Henry Melville Taberer (7 October 1870 – 5 June 1932) was a South African

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 who played in one

Test match Test match in some sports refers to a sporting contest between national representative teams and may refer to: * Test cricket * Test match (indoor cricket) * Test match (rugby union) * Test match (rugby league) * Test match (association football) ...

in 1902. He was the son of the Revd C. Taberer and was born at a mission station in

Keiskammahoek Keiskammahoek (also spelled Keiskamahoek) is a town in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. From 1981 until the end of apartheid, the town was part of the Ciskei bantustan. Geography Keiskammahoek is a small rural town that is situated some f ...

Cape Province The Province of the Cape of Good Hope ( af, Provinsie Kaap die Goeie Hoop), commonly referred to as the Cape Province ( af, Kaapprovinsie) and colloquially as The Cape ( af, Die Kaap), was a province in the Union of South Africa and subsequen ...

Career

Taberer attended St. Andrew's College, Grahamstown, from January 1883 to June 1892. He played in St. Andrew's cricket XI and rugby XV. At

Keble College, Oxford Keble College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its main buildings are on Parks Road, opposite the University Museum and the University Parks. The college is bordered to the north by Keble Road, to th ...

, he attained a B.A. (Hon) in Theology. Henry was the brother of Bill Taberer, international rugby player. Taberer represented

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

in 1891 and 1892 but did not gain a ‘Blue’, which is awarded to those selected for the annual intervarsity match against Cambridge at Lord's. The South African Review remarked that ‘favouritism of the grossest kind robbed abererforever of the great, trebly great, honour of a triple blue’. He also appeared for

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

in 1892 and 1893, before the county achieved first-class status. He appeared for Oxford against Cambridge in both athletics (long jump) and rugby union. Taberer had an intermittent cricket career in South Africa, appearing for

Natal NATAL or Natal may refer to: Places * Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, a city in Brazil * Natal, South Africa (disambiguation), a region in South Africa ** Natalia Republic, a former country (1839–1843) ** Colony of Natal, a former British colony ( ...

Transvaal Transvaal is a historical geographic term associated with land north of (''i.e.'', beyond) the Vaal River in South Africa. A number of states and administrative divisions have carried the name Transvaal. * South African Republic (1856–1902; af, ...

and

Rhodesia Rhodesia (, ), officially from 1970 the Republic of Rhodesia, was an unrecognised state in Southern Africa from 1965 to 1979, equivalent in territory to modern Zimbabwe. Rhodesia was the ''de facto'' successor state to the British colony of S ...

. On his one Test appearance he captained the side, but he scored only two runs and took just one wicket, that of

Victor Trumper Victor Thomas Trumper (2 November 1877 – 28 June 1915) was an Australian cricketer known as the most stylish and versatile batsman of the Golden Age of cricket, capable of playing match-winning innings on wet wickets his contemporaries found ...

. The match was his last first-class cricket appearance, with a gap of more than seven years to his previous first-class appearance. He was later prominent in South African cricket administration.

Career in colonial administration

Taberer was born on a mission station and was a fluent speaker of the languages used by the local population: he claimed to speak them more fluently than he did English. He was able to use this talent effectively when he became manager of the South African government's Native Labour Bureau and adviser to the Native Recruiting Corporation for the Chamber of Mines at a time of increasing industrial unrest. It has been suggested that because of Taberer's role “it was no surprise, therefore, that the NRC also sponsored the new Native Recruitment Cup played for by provincial African cricket teams, once the earlier ‘Barnato’ competition, which had included cricketers of all ethnic groups, had folded.” Taberer was the Secretary for Zululand in 1894, an acting magistrate in

Eshowe Eshowe is the oldest town of European settlement in Zululand, historically also known as Eziqwaqweni, Ekowe or kwaMondi. Eshowe's name is said to be inspired by the sound of wind blowing through the more than 4 km² of the indigenous Dlinza ...

, Zululand in 1895. From April 1896 to 1900 he was Controller of Cattle in

Southern Rhodesia Southern Rhodesia was a landlocked self-governing British Crown colony in southern Africa, established in 1923 and consisting of British South Africa Company (BSAC) territories lying south of the Zambezi River. The region was informally kn ...

from April 1896 to 1900; He was also the Chief Native Commissioner in

Mashonaland Mashonaland is a region in northern Zimbabwe. Currently, Mashonaland is divided into four provinces, * Mashonaland West * Mashonaland Central * Mashonaland East * Harare The Zimbabwean capital of Harare, a province unto itself, lies entirely ...

in 1895. He was a captain in the Umtali Volunteer regiment and served through the

Mashonaland rebellion Mashonaland is a region in northern Zimbabwe. Currently, Mashonaland is divided into four provinces, * Mashonaland West * Mashonaland Central * Mashonaland East * Harare The Zimbabwean capital of Harare, a province unto itself, lies entirely ...

(1896–97), he was twice mentioned in despatches. He died at Colesberg, Cape Province in 1932.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Taberer, Henry 1870 births 1932 deaths People from Keiskammahoek South Africa Test cricketers South African cricketers KwaZulu-Natal cricketers Oxford University cricketers Oxford University RFC players South Africa Test cricket captains Alumni of St. Andrew's College, Grahamstown Alumni of Keble College, Oxford Essex cricketers Cricketers from the Eastern Cape Cape Colony people

Career

Career in colonial administration

See also

References