Charles Arthur Knapp (27 November 1845 – 9 September 1927) was a New Zealand sportsman. He played in nine

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 ...

matches for

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 ...

from 1873 to 1885, and was prominent in many other sports.

Life and career

Born in

Sleaford Sleaford is a market town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the North Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. On the edge of the The Fens, Fenlands, it is north-east of Grantham, west of Boston, Lincolnshire, Boston, and sou ...

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (), abbreviated ''Lincs'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber regions of England. It is bordered by the East Riding of Yorkshire across the Humber estuary to th ...

, Knapp was educated at

Lancing College Lancing College is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Private schools in the United Kingdom, private boarding school, boarding and day school) for pupils aged 13–18 in southern England, UK. The school is located in West S ...

and

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

. He emigrated to New Zealand in 1871, and worked for the

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until 1881, when he joined the

Public Works Department This list indicates government departments in various countries dedicated to public works or infrastructure. See also * Public works * Ministry or Board of Public Works, the imperial Chinese ministry overseeing public projects from the Tang ...

as a

computer A computer is a machine that can be Computer programming, programmed to automatically Execution (computing), carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations (''computation''). Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic set ...

. He retired in 1891 and spent the rest of his life as a "private gentleman" in Wellington, sharing a residence with Martin Chapman KC. He was a director of the Kelburn Tram Company. In his second first-class match, in March 1874, Knapp made 37, the highest score of the match on either side, in a

tie Tie has two principal meanings: * Tie (draw), a finish to a competition with identical results, particularly sports * Necktie, a long piece of cloth worn around the neck or shoulders Tie or TIE may also refer to: Engineering and technology * T ...

between Wellington and

Nelson Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...

. In his next match a year later he was again the highest scorer, with 31 and 10, when Wellington lost narrowly to Nelson by two wickets. His batting was less effective later, but he took 5 for 21 and 2 for 5 opening the bowling against Nelson in December 1876, when Nelson won by 41 runs. Later, Knapp served on the committee of the Wellington Cricket Association for many years. He also umpired four first-class matches at the

Basin Reserve The Basin Reserve, also known as the Cello Basin Reserve for sponsorship reasons, and commonly referred to as the Basin, is a cricket ground in Wellington, New Zealand. It is used for Test cricket, Test matches, and is the main home ground of t ...

in Wellington between 1884 and 1894. Knapp was a life member of the Wellington Football Club and a

referee A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other title ...

, and a participant and administrator in both

rowing Rowing is the act of propelling a human-powered watercraft using the sweeping motions of oars to displace water and generate reactional propulsion. Rowing is functionally similar to paddling, but rowing requires oars to be mechanically a ...

and

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competitio ...

. In his later years he was a keen bowler; he died at home the day after collapsing on the

green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a com ...

at the Wellington Bowling Club, aged 81.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Knapp, Charles 1845 births 1927 deaths People educated at Lancing College Alumni of the University of Oxford English emigrants to New Zealand New Zealand cricketers Wellington cricketers New Zealand cricket umpires Sportspeople from Sleaford, Lincolnshire Cricketers from Lincolnshire New Zealand sports executives and administrators