Sir Thomas Harcourt Clarke "Pat" Caughey (4 July 1911 – 4 August 1993) was a New Zealand rugby union player.

Early life and family

Born in Auckland in 1911, Caughey was the son of James Marsden Caughey, whose aunt,

Marianne Smith Marianne Smith (born Mary Anne Caughey; 10 March 1851 – 1 September 1938), and known as Marianne Caughey Preston since 1932, was a notable New Zealand businesswoman, community worker and philanthropist. Mary Anne Caughey was born in Portaf ...

(née Caughey), founded in 1880 what became Smith & Caughey's department store. Educated at

King's College King's College or The King's College refers to two higher education institutions in the United Kingdom: *King's College, Cambridge, a constituent of the University of Cambridge *King's College London, a constituent of the University of London It ca ...

, he excelled at sports, playing in the 1st XV rugby and 1st XI cricket teams, and winning the school athletics, swimming and boxing championships. On 4 July 1939, Caughey married Patricia Mary Finlay, the daughter of George Panton Finlay, at King's College Chapel, Auckland, and the couple went on to have three children.

Rugby union

Thomas_Harcourt_Clarke_Caughey_passport_application

A centre three-quarter, Caughey represented Auckland at a provincial level, and was a member of the New Zealand national side, the All Blacks, from 1932 to 1937. He played 39 matches for the All Blacks including nine internationals. Caughey played for Auckland University RFC and represented the Auckland provincial team and the national team before his 21st birthday. He toured Australia with the All Blacks in both

1932 Events January * January 4 – The British authorities in India arrest and intern Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel. * January 9 – Sakuradamon Incident (1932), Sakuradamon Incident: Korean nationalist Lee Bong-chang fails in his effort ...

and

1934 Events January–February * January 1 – The International Telecommunication Union, a specialist agency of the League of Nations, is established. * January 15 – The 8.0 1934 Nepal–Bihar earthquake, Nepal–Bihar earthquake strik ...

, playing as a centre. He was one of 188 players who took part in the All Blacks trials for the

1935–36 New Zealand rugby union tour of Britain, Ireland and Canada Matches ''Scores and results list New Zealand's points tally first.'' Touring party *Manager: Vincent Meredith *Assistant Manager: *Captain: Jack Manchester Full-back * Mike Gilbert (West Coast) Three-quarters * Nelson Ball (Wellington) ...

, and was selected for the final touring party. During the journey to Europe the tour management decided to play Caughey at second five-eighth, in which position he played 20 tour matches including three of the four tests. Caughey scored 14 tries on tour including a hat-trick against Scotland, which were the only tries of his international career. Caughey played two more tests for New Zealand, in 1936 and 1937, before business commitments ended his high-level rugby career. In addition to his nine full internationals he played 30 non-test games for the All Blacks, scoring 31 tries. Rugby journalist Terry McLean, whose brother Hugh was a teammate of Caughey on the 1935–36 tour, described Caughey as 'an elegant and stylish back of English style' and Charlie Oliver, vice-captain of the 1935–36 tour, assessed him as 'a temperamental player. He was a world beater on his day and was in the match-winner class, but he was liable to be inconsistent. His dashing attacks, and wonderful sense of anticipation, were features of the team's play. His defence, however, was not up to the same standard'.

Business and public life

Caughey worked at the family department store, Smith & Caughey, for 63 years beginning in 1930, and was managing director and chairman of the company for 30 years. He served on the Auckland Hospital Board for 25 years, including 15 years as chair. In the

1967 New Year Honours Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 5 ** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...

, Caughey was appointed an

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

for community services, especially as chair of the Auckland Hospital Board. Five years later, in the

1972 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1972 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. They were announced in supplements to the ''Lon ...

, he was made a

Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

, for services to health administration. He was appointed an

Officer of the Order of St John The Order of St John, short for Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem (french: l'ordre très vénérable de l'Hôpital de Saint-Jean de Jérusalem) and also known as St John International, is a British royal order of ...

in 1965, and promoted to Commander of the same order in 1968. In 1986, Caughey was awarded an honorary

LLD Legum Doctor (Latin: “teacher of the laws”) (LL.D.) or, in English, Doctor of Laws, is a doctorate-level academic degree in law or an honorary degree, depending on the jurisdiction. The double “L” in the abbreviation#Plural forms, abbrev ...

by the University of Auckland. He died in Auckland in 1993 and his ashes were buried in Purewa Cemetery. He was posthumously inducted into the New Zealand Business Hall of Fame in 1998. Mary, Lady Caughey, died in Auckland on 19 December 2011. She was one of the co-founders of the Laura Fergusson Trust, which assisted disabled New Zealanders, and was awarded the Queen's Service Medal for community service in the

1993 Queen's Birthday Honours The 1993 Queen's Birthday honours were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as part of the Queen's ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Caughey, Harcourt 1911 births 1993 deaths Rugby union players from Auckland People educated at King's College, Auckland New Zealand rugby union players New Zealand international rugby union players Auckland rugby union players Rugby union centres New Zealand businesspeople in retailing New Zealand Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire Commanders of the Order of St John Burials at Purewa Cemetery Rugby players and officials awarded knighthoods New Zealand justices of the peace Members of district health boards in New Zealand Businesspeople awarded knighthoods