Sir Terence Power McLean (15 July 1913 – 11 July 2004), often known simply by his initials as T. P. McLean, was a New Zealand sports journalist and author specialising in

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 ...

Early life and family

McLean was born in

Wanganui Whanganui, also spelt Wanganui, is a list of cities in New Zealand, city in the Manawatū-Whanganui region of New Zealand. The city is located on the west coast of the North Island at the mouth of the Whanganui River, New Zealand's longest nav ...

and died in

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 ...

. He was educated at

New Plymouth Boys' High School New Plymouth Boys' High School is a single-sex boys' state secondary school in New Plymouth, Taranaki, New Zealand. The school currently caters for approximately 1300 students, including 210 boarders, on its site. The school often collaborat ...

. He married Margaret Coyle in 1940; they had one son and two daughters. He came from a rugby family, and several other McLeans were notable in the New Zealand rugby union, including

Hubert McLean Hubert Foster McLean (18 July 1907 – 24 April 1997), known as Hugh McLean, was a New Zealand rugby union player who played for the All Blacks between 1930 and 1936. He was educated at Hastings Boys' High School and Napier Boys' High School w ...

who was an

All Black 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 ...

in the 1930s. His father and four uncles played for Wanganui, and his brothers Gordon (Taranaki) and Bob (Wellington) played at the provincial level.

Career

McLean commenced as a journalist on the ''

Auckland Sun Two newspapers published in Auckland, New Zealand, have been called ''The Sun'' or ''The Auckland Sun''. The first ''Sun'' was started on 23 March 1927 by Edward Chalmers Huie, who already ran the ''Christchurch Sun''. It operated in competitio ...

'' in 1930, subsequently working on the ''

Hastings Tribune The ''Hastings Tribune'' is a newspaper published in Hastings, Nebraska. The newspaper is put out six days a week, excluding Sundays. It serves ten counties in south central Nebraska and north central Kansas.Taranaki Daily News The ''Taranaki Daily News'' is a daily morning newspaper published in New Plymouth, New Zealand. History The paper was founded as the ''Taranaki News'' on 14 May 1857, by friends of former Taranaki Province Superintendent Charles Brown.J.S. ...

,'' and ''

Evening Post ''Evening Post'' or ''The Evening Post'' may refer to the following newspapers: United Kingdom * ''Evening Post'' (London) (1710–1732), then ''Berington's Evening Post'' (1732–1740) * ''London Evening Post'' (1727–1797) * '' ...

'' (Wellington). After service in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he joined the ''

New Zealand Herald ''The New Zealand Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Auckland, New Zealand, owned by New Zealand Media and Entertainment, and considered a newspaper of record for New Zealand. It has the largest newspaper circulation in New Zealand ...

'' in

as sports editor in 1946. For the next 30 years, McLean accompanied most All Black teams overseas and visiting sides in New Zealand, writing a series of tour books and other books on rugby, 32 in total. He retired from the ''Herald'' in 1978.

Honours and awards

In the 1978 Queen's Birthday Honours, McLean was appointed a

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

for services to sporting journalism. In the

New Year Honours 1997 The New Year Honours 1997 were appointments by most of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries, and honorary ones to citizens of other countrie ...

, McLean was appointed a

Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit () is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant (document), royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Monarchy of New Zealand, Queen of New Zealand, "for th ...

, also for services to sporting journalism. He was inducted into the

International Rugby Hall of Fame The International Rugby Hall of Fame (IRHOF) was a hall of fame for rugby union. It was created in 1997 in New Zealand and is run as a charitable trust with an address at Chiswick in London. Most of the trustees are also inductees. IRHOF accepted ...

in 2007.

References

External links

* *
Terence McLean Papers
at

Alexander Turnbull Library 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 ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:McLean, Terry 1913 births 2004 deaths New Zealand sportswriters Rugby union people in New Zealand People educated at New Plymouth Boys' High School New Zealand Members of the Order of the British Empire Knights Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit People from Whanganui 20th-century New Zealand journalists Rugby football writers Rugby football people awarded knighthoods New Zealand military personnel of World War II World Rugby Hall of Fame inductees