Henry Colden Antill Harrison (16 October 1836 – 2 September 1929) was an athlete and
Australian rules football
Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...
er who played a leading role in pioneering the sport.
Harrison's cousin, champion cricketer
Tom Wills
Thomas Wentworth Wills (19 August 1835 – 2 May 1880) was an Australian sportsman who is credited with being Australia's first cricketer of significance and a founder of Australian rules football. Born in the British penal colony of Colo ...
, captained an early incarnation of the
Melbourne Football Club
The Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed the Demons or colloquially the Dees, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier comp ...
in 1858, and the following year co-wrote
its laws―the basis of Australian rules football. Within a year, Harrison joined him in promoting the new code, and quickly emerged as a leading player, celebrated for his speed, strength and courage. He oversaw
an 1866 revision of the code that formalised the
running bounce, and captained Melbourne and
Geelong
Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung language, Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in Victoria, Australia, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River (Victo ...
before retiring from playing in 1872. He then took on several important administrative roles, including the vice presidency of the newly formed
Victorian Football Association
The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football competition in Australia operated by the Australian Football League (AFL) as a second-tier, regional, semi-professional competition. It includes teams from clubs based in east ...
(VFA) in 1877, and the chairmanship of the first Australian Football Conference in 1905. He also won fame as the champion amateur runner of Victoria, remaining undefeated for nine years in both sprints and hurdles.
By the 1880s and well into the mid-20th century, Harrison was widely regarded as the "Father of Australian Football"—a title that has since been disputed as a result of more in-depth scholarly analysis of
football's origins, which shows that Harrison joined the game after its codification, and that football's early development was largely a collaborative process. Nonetheless, Harrison remained for many years the sport's "most formidable voice", and the honorific title of "Football's Foster Father" has been applied to him by some modern historians.
The Harrison Stand at the
Melbourne Cricket Ground
The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), also known locally as the 'G, is a sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne, Victoria. Founded and managed by the Melbourne Cricket Club, it is the largest stadium in the Southern Hemisphere, the Lis ...
, as well as Harrison House―the former headquarters of the
Victorian Football League
The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football competition in Australia operated by the Australian Football League (AFL) as a second-tier, regional, semi-professional competition. It includes teams from clubs based in east ...
(VFL)―were named in his honour in 1908 and 1930, respectively. Harrison and Wills were inducted into the
Sport Australia Hall of Fame
The Sport Australia Hall of Fame was established on 10 December 1985 to recognise the achievements of Australian sportsmen and sportswomen. The inaugural induction included 120 members with Don Bradman, Sir Don Bradman as the first inductee and ...
in 1989, and in 1996, they were the only pioneer figures to be inaugural inductees of the
Australian Football Hall of Fame
The Australian Football Hall of Fame was established in 1996, the 1996 AFL season, centenary year of the Australian Football League, to help recognise the contributions made to the sport of Australian rules football by players, umpires, media pe ...
.
Early life and professional work
Harrison was born at 'Jarvisfield', near
Picton, New South Wales
Picton is a small town in the Macarthur region of Sydney in New South Wales, Australia. The town is the administrative centre of the Wollondilly Shire local government area. Picton is located southwest of the Sydney CBD.
The town is part of ...
, the son of John Harrison, a sea captain who had become a grazier, and his wife Jane, ''née'' Howe. In about 1837, the family moved to the
Port Phillip District
The Port Phillip District was an administrative division of the Colony of New South Wales from 9 September 1836 until 1 July 1851, when it was separated from New South Wales and became the Colony of Victoria.
In September 1836, NSW Colonial Sec ...
, and took up land on the
Plenty River about 20 miles (32 km) from
Melbourne
Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...
. Some years later, they moved to the present site of
St Arnaud.
In 1850, Harrison's father, being broken in health, moved to Melbourne. Henry had already been sent at the beginning of the year to the
Diocesan Grammar School (the forerunner of Melbourne Grammar). After leaving school, he spent a short time in the
Victorian goldfields, H. C. A. Harrison entered formal employment at the Victorian Customs Department at the end of 1853. He married his cousin, Emily Wills, in 1864 and they had four daughters.
Harrison remained with Customs for 35 years, before transferring to the Titles Office in 1887. He became Registrar of Titles in 1889, retiring in 1896. His autobiography, ''The Story of an Athlete'', was published in 1923. Harrison died at
Kew
Kew () is a district in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Its population at the 2011 census was 11,436. Kew is the location of the Royal Botanic Gardens ("Kew Gardens"), now a World Heritage Site, which includes Kew Palace. Kew is ...
, in Melbourne, on 2 September 1929, aged 92.
Athlete

Harrison did not discover he was a good runner until he was 22 years of age, but soon afterwards he became the finest amateur runner of his period, and his matches against
L. L. Mount of
Ballarat
Ballarat ( ) () is a city in the Central Highlands of Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 census, Ballarat had a population of 111,973, making it the third-largest urban inland city in Australia and the third-largest city in Victoria.
Within mo ...
caused much public interest. For nine years he was Victorian champion 'pedestrian', defeating all comers in sprints and over hurdles and steeples.
[Ian Turner, 'Harrison, Henry Colden Antill (1836–1929)]
, ''Australian Dictionary of Biography
The ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'' (ADB or AuDB) is a national co-operative enterprise founded and maintained by the Australian National University (ANU) to produce authoritative biographical articles on eminent people in Australia's ...
'', Vol.4, Melbourne University Press, 1972, p.353 Retrieved 21 January 2009 He recorded a time of 50¼ seconds over 440 yards (400 m), on a grass track.
Football and cricket

Harrison's cousin
Tom Wills
Thomas Wentworth Wills (19 August 1835 – 2 May 1880) was an Australian sportsman who is credited with being Australia's first cricketer of significance and a founder of Australian rules football. Born in the British penal colony of Colo ...
began to codify Australian rules football in Melbourne, in 1858. Wills' game spread across Australia and is today the most popular sport in the country. Some sources state that Harrison was involved and/or that he took part in the drafting of the first set rules, by the
Melbourne Football Club
The Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed the Demons or colloquially the Dees, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier comp ...
(1859); Wills and Harrison were later recognised as the "Fathers" of Australian rules. However, there is no hard evidence that Harrison was involved in the development of Australian rules during the 1850s.
On 8 May 1866, Harrison chaired a meeting of club delegates in order to draft a revised set of rules, and his changes were unanimously agreed upon. A major development in these revised rules was Rule 8, which read: "The ball may be taken in hand at any time, but not carried further than is necessary for a kick, and no player shall run with the ball unless he strikes it against the ground every five or six yards." The
running bounce was adopted to curtail the speed of the fastest players, in particular Harrison.
Arthur Conan Doyle
Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930) was a British writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for ''A Study in Scarlet'', the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Hol ...
, creator of
Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes () is a Detective fiction, fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a "Private investigator, consulting detective" in his stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with obser ...
and fan of Australian rules football, remarked: "I thought it was very sporting of Harrison, as the fastest runner of his day, to introduce the bouncing rule, which robbed him of his advantage."
Harrison was successively captain of the
Richmond
Richmond most often refers to:
* Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada
* Richmond, California, a city in the United States
* Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England
* Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...
, Melbourne and
Geelong
Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung language, Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in Victoria, Australia, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River (Victo ...
clubs, and then of Melbourne again.
Harrison was elected a member of the committee of the
Melbourne Cricket Club
The Melbourne Cricket Club (MCC) is a sports club based in Melbourne, Australia. It was founded in 1838 and is one of the oldest sports clubs in Australia.
The MCC is responsible for management and development of the Melbourne Cricket Groun ...
in 1871, and was a vice-president from 1892 until his death.
Harrison retired from football in 1872 at the age of 36. He once stated that he considered that the reason of his being able to stay so long was that he did not begin his athletic career until he was over 20. When the
Victorian Football Association
The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football competition in Australia operated by the Australian Football League (AFL) as a second-tier, regional, semi-professional competition. It includes teams from clubs based in east ...
was formed in 1877, Harrison was elected vice-president, and in 1905 he was chairman of the first Australian Football Council, and was officially granted life membership to the council.
In 1884 he visited London where he proposed unifying Australian rules with Rugby under a set of hybrid rules and suggested that rugby clubs adopt some of Australia's rules. English football officials were insulted at the suggestion that they "abandon their rules to oblige an Antipodean game".
[AUCKLAND STAR, VOLUME XXVI, ISSUE 4533, 9 DECEMBER 1884, PAGE 2]
Following his retirement, Harrison was
president
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
* President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment Film and television
*'' Præsident ...
of the Melbourne Football Club from 1897 to 1906.
Legacy
In 1908, a newly completed grandstand at the
Melbourne Cricket Ground
The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), also known locally as the 'G, is a sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne, Victoria. Founded and managed by the Melbourne Cricket Club, it is the largest stadium in the Southern Hemisphere, the Lis ...
(MCG), designed by
William Pitt, was named after Harrison. It was demolished in 1936 to make way for the Southern Stand. Harrison continues to be honoured at the MCG with the H. C. A. Harrison Room, located in the Ponsford Stand.
A building on
Spring Street, Melbourne was purchased by the VFL in the 1920s to serve as their new headquarters,
[ and was named Harrison House in his honour. It was sold and demolished in the 1980s despite appeals from various heritage groups for its preservation.
The Harrison Medal, which is awarded to the best player in Division 2 at the AFL Under 18 Championships is often mistakenly thought to be named in his honour. It is, however, named after longtime NTFL administrator Hunter C. Harrison.
]
References
*
External links
Australian Football Hall of Fame – Administrators
"Father of Football" (portrait), ''The Argus'', (Thursday, 17 November 1927, p.15, col.E.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harrison, Henry Colden Antill
1836 births
1929 deaths
Australian Football Hall of Fame inductees
VFA/VFL administrators
Melbourne Football Club founders
Melbourne Football Club presidents
Melbourne Football Club (pre-VFA) players
Australian rules footballers from New South Wales
Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductees
Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state)
Creators of sports