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New Zealand cricketer and mountaineer From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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.
Personal information | |||||||||||||||
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Full name | Arthur Morton Ollivier | ||||||||||||||
Born | Hammersmith, Middlesex, England | 23 March 1851||||||||||||||
Died | 21 October 1897 46) Christchurch, New Zealand | (aged||||||||||||||
Batting | Right-handed | ||||||||||||||
Role | Wicketkeeper | ||||||||||||||
Relations | John Ollivier (father) Keith Ollivier (son) | ||||||||||||||
Domestic team information | |||||||||||||||
Years | Team | ||||||||||||||
1866/67–1882/83 | Canterbury | ||||||||||||||
Career statistics | |||||||||||||||
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Source: ESPNCricInfo, 3 January 2020 |
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]
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]
Ollivier was known for his mountaineering exploits and Mount Ollivier is named for him.[14]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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