New Zealand Rugby League Team of 1907-08 to Tour England

Albert (Bert) Henry Baskerville (born as "Baskiville") (15 January 1883 – 20 May 1908) was a

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

, New Zealand, postal clerk, a

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

forward, author of the book ''Modern Rugby Football: New Zealand Methods; Points for the Beginner, the Player, the Spectator'' and a pioneer of

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

Rugby football

His father, Henry William Baskiville, had been killed in an accident on 30 January 1903 when doing some drainage works on Upper Queen Street in

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

. He and some other workmen were working in a deep excavation when one side of it began to collapse, men called out but his father moved the wrong way and was buried to his neck. He was quickly removed but his injuries were too serious to survive. This left Albert as the main

income earner Income earner refers to an individual who through work, investments or a combination of both derives income, which has a fixed and very fixed value of his/her income (sometimes, called Vulkary Workers). The vast majority of income earners derive mo ...

for the family since then and they moved to

shortly afterwards. Prior to becoming the administrator of the 1907-08 tour, Baskerville played rugby for the Wellington club in 1903 (making two appearances for their senior side) before switching to the Oriental club in 1904 where he played regularly in the backs for the senior side. He was said to be on the verge of provincial selection towards the end of the 1907 season but was not included in the Wellington representative side. He also played for the Post and Telegraph mid-week side in 1904 which won the tournament, beating Cycle and Bearers in the final. In the following year, he represented the Wednesday Players representative side in a match against the Wairarapa Thursday representative side. His book, ''Modern Rugby Football: New Zealand Methods; Points for the Beginner, the Player, the Spectator'', was published in 1907 and gave him somewhat of a national profile. After the success of this project he moved on to his next ambitious idea, a professional rugby tour of Great Britain. Baskerville competed in many athletic events from 1903 to 1907 as a short and middle-distance runner where he would compete for prize money. In late 1905, he filed a patent for a "cuff protector and blotter".

The Tour

Baskerville wrote to the

Northern Union The Rugby Football League (RFL) is the governing body for rugby league in England. Founded in 1895 as the Northern Rugby Football Union following 22 clubs resigning from the Rugby Football Union, it changed its name in 1922 to the Rugby Footb ...

and asked if it would host a touring party of New Zealand rugby players. The Northern Union was excited by this proposal and quickly agreed. Baskerville began to work full-time on organising the tour, leaving his job at the Postal Department and severing his connection with the Oriental Football Club. The

Wellington Rugby Union The Wellington Rugby Football Union (known as the Wellington Lions for competition reasons) are a New Zealand governing body of rugby union in the New Zealand province of Wellington Region. The main stadium is Sky Stadium (formerly named Wes ...

moved quickly to attempt to stop him from attending its grounds and he received a life ban from the

New Zealand Rugby Union New Zealand Rugby (NZR) is the Sports governing body, governing body of rugby union in New Zealand. It was founded in 1892 as the New Zealand Rugby Football Union (NZRFU), 12 years after the first provincial unions in New Zealand. In 1949 it b ...

. Despite this he managed to put together an impressive touring party that included eight

All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks, is the representative men's national team in the sport of rugby union for the nation of New Zealand, which is considered the country's national sport. Famed for th ...

, including four from the 1905 tour of Great Britain. The team was dubbed the All Golds by the Sydney press, a derogatory play on the New Zealand rugby union team's nickname the

. The tour was a great success both financially (each player earned roughly £300) and on the field, where the touring side won consecutive Test series against Great Britain and Australia. For most of the tour, Baskerville was busy with the administration work and it was not until the final game of the British leg, against

St Helens R.F.C. St Helens R.F.C., commonly known as Saints, is a professional rugby league club in St Helens, Merseyside, England. Founded in 1873, the club is one of the oldest members of the Rugby Football League, and one of the most successful clubs in its ...

, that he played, scoring a try. On arriving in Australia he then played in the first ever trans-Tasman test which was the first match by the

Australia national rugby league team The Australian national rugby league team, the Kangaroos, have represented Australia in senior men's rugby league football competitions since the establishment of the game in Australia in 1908. Administered by the Australian Rugby League Com ...

, again scoring a try. That was to be the only time that Baskerville represented

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

in a Test match. Baskerville contracted

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

on the ship taking the touring party from Sydney to

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

and, after several days in hospital, died aged 25 in Brisbane on 20 May 1908. His body was taken by the manager, Harry Palmer, and a group of players from each province back to Wellington. The rest of the touring party stayed in Australia to complete the remaining fixtures. Like five other members of the touring party, Baskerville is buried at Karori Cemetery.

Legacy

On their return from Australia the remaining members of the tour party held a memorial game, the first game of rugby league in New Zealand, and raised £300 for his widowed mother. The

Courtney Goodwill Trophy The Courtney Goodwill Trophy is a rugby league trophy that was awarded for competition among the national rugby league teams of Australia, France, Great Britain and New Zealand between 1936 and 1988. The trophy is displayed in the Heroes and Legend ...

, international rugby league's first, was presented for the first time in 1936 and depicted Baskiville, along with other pioneering greats of the code,

Jean Galia Jean Galia (born 20 March 1905 in Ille-sur-Têt, Pyrénées-Orientales, died 17 January 1949 in Toulouse) was a French rugby union and rugby league footballer and champion boxer. He is credited with establishing the sport of rugby league in Fra ...

(France), James Lomas (England) and

Dally Messenger Herbert Henry "Dally" Messenger, (12 April 1883 – 24 November 1959) was an Australian rugby league and rugby union player. One of Australasia's first professional rugby footballers, he is recognised as one of the greatest-ever players in eit ...

(Australia). He is commemorated by the naming of the

Baskerville Shield The Baskerville Shield is a trophy awarded to the winner of rugby league test series between England and New Zealand. It named in honour of Albert Henry Baskerville, who organised the first ever tour by New Zealand of Great Britain in 1907. T ...

, the trophy awarded when

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

and

meet in test series. In 2001, Baskerville was inducted as one of the

NZRL 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 '' ...

Legends of League.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Baskerville, Albert Henry 1883 births 1908 deaths 20th-century New Zealand sportsmen Burials at Karori Cemetery History of rugby league History of rugby union New Zealand national rugby league team players New Zealand rugby league administrators New Zealand rugby league players New Zealand rugby union players Rugby league in New Zealand Rugby league players from Te Aroha Rugby league wingers Rugby union controversies Rugby union players from Te Aroha Wellington rugby union players

Rugby football

The Tour

Legacy

See also

References

External links