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Arthur Ollivier

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Arthur Ollivier
Ollivier in 1895
Personal information
Full name
Arthur Morton Ollivier
Born(1851-03-23)23 March 1851
Hammersmith, Middlesex, England
Died21 October 1897(1897-10-21) (aged 46)
Christchurch, New Zealand
BattingRight-handed
RoleWicketkeeper
RelationsJohn Ollivier (father)
Keith Ollivier (son)
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
1866/67–1882/83Canterbury
Career statistics
Competition First-class
Matches 11
Runs scored 349
Batting average 23.26
100s/50s 0/3
Top score 67
Catches/stumpings 8/1
Source: ESPNCricInfo, 3 January 2020

Arthur Morton Ollivier (23 March 1851 – 21 October 1897) was a businessman in Christchurch, New Zealand, a cricketer, mountaineer, and chess player. Mount Ollivier is named after him.

Early life

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Ollivier was born in 1851 in Hammersmith, Middlesex, England.[1] He was the eighth son of John and Elizabeth Ollivier (née Morton).[2][3] The family with 10 children came to New Zealand on the John Taylor; the ship left London on 10 July 1853 and arrived in Lyttelton on 18 October.[4][5] He received his education at Christ's College from 1862 to 1865; he was pupil number 179.[3][6][7]

Sport

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Cricket

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Ollivier was a right-hand batsman.[8] In February 1867, he became a representative cricketer at age 15, when he played for Canterbury against Otago at Hagley Oval; the first cricket game ever that was played on that ground.[9][10] He was also playing when Canterbury first met Auckland in 1873; the year that the Auckland team was founded.[3]

He played against England in February 1877,[11] and against Australia in January 1878.[12]

Injury forced Ollivier to retire from the game in 1883. He became a trainer, administrator and selector of players.[3] In 1882, Edward Cephas John Stevens and Ollivier initiated the purchase of a parcel of land which became Lancaster Park; this was to overcome the problem of spectators not paying a fee at Hagley Oval.[3][13] In 1893, he selected the New Zealand team for the match against New South Wales.[3]

Mountaineering

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Mueller Hut and the summit of Mount Ollivier

Ollivier was known for his mountaineering exploits and Mount Ollivier is named for him.[14]

Other sports

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Ollivier was a noted sports person in rugby and athletics, especially sprinting.[6] He was a successful chess player, was a founding member of the Canterbury Chess Club in 1877, and was dominion champion in 1888/89.[15][16]

Professional career

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Ollivier was an accountant by profession.[6] His first employment was with D. Macpherson and Co. (which became Matheson's Agency). His next position was with J. T. Ford and Co.[17] He was in partnership with Trevor Grierson before becoming self-employed.[18]

Community involvement

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Ollivier was a member of many organisations, and he was often on the committee. He was president of the Old Boys' Association of Christ's College from 1895 until his death.[3][6] He was deeply involved with the administration of cricket.[19]

Family, death and commemoration

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Ollivier married Agnes Thomson (born ca 1849), a daughter of the politician William Thomson, on 20 September 1876 at St Mark's Church in Opawa.[17] They had three children:[1][20]

  • Cecil Claude Morton Ollivier (2 July 1878 – 27 July 1935)
  • Keith Morton Ollivier (2 August 1880 – 12 September 1951)
  • Muriel Morton Ollivier (19 April 1883 – 20 June 1971)[21][22]

Ollivier was unwell for several months before his death. He went to Castle Hill in the high country for a change of air, but returned even more ill.[23] He died at the early age of 46 on 21 October 1897 at home in the Christchurch suburb of Opawa. He was buried at Woolston Cemetery.[3][24] It was Frederick Wilding's proposal that resulted in the Canterbury Cricket Association erecting the gravestone for Ollivier; the inscription reads "Erected by the Cricketers of New Zealand".[3][25] He was buried on a Saturday (23 October), and out of respect to him, all cricket matches in Canterbury got cancelled on that day.[25]

Mount Ollivier near Aoraki / Mount Cook is named after Arthur Ollivier.[14] In 1939, the 1,933 m (6,342 ft) peak was Edmund Hillary's first major climb.[26] After Hillary's death in 2008, there was a proposal to rename the peak Mount Hillary as a memorial, a suggestion opposed by Arthur Ollivier's family.[14]

References

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Arthur Ollivier.
  1. ^ a b Frost, Tony. "Arthur Morton Ollivier". Frost Family. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
  2. ^ Frost, Tony. "John Ollivier". Frost Family. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Greenaway, Richard L. N. (June 2007). "Woolston / Heathcote Cemetery Tour" (PDF). Christchurch City Libraries. pp. 21–22. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
  4. ^ "Shipping News". Lyttelton Times. Vol. III, Issue 146. 22 October 1853. p. 6. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
  5. ^ Bastin, Kay. "John Taylor". Rootsweb. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
  6. ^ a b c d "Page 3 Advertisements Column 1". Ashburton Guardian. Vol. XVIII, Issue 4326. 21 October 1897. p. 3. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
  7. ^ The School List of Christ's College Grammar School: From 1852 to 1877. Christchurch: Christ's College Grammar School. 1877. p. 23.
  8. ^ "Arthur Ollivier". Cricket Archive. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
  9. ^ "Interprovincial Cricket Match". The Press. Vol. XI, Issue 1328. 8 February 1867. p. 2. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
  10. ^ "Interprovincial Cricket Match". The Press. Vol. XI, Issue 1329. 9 February 1867. p. 2. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
  11. ^ "Canterbury v James Lillywhite's XI". Cricket Archive. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
  12. ^ "Canterbury v Australians". Cricket Archive. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
  13. ^ Miller, Graham M. "Stevens, Edward Cephas John". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
  14. ^ a b c Booker, Jarrod (18 January 2008). "Renaming peak for Sir Ed meets resistance". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 25 April 2009.
  15. ^ Newick, Conrad Brice (23 April 2009) [1966]. "Championship Roll". An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
  16. ^ Cyclopedia Company Limited (1903). "Sports, Games, And Pastimes". The Cyclopedia of New Zealand : Canterbury Provincial District. Christchurch: The Cyclopedia of New Zealand. p. 216. Retrieved 31 March 2013.
  17. ^ a b "Obituary". The Press. Vol. LIV, Issue 9868. 21 October 1897. p. 6. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
  18. ^ Cyclopedia Company Limited (1903). "Duncan, Ronald O.". The Cyclopedia of New Zealand : Canterbury Provincial District. Christchurch: The Cyclopedia of New Zealand. p. 278. Retrieved 31 March 2013.
  19. ^ Ryan, Greg (2012). The Making of New Zealand Cricket: 1832–1914. Routledge. ISBN 9781135754822.
  20. ^ "Florence Agnes May THOMSON". Iconz. Archived from the original on 26 September 2012. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
  21. ^ "Deaths Jun 1971". FreeBMD. Retrieved 3 January 2020.
  22. ^ "England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858–1995". Ancestry.com Operations. 2010. Retrieved 3 January 2020.
  23. ^ "Obituary". The Star. No. 6007. 21 October 1897. p. 3. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
  24. ^ "Death". The Press. Vol. LIV, Issue 9868. 21 October 1897. p. 1. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
  25. ^ a b "Canterbury Cricket Association". The Press. Vol. LIV, no. 9865. 23 October 1897. p. 10. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
  26. ^ "The early years - Ed Hillary". Ministry for Culture and Heritage. 20 December 2012. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
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