Alexander Cracroft Wilson (5 March 1840 – 5 January 1911) was a New Zealand banker, businessman, college administrator, and

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

er. He played in one

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is of three or more days scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officially adju ...

match for

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...

during the 1877–78 season.Alexander Wilson

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. Retrieved 22 October 2020. Born at

Cawnpore Kanpur ( Hindustani: ), originally named Kanhapur and formerly anglicized as Cawnpore, is the second largest city of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh after Lucknow. It was the primary financial and commercial centre of northern India. Founded ...

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

in 1840, Wilson was the second youngest son of

John Cracroft Wilson Sir John Cracroft Wilson (21 May 1808 – 2 March 1881), also known as Nabob Wilson, was a British-educated civil servant in India, farmer and politician in New Zealand. Early life John Cracroft Wilson was born in Onamore, India, the son of Al ...

and his wife Elizabeth (''

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

'' Wall). After being educated in England, in 1859 he moved to join his father, now re-married, at his Cashmere estate in New Zealand, travelling on the ''Cresswell''.Alexander Cracroft Wilson, 1840–1911
Christchurch City Libraries. Retrieved 18 May 2025.Wilson, John Cracroft
Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Retrieved 18 May 2025.Obituary: Mr A Cracroft Wilson, '' The Star'', issue 10058, 21 January 1911, p. 7.
Available online
at

Papers Past The National Library of New Zealand () is charged with the obligation to "enrich the cultural and economic life of New Zealand and its interchanges with other nations" (National Library of New Zealand (Te Puna Mātauranga) Act 2003). Under the ...

. Retrieved 18 May 2025.)McCarron A (2010) ''New Zealand Cricketers 1863/64–2010'', pp. 140–141. Cardiff:

The Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians The Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians (ACS) was founded in England in 1973 for the purpose of researching and collating information about the history and statistics of cricket. Originally called the Association of Cricket Stati ...

.
Available online
at the

Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians The Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians (ACS) was founded in England in 1973 for the purpose of researching and collating information about the history and statistics of cricket. Originally called the Association of Cricket Stati ...

. Retrieved 5 June 2023.) In New Zealand, Wilson initially worked at the

Bank of New Zealand Bank of New Zealand (BNZ) is one of New Zealand's Big Four (banking)#New Zealand, big four banks. It has been operating since October 1861, and since 1992 has been owned by National Australia Bank (NAB), retaining local governance with a New Z ...

when it opened at

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

in 1862. He managed the bank's branch at Lyttelton before retiring in 1871 and moving briefly to

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 ...

where he met his future wife Laura Munro, the daughter of a Native Land Court judge; the couple married in 1877. Later in the decade he went in to business at Christchurch, founding the merchant company Sawtell and Wilson with Henry Sawtell. He was a trustee of a building and investment company, secretary of the Canterbury Chamber of Commerce, on the board of the

New Zealand Shipping Company The New Zealand Shipping Company (NZSC) was a shipping company whose ships ran passenger and cargo services between Great Britain and New Zealand between 1873 and 1973. A group of Christchurch businessmen founded the company in 1873, similar ...

, and was the Italian consul in Christchurch. Wilson's only first-class cricket match was a December 1877 fixture against

. Opening the batting, he scored 16 runs in Canterbury's first innings before being dismissed for two runs in their second.Alexander Wilson
CricketArchive. Retrieved 18 May 2025. The following month he played a one-day match for the side against

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 ...

on the way back to Christchurch. His brother, Walter Cracroft Wilson, had played two first-class matches for the province in the 1860s before drowning in the

Rakaia River The Rakaia River is in the Canterbury Plains in New Zealand's South Island. The Rakaia River is one of the largest braided rivers in New Zealand. The Rakaia River has a mean flow of and a mean annual seven-day low flow of . In the 1850s, Europ ...

in 1865. In 1891 Wilson was appointed as registrar of Canterbury College in Christchurch. He oversaw an expansion of Christchurch public library, the library's collection doubling during his time in the role. He retired in 1908 as a result of failing health. Wilson died in 1911 at the age of 70 after a period of illness which had confined him to his house.Obituary, ''

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 ...

'', issue 15054, 30 January 1911, p. 3 (supplement).
Available online
at

. Retrieved 18 May 2025.) He had nine children, four of whom died as infants.Late Mrs Alexander Cracroft Wilson, ''

The Press ''The Press'' () is a daily newspaper published in Christchurch, New Zealand, owned by media business Stuff (company), Stuff Ltd. First published in 1861, the newspaper is the largest circulating daily in the South Island and publishes Monday t ...

'', volume LXI, issue 18500, 30 September 1925, p. 2.
Available online
at

. Retrieved 18 May 2025.) Three sons and two daughters survived into adulthood,Mr A Cracroft Wilson, ''

Lyttelton Times The ''Lyttelton Times'' was the first newspaper in Canterbury, New Zealand, Canterbury, New Zealand, publishing the first edition in January 1851. It was established by the Canterbury Association as part of its planned community, planned settlem ...

'', volume CXXII, issue 15521, 23 January 1911, p. 7.
Available online
at

. Retrieved 18 May 2025.) with two of his sons later being killed during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. His daughter, Rita Cracrift Wilson, was a notable golfer who won six championships at Christchurch Ladies' Golf Club between 1904 and 1924.Obituary: Miss Rita Cracroft Wilson, ''

'', volume LXXXIII, issue 25352, 27 November 1947, p. 2.
Available online
at

. Retrieved 18 May 2025.)

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Alexander 1840 births 1911 deaths British sportspeople in British India New Zealand cricketers Canterbury cricketers Cricketers from Kanpur