Henry Vere Poulett-Harris (22 April 1865 – 7 March 1933) was an

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal 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 ...

player, runner,

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

, gold prospector and gold mine owner. Vere Poulett-Harris played five

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 ...

matches for the

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

and

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

cricket teams between 1883 and 1899. One early news report described him as a "sterling cricketer and footballer" whilst another described him as a "sterling batsman and good field." Vere Poulett-Harris' father was

Richard Deodatus Poulett-Harris Richard Deodatus Poulett-Harris (26 October 1817 – 23 December 1899) was an educationalist in England and Tasmania. Early life and education Harris was born on Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, Canada, the eldest son of Captain Charles Poulett ...

, an educationalist, priest, the founder of the Masonic Lodge in Tasmania and the co-founder of the

University of Tasmania The University of Tasmania (UTAS) is a public research university, primarily located in Tasmania, Australia. Founded in 1890, it is Australia's fourth oldest university. Christ College, one of the university's residential colleges, first pro ...

. Amongst his other activities, Richard was passionate about cricket and, in 1882, was elected a trustee of the Southern Tasmanian Cricket Association. Furthermore, he encouraged the boys at the high school of which he was the headmaster to compete at sports. Vere Poulett-Harris left Tasmania to study medicine but ended up working for a time as a bank clerk at

Charters Towers Charters Towers is a rural town in the Charters Towers Region, Queensland, Australia. It is by road south-west from Townsville on the Flinders Highway. During the last quarter of the 19th century, the town boomed as the rich gold deposits under ...

before becoming a gold prospector. By 1898, he was prospecting in Western Australia. He discovered the Corinthian gold mine in the Yilgarn Gold Field of Western Australia and was also one of the first people to prospect at Burtville. He wrote an account of the discovery of Corinthian which was published in a newspaper of the time. In 1911, he was called as a witness to testify during Chaffinch Mine Conspiracy trial. Vere Poulett-Harris' obituary states that he was "one of the outstanding athletes in the State, winning great success as a runner, cricketer and footballer. He played cricket for the Wellington Club and was regarded as one of the most graceful batsmen in the State. He was a member of the State team when a youth, and toured New Zealand with the Tasmanian team under the captaincy of the late Sir George Davies. Later he met with success as a batsman on the mainland. He was also a champion footballer and a member of the Cricketers' Football Club, some of his contemporaries being Messrs. W. H. Cundy, L. H. Macleod, K. E. Burn, A. Stuart and G. Watt. As a runner he defeated many of the recognised champions of his day." He died aged 67, leaving no wife or children. His younger sister,

Lily Poulett-Harris Lily Poulett-Harris (2 September 1873 – 15 August 1897) was an Australian sportswoman and educationalist, notable for being the founder and captain of the first Women's cricket team in Australia. Poulett-Harris continued to play until forced ...

, founded women's

in Australia.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Henry 1865 births 1933 deaths Australian cricketers Tasmania cricketers Cricketers from Hobart Western Australia cricketers

See also

References