William Henry Lathbury (29 September 1843 – 7 March 1884) was an English-born

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 one first-class match in New Zealand for

Otago Otago (, ; mi, Ōtākou ) is a region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local government reg ...

during the 1875–76 season.William Lathbury

CricInfo ESPN cricinfo (formerly known as Cricinfo or CricInfo) is a sports news website exclusively for the game of cricket. The site features news, articles, live coverage of cricket matches (including liveblogs and scorecards), and ''StatsGuru'', a d ...

. Retrieved 15 May 2016.

Early and professional life

Lathbury was born at

Horninglow Horninglow is a suburb of Burton upon Trent in East Staffordshire. Horninglow lies to the north west of Burton, and is linked to the town centre by the A511. It forms part of the civil parish of Horninglow and Eton. History Horninglow is o ...

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...

in 1843. He worked as a brewer,McCarron A (2010) ''New Zealand Cricketers 1863/64–2010'', p. 79. Cardiff: The Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians.
Available online
at the Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians. Retrieved 5 June 2023.) first at

Burton upon Trent Burton upon Trent, also known as Burton-on-Trent or simply Burton, is a market town in the borough of East Staffordshire in the county of Staffordshire, England, close to the border with Derbyshire. In United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011, it had a ...

in England before emigrating to

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

where he worked at

Tooth and Co. Tooth and Co was the major brewer of beer in New South Wales, Australia. The company owned a large brewery on Broadway in Sydney from 1835 until 1985, known as the Kent Brewery. It was historically one of Australia's oldest companies, having be ...

where he was the chief brewer. In 1875 he moved to

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

in New Zealand to work at the new Albion Brewery in the city. He was described as "a thoroughly scientific man" who brought with him much experience in the industry.

Cricket

Soon after arriving in New Zealand Lathbury joined Dunedin Cricket Club and soon developed a reputation as a fine batsman. The ''

Otago Witness The ''Otago Witness'' was a prominent illustrated weekly newspaper in the early years of the European settlement of New Zealand, produced in Dunedin, the provincial capital of Otago. Published weekly it existed from 1851 to 1932. The introduction ...

'' described him as a player with "a very free style" who "hits with great force to leg, and has a very nice way of cutting" whilst the ''

Otago Daily Times The ''Otago Daily Times'' (ODT) is a newspaper published by Allied Press Ltd in Dunedin, New Zealand. The ''ODT'' is one of the country's four main daily newspapers, serving the southern South Island with a circulation of around 26,000 and a c ...

'' commented that he "played very nicely". Lathbury made his sole first-class cricket appearance for Otago in a January 1876 fixture against

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. ...

at South Dunedin Recreation Ground. Described in the press as "a good bat with capital style; swift bowler; sure catch", he opened the bowling and took two wickets in Canterbury's first innings. He scored 42 and three runs in his two innings.William Lathbury
CricketArchive. Retrieved 10 November 2023. At the start of the following season Lathbury was considered to have been a success in Otago's side. The ''Saturday Advertiser'' was of the opinion that "he may be reckoned among our best all-round cricketers". The paper described his as playing "a hard, steady game" as a batsman and being a bowler with a "quick style of delivery and ready judgment, with an eye to a weak point", although it considered him not difficult to bat against. Although he did not play in Otago's match against Canterbury in 1876–77 in January, he did captain a side of 18 players against a touring English side led by

James Lillywhite James Lillywhite (23 February 1842 – 25 October 1929) was an English Test cricketer and an umpire. He was the first ever captain of the English cricket team in a Test match, captaining two Tests against Australia in 1876–77, losing the fir ...

in March.By the 1877–78 season he had moved to

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

and played for a South Tasmania side against one from the north of the island.

Later life and family

In early May 1876 Lathbury's wife, Louisa-May, gave birth to a son at Dunedin. She died a few days later.Death, ''

'', issue 4445, 18 May 1876, p. 2.
Available online
at Papers Past. Retrieved 10 November 2023.) By 1884 Lathbury was living at Charters Towers in

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

, still working as a brewer. He died there of natural causes in September aged 40.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lathbury, William 1843 births 1884 deaths New Zealand cricketers Otago cricketers Cricketers from Staffordshire British emigrants to New Zealand