Ernest Frederick 'Ernie' Lapham (;) (1901-2000) was an Australian

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 ...

footballer who played in the 1920s.

Playing career

Known as 'Curly', Lapham was born in Sydney on 2 July 1901. Lapham was a St. George junior from

Hurstville, New South Wales Hurstville is a suburb in Southern Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is 16 kilometres south of the Sydney CBD and is part of the St George area. Hurstville is the administrative centre of the local government area of the Georges R ...

who became a foundation player with

St. George Saint George (Greek: Γεώργιος (Geórgios), Latin: Georgius, Arabic: القديس جرجس; died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was a Christian who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to tradition he was a soldier ...

, He played in the club's first ever match against

Glebe Glebe (; also known as church furlong, rectory manor or parson's close(s))McGurk 1970, p. 17 is an area of land within an ecclesiastical parish used to support a parish priest. The land may be owned by the church, or its profits may be reserved ...

on 23 April 1921. Lapham stayed at the

club for four seasons between 1921-1924, and then moved to South Sydney during their golden era of 1925-1928. He played 11 games for Souths in the 1925 season as they went undefeated and won the premiership without the need to contest a grand final. Despite being at Souths until the end of 1928, Lapham was not included in the grand final sides of 1926, 1927 and 1928. He then returned to St. George for his final season in 1929. Lapham also represented

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 eight occasions between 1926-1928.

Death

Lapham was regarded as the last surviving member of St. George's foundation team when he died in 2000. Lapham died on 19 September 2000, in his 100th year at

Redcliffe, Queensland Redcliffe is a town and suburb in the Moreton Bay Region, Queensland, Australia. It also refers colloquially to the Redcliffe Peninsula as a whole, a peninsula jutting into Moreton Bay which contains several other suburbs. Since the 1880s, Red ...

.Sydney Morning Herald/Courier Mail: Death Notice 26/09/2000

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lapham, Ernie St. George Dragons players South Sydney Rabbitohs players New South Wales rugby league team players City New South Wales rugby league team players 1901 births 2000 deaths Rugby league second-rows Rugby league locks Rugby league players from Sydney