NEW ZEALAND’S FIRST RUGBY CLUB
FORMED IN NELSON IN 1868 INTERESTING LETTER TO NEW ZEALAND UNION MEETING (By Telegraph—Press Association) WELLINGTON, This Day. The formation of the first Rugby club in New Zealand was recalled in a letter read at the meeting of the management committee of the New Zealand Rugby Union. The letter was from Mr K. C. Tennent of Woodvilie, who wrote: “I was 87 last birthday. In 1868 I assisted in calling a meeting in Nelson, when we formed the first Rugby club in New Zealand. I was elected first secretary and treasurer, I played in the first match between Nelson and Wellington at Petone in 1370 and in 1874, and captained the Nelson team against Wellington on the Basin Reserve. The result was a draw. The Bank of New South Wales, of which I was the oldest pensioner, appointed me to open their Patea branch in 1874. I formed a Rugby football club there and was captain for five years, when I retired from the game.” Mr Tennent is the father of Dr. Alan Tennent of Wellington.
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Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXX, 23 September 1936, Page 8
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181NEW ZEALAND’S FIRST RUGBY CLUB Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXX, 23 September 1936, Page 8
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