LATE MR R. C. TENNENT

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXXII, 17 April 1939, Page 11

LATE MR R. C. TENNENT

HALF-CENTURY OF BANKING SERVICE A FOUNDER OF RUGBY IN NEW ZEALAND ASSOCIATION WITH NELSON The death of Mr Robert Collings j Tennent at the age of 90 years in I Woodville yesterday removes one of the I oldest, if not the oldest of personali- i ties associated with banking in New j Zealand. Joining the service of the i Bank of New South Wales in Nelson i in 1868, Mr Tennent on his retirement! in 1918 had completed 50 years’ service j as an officer of the bank, for 40 years j of which he had acted as manager at j various branches, including Auckland, j 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. 4 he family! settling in Nelson In his younger days 1 he was a well-known athlete and Rugby j footballer and he captained the Nelson , team in the first interprovircial Rugby j match played in New Zealand against | Wellington in the Hutt in 1872 In that! match Mr Tennent was responsible for j the only score of the game, a penalty goal He was also a splendid middle- j distance runner, winning many trophies i to’’ half-mile and mile events After his retirement in 1917 he lived in Napier but eight or nine years ago removed to Woodville FOUNDER OF RUGBY IN NEW ZEALAND Mr Tennent could claim to be 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 sec-

retary and treasurer. The first practice was held in Victory Square under soccer rules, and then the Victorian rules were tried. After a few practices Mr C. J. Munro. son of Sir David Monro, returned from England, and persuaded the Nelson club to try Rugby rules. The club did so, and preferred Rugby to the other two codes tried. In 1871 Nelson sent a team to Wellington to play the first representative Rugby match in New Zealand, which j Nelson won by three points to nil. Next year Wellington returned the visit, and ■ Nelson was again successful. The third match was played in Wellington ‘jin 1873 and on this occasion Mr Ten- * j nent captained the Nelson team The j game was played o -1 the Basin Reserve. I in the presence of the Governor and a ? ! crowd r f some thousands. The game ‘ i was so strenuous that one Nelson play- ' or received concussion of the brain and ;! a Wellington man had a leg broken. ’ The match resulted in a draw, neither 'side scoring. Mr Tennent left Nelson ’ | for Patea in 1874. and captained the Patea Football Club for five years, after which he retired from the game, j An all-round athlete, Mr Tennent was I ; also a keen golfer, and for some years ; | was treasurer of the Invercargill Golf [! club A LUCKY ESCAPE , I His fifteenth year was probably luck- ! lest of Mr Tennent’s long career. At II that time he was employed in a Nelson - bank, which had £90.000 in bullion to , j ship to Australia The Maungatapu I murderers. Burgess, Kelly and Sul 1 i- ; j van. after their dastardly 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 i arrested, otherwise Mr Tennent might never have been heard of as a Rugby I football player or a bank manager, f | He is survived by a widow, five sons /1 and two daughters The sons are Messrs - | L. C. Tennent. South Africa, who reI. * cently visited New Zealand after an - absence of 39 years; Mr H. I) Tennent,

Dunedin, Mr H. C. Tennent, Honolulu, Mr K. B. Tennent. Howick. Auckland, who stood for Parliament in the National Party’s interest 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.