Daniel George Fraser (24 October 1881 - 4 March 1949) 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 ...

er who was part of the professional 1907-1908 New Zealand rugby tour of Great Britain though he did not play in any matches as he was an assistant manager helping Baskiville.

Early life

Daniel George Fraser was born on 24 October 1881 in

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

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 ...

. His parents were Alexander Fraser and Janet Taylor.

Rugby Football

Fraser played

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

for the

Petone Rugby Club The Petone Rugby Football Club was founded in 1885 and has been the Wellington Premier Champion 39 times between 1895 and 2005. In addition, the club has won the Club Championship on 42 occasions between 1922 and 2005. Petone is a constituent cl ...

.John Haynes ''From All Blacks to All Golds: Rugby League's Pioneers'', Christchurch, Ryan and Haynes, 1996. He was their secretary as well as playing from 1903 to 1905 before retiring, though he did play in one match late in 1906.

Boer War

During the

Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sou ...

, Fraser played for the

New Zealand Army Corps , image = New Zealand Army Logo.png , image_size = 175px , caption = , start_date = , country = , branch = ...

team, which was the first New Zealand rugby side to play in South Africa.

Rugby League

In 1907 Fraser joined the professional All Blacks while they were in

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

on the first leg of their 1907–1908 tour of Australia and Great Britain. Fraser was one of six players on the tour from the

. Fraser's main role was a non-playing one, acting as assistant manager and helping

Albert Baskiville Albert (Bert) Henry Baskerville (born as "Baskiville") (15 January 1883 – 20 May 1908) was a Wellington postal clerk, a rugby union forward, author of the book "''Modern Rugby Football: New Zealand Methods; Points for the Beginner, the Pla ...

with his day-to-day duties. On his return to New Zealand Fraser tried to help fill some of the gap left by the death of Baskiville, helping the game establish itself and he organised the first provincial game of

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 ...

in New Zealand, between

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

and

Victoria Park Victoria Park may refer to: Places Australia * Victoria Park Nature Reserve, a protected area in Northern Rivers region, New South Wales * Victoria Park, Adelaide, a park and racecourse * Victoria Park, Brisbane, a public park and former golf ...

on 24 August 1908. Fraser also managed the New Zealand team on their first tour of Australia in 1909 and this time he managed to get on the field, playing against Newcastle on 16 June. Indeed the Dominion newspaper of October 9 reported that "D. Fraser, a Petone (Wellington) club forward, visited Sydney with the team, and was included over there. Besides rendering assistance, clerical or otherwise, in conducting the tour, he can play if required. He was on the committee of the Wellington Rugby League and Petone Football Club in 1912. Like five other members of the touring party Fraser is buried at Karori Cemetery.Relatives and Teams to remember Original All Golds
''NZRL Press Release'', 10 October 2007

Personal life and death

Daniel Fraser married Annice Moore in 1923 (1882-1942). They had a son, Kenneth Daniel Fraser, on 5 June 1925. Kenneth died in 1978. Daniel died on 4 March 1949, aged 67, and was buried at

Naenae Naenae (, occasionally spelled NaeNae) is a suburb of Lower Hutt. It lies on the eastern edge of the floodplain of the Hutt River, four kilometres from the Lower Hutt Central business district. A small tributary of the Hutt, the Waiwhetu Strea ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fraser, Daniel 1881 births 1949 deaths Burials at Karori Cemetery Footballers who switched code New Zealand rugby league players New Zealand rugby union players New Zealand national rugby league team players New Zealand military personnel of the Second Boer War New Zealand rugby league administrators Wellington rugby league team players Rugby union players from Wellington City Rugby league players from Wellington City