Ernest Edward Booth (24 February 1876 – 18 October 1935) was a New Zealand

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 ...

player. A fullback and three-quarter, Booth represented at a provincial level between 1896 and 1907, and was a member of the New Zealand national side, the

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 ...

, from 1905 to 1907. He played 24 matches for the All Blacks including three internationals, and was a member of the

Original All Blacks The Original All Blacks (also known simply as "The Originals") were the first New Zealand national rugby union team to tour outside Australasia. They toured the British Isles, France and the United States of America during 1905–1906. Their ...

on their 1905–06 tour of the British Isles, France and North America. Booth moved to

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

and played for

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

between 1908 and 1909. He toured as a press correspondent with the Australian rugby union team on their 1908–09 tour of Britain, and while there played 5 matches for

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

becoming the first non-British international to play for the club. He served with the Australian forces 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 ...

as secretary in the

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organisation based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It has nearly 90,000 staff, some 920,000 volunteers and 12,000 branches w ...

. In the 1920s, Booth was appointed as a professional coach by the Southland Rugby Union, developing the game in that region. In 1924, he accompanied the All Blacks on their tour of Britain, Ireland and France as the representative of the Australian Press Association. He then toured with New Zealand Māori on the British and French legs of their 1926–27 tour, reporting for newspapers in the

North Island The North Island ( , 'the fish of Māui', historically New Ulster) is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but less populous South Island by Cook Strait. With an area of , it is the List ...

. Booth died in the

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 ...

suburb of

St Albans St Albans () is a cathedral city in Hertfordshire, England, east of Hemel Hempstead and west of Hatfield, Hertfordshire, Hatfield, north-west of London, south-west of Welwyn Garden City and south-east of Luton. St Albans was the first major ...

on 18 October 1935, and he was buried in the

Oamaru Oamaru (; ) is the largest town in North Otago, in the South Island of New Zealand, it is the main town in the Waitaki District. It is south of Timaru and north of Dunedin on the Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast; State Highway 1 (New Zealand), Sta ...

Old Cemetery.

References

1876 births 1935 deaths 20th-century New Zealand journalists Australian military personnel of World War I Burials at Oamaru Old Cemetery Leicester Tigers players New South Wales rugby union team players New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in Australia New Zealand international rugby union players New Zealand rugby union coaches New Zealand rugby union players New Zealand sportswriters Otago rugby union players Rugby union fullbacks Rugby union players from Otago Rugby union three-quarters New Zealand expatriate rugby union players in England {{NewZealand-rugbyunion-bio-1870s-stub