James Carlaw was a

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 ...

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 ...

administrator and uncle of

Arthur Carlaw Arthur Carlaw was a New Zealand rugby league player who played a role in the establishment of the sport in New Zealand and represented New Zealand national rugby league team, New Zealand. His uncle, James Carlaw, James, was an administrator in th ...

, a New Zealand international.

Carlaw Park Carlaw Park was a multi-purpose stadium in Parnell, New Zealand, Parnell, a central suburb of Auckland, New Zealand. It neighboured the Auckland Domain's Northern end. It was primarily used for rugby league and had a peak spectator capacity of aro ...

was named after him.

Early years

Carlaw was born in

Newcastle-upon-Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is als ...

in 1854. His family emigrated to New Zealand when he was nine. Carlaw worked as a waterworks engineer, spending forty six years with the

Auckland City Council Auckland City Council was the local government authority for Auckland City, New Zealand, from 1871 to 1 November 2010, when it and Auckland's six other city and district councils were amalgamated to form the Auckland Council. It was an elected b ...

Administration career

Like his nephew, Carlaw was involved in the formation of the Ponsonby United club in 1908 and on 30 July 1909 he was elected the club's first Chairman.Coffey, John and Bernie Wood ''Auckland, 100 years of rugby league, 1909-2009'', 2009. . Carlaw served as the President of the

New Zealand Rugby League The New Zealand Rugby League (NZRL) is the governing body for the sport of rugby league football in New Zealand. SPARC, 2009: 13 The NZRL was founded on 25 April 1910 in preparation for a tour of Great Britain that same year.Coffey and Wood ''T ...

between 1914 and 1919. As Ponsonby's representative on the

Auckland Rugby League The Auckland Rugby League (ARL) is the governing body for the sport of rugby league in the Auckland Region of New Zealand. It is responsible for rugby league in the region, including both club and school rugby league. It began in 1910 when the fi ...

board, Carlaw was chairman of the board between 1918 and 1920.Ponsonby United Rugby League Club
''aucklandleague.co.nz'' While in this position he started the negotiations that resulted in the league's acquisition of a Chinese market garden that was transformed into

. The opening, on 21 June 1921, was the result of three years of negotiations between the committee led by Carlaw and the Auckland Hospital Board who owned the land.Carlaw Park
''rleague.com'' Between 1926 and 1928 Carlaw again served as the President of the

.Coffey, John. ''Canterbury XIII'', Christchurch, 1987. In 1928 he was elected Auckland Rugby League President and served in this role until 1935.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Carlaw, James New Zealand rugby league administrators Ponsonby Ponies New Zealand Rugby League board members 1854 births People from Newcastle upon Tyne English emigrants to New Zealand Year of death missing