MR. R. C. TENNENT

Evening Post, Volume CXXVII, Issue 89, 17 April 1939, Page 11

MR. R. C. TENNENT

BANKER AND FOOTBALLER

Mr. Robert Collings Tennent, a wellknown figure in New Zealand banking circles, and a former very fine Rugby football player, died in Woodville last Friday at the age of 90 years.

The late Mr. Tennent joined the Bank of New South Wales in Nelson in 1868, and after fifty years' service retired in J9lB. During his years of service he had acted as manager at various branches, including Auckland, Wellington, Blenheim, Nelson, and Invercargill.

Born in Rio de Janeiro, Mr. Tennent was educated at Guernsey College. With his mother and four brothers he came to New Zealand as a lad, the family settling in Nelson. In his younger days he was a well-known athlete and Rugby footballer and he played for the Nelson team in the first

interprovincial Rugby match played in New Zealand against Wellington at the Hutt in 1870. In that match Mr. Tennent was responsible for the only points of the game, a penalty gdal. He was also a splendid middle-distance runner, winning many trophies for half-mile and mile events. After his retirement in 1918 he lived in Napier^ but eight or nine years ago removed to Woodville.

I Mr. Tennent was one of the founders of Rugby football in New Zealand. He was instrumental in forming a football club in Nelson in 1868, and at the first meeting was elected secretary and treasurer. The first practice was held in Victoria Square under Soccer rules, and then the Victorian rules were tried. After a few practices Mr. C. J. Monro, son of Sir David Monro, returned from England, and persuaded the Nelson Club to try Rugby rules. FIRST REPRESENTATIVE GAME. In 1871 Nelson sent a team to Wellington to play in another representative Rugby match in New Zealand, which Nelson won by 3 points to nil. Next year Wellington returned the visit, and Nelson were again successful. The third match was played in Wellington in 2873 and on this occasion Mr. Tennent captained the Nelson team. The game was played on the Basin Reserve, in the presence of the Governor and a crowd of some thousands. The match resulted in a scoreless draw. Mr. Tennent left Nelson for Patea in 1874, and captained the Patea Football Club for five years, after which he retired from the game.

An all-round athlete, Mr. Tennent was also a keen golfer, and for some years was treasurer of the Invercarcargill Golf Club. MAUNGATAPU MURDER. His fifteenth year was probably luckiest of Mr. Tennent's long career. At that time he was employed in a Nelson bank, which had £90,000 in bullion to ship to Australia. The Maungatapu murderers, Burgess, Kelly, and Sullivan, after their das-J tardly act, descended on Nelson, and intended to rob the bank of the bullion. Their practice was to sandbag the officers of the banks they attacked, and they had planned their attack for the day on which they were arrested, otherwise Mr. Tennent might never have been heard of as a- Rugby football player or a bank manager.

He is survived by a widow, five sons, and two daughters. The -sons are Messrs. L. C., Tennent, South Africa, who recently visited New Zealand after an absence of 39 years; Mr. H. D. Tennent, Dunedin; Mr. H. C. Tennent, Honolulu; Mr. K. B. Tennent, Ho wick, Auckland, who stood for Parliament in the National Party's interests at the last General Election; and Dr. Allan Tennent, Wellington. The daughters are Mrs. W. Olphert, Lower Hutt, and Mrs. Norman Branson, Te Araroa, East Coast.