldom now referred to as such. The ...

player who represented the New Zealand national rugby union team, the

All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987 ...

in 1908. He played rugby league for his province and he was also an accomplished cricketer. Born in Bluff (then known as Campbelltown) 19 January 1883, Hamilton was educated at

Southland Boys' High School Southland Boys' High School (SBHS) is an all-boys school in Invercargill, New Zealand, and has been the only one in the city since Marist Brothers was merged with St Catherines to form Verdon College in 1982. History SBHS was founded in 1881 and ...

where he was a member of the 1st XV between 1897 and 1898. He was also an excellent rower and a member of the Awarua Boating Club which won the New Zealand Championship four. A chemist, Hamilton was for many years in charge of the UFS dispensary in Bluff, leaving in 1920 to set up business in Auckland.

Rugby union career

Out of the Pirates club in Invercargill, Hamilton played for the

Southland province The Southland Province was a province of New Zealand from March 1861, when it split from Otago Province, until 1870, when it rejoined Otago. History Following the passage of the New Zealand Constitution Act 1852 by the British Parliament, New ...

for three consecutive seasons. It was in his last year, 1908, that he would become an All Black. After playing in the tour game for Southland against the

Anglo-Welsh Welsh writing in English (Welsh language, Welsh: ''Llenyddiaeth Gymreig yn Saesneg''), (previously Anglo-Welsh literature) is a term used to describe works written in the English language by Welsh people, Welsh writers. The term ‘Anglo-Welsh ...

, Hamilton was in the South Island team that played the North that year. He was then chosen for the national side in the second test match against the touring Anglo-Welsh at Athletic Park in 1908. Hamilton was one of the principal players, along with fellow All Black

Ned Hughes Edward Hughes (26 April 1881 – 1 May 1928), was a New Zealand rugby union and rugby league footballer who played 9 times (6 of these were test matches) as an All Black The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All ...

, in the saga of petty officialdom which marred both the Southland and eventually New Zealand unions in 1908–09. In 1908, when he was captain of the Pirates club, he was suspended by the

Southland Rugby Union Rugby Southland (formerly the Southland Rugby Football Union) is the provincial rugby union who govern the Southland region of New Zealand. Their headquarters are at Rugby Park Stadium in Invercargill, which is also the home ground of the unio ...

for striking along with the rest of his team and the opposition, Hughes' Britannia club, when they refused to play a match due to ground conditions and the weather with

Invercargill Invercargill ( , mi, Waihōpai is the southernmost and westernmost city in New Zealand, and one of the southernmost cities in the world. It is the commercial centre of the Southland region. The city lies in the heart of the wide expanse of t ...

being hit by a blizzard. However, whilst suspended the teams played a benefit match under the new

Northern Union The Rugby Football League is the governing body for professional rugby league in England, and until 1995 for the whole British Isles. The name Rugby Football League previously also referred to the main league competition run by the organisati ...

(rugby league) rules. Then, in 1909, the

New Zealand Rugby Union New Zealand Rugby (NZR) is the governing body of rugby union in New Zealand. It was founded in 1892 as the New Zealand Rugby Football Union (NZRFU), 12 years after the first provincial unions in New Zealand. In 1949 it became an affiliate to t ...

decreed that any player who had played any game under the "Northern" rules was to be regarded as a professional and was to be expelled. Hamilton never played another game of rugby union.

Rugby league career

Hamilton turned to

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

and was part of the first ever provincial game of rugby league in the South Island when he played for

Southland Southland may refer to: Places Canada * Dunbar–Southlands, Vancouver, British Columbia New Zealand * Southland Region, a region of New Zealand * Southland County, a former New Zealand county * Southland District, part of the wider Southland Reg ...

in a home and away series 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 ...

in 1908.

Cricket career

His other sporting success came in cricket, although he only appeared in one

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 ...

match, for

against

in 1920. In the 1910-11 season Southland became the first

Hawke Cup The Hawke Cup is a non-first-class cricket competition for New Zealand's district associations. Apart from 1910–11, 1912–13 and 2000–01 the competition has always been on a challenge basis. To win the Hawke Cup, the challengers must beat t ...

winners after Hamilton led the team by scoring 110 runs. He was one of three players nominated by the Southland Cricket Association for the New Zealand team to tour Australia in 1913-14, but he did not earn national honours.

Personal and death

He moved to Auckland, where he worked as a pharmacist. In April 1925, after a period in which he had had trouble sleeping, he took an accidental overdose of morphine and died.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hamilton, Donald Cameron 1883 births 1925 deaths New Zealand cricketers Southland cricketers New Zealand international rugby union players Southland rugby league team players New Zealand rugby league players New Zealand rugby union players Drug-related deaths in New Zealand Rugby union wing-forwards