Henry Vere Poulett-Harris (22 April 1865 – 7 March 1933) was an

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...

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 ...

player, runner,

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

, gold prospector and gold mine owner. Vere Poulett-Harris played five

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 the

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

and

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

cricket teams between 1883 and 1899. One early news report described him as a "sterling cricketer and footballer" whilst another described him as a "sterling batsman and good field." Vere Poulett-Harris' father was Richard Deodatus Poulett-Harris, an educationalist, priest, the founder of the Masonic Lodge in Tasmania and the co-founder of the

University of Tasmania The University of Tasmania (UTAS) is a public research university, primarily located in Tasmania, Australia. Founded in 1890, it is Australia's fourth oldest university. Christ College (University of Tasmania), Christ College, one of the unive ...

. Amongst his other activities, Richard was passionate about cricket and, in 1882, was elected a trustee of the Southern Tasmanian Cricket Association. Furthermore, he encouraged the boys at the high school of which he was the headmaster to compete at sports. Vere Poulett-Harris left Tasmania to study medicine but ended up working for a time as a bank clerk at

Charters Towers Charters Towers is a rural town in the Charters Towers Region, Queensland, Australia. It is by road south-west from Townsville on the Flinders Highway. During the last quarter of the 19th century, the town boomed as the rich gold deposits und ...

before becoming a gold prospector. By 1898, he was prospecting in Western Australia. He discovered the Corinthian gold mine in the Yilgarn Gold Field of Western Australia and was also one of the first people to prospect at Burtville. He wrote an account of the discovery of Corinthian which was published in a newspaper of the time. In 1911, he was called as a witness to testify during Chaffinch Mine Conspiracy trial. Vere Poulett-Harris' obituary states that he was "one of the outstanding athletes in the State, winning great success as a runner, cricketer and footballer. He played cricket for the Wellington Club and was regarded as one of the most graceful batsmen in the State. He was a member of the State team when a youth, and toured New Zealand with the Tasmanian team under the captaincy of the late Sir George Davies. Later he met with success as a batsman on the mainland. He was also a champion footballer and a member of the Cricketers' Football Club, some of his contemporaries being Messrs. W. H. Cundy, L. H. Macleod, K. E. Burn, A. Stuart and G. Watt. As a runner he defeated many of the recognised champions of his day." He died aged 67, leaving no wife or children. His younger sister,

Lily Poulett-Harris Lily Poulett-Harris (2 September 1873 – 15 August 1897) was an Australian sportswoman and educationalist, notable for being the founder and captain of the first Women's cricket in Australia, women's cricket team in Australia. Poulett-Harris c ...

, founded women's

in Australia.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Henry 1865 births 1933 deaths Australian cricketers Tasmania cricketers Cricketers from Hobart Western Australia cricketers

See also

References