Pioneers of Rugby in Wellington 099: Henry Avery

Not to be confused with his namesake Harry Avery who was the captain of the St Pat’s Old Boys team that shared the Jubilee Cup with Petone in 1949 (profile 093), this Henry ‘Harry’ Avery played his rugby in a much earlier generation.

Henry Avery was out of Wellington College and was a leading player of the day in the early 1900s and made the All Blacks in 1910.

He was a military man and played an active role in the first world war and returned home as a Lieutenant Colonel.

Henry Essau Avery was born on 3 October 1885 in Wellington and attended Mt Cook School and Wellington College before joining the Wellington College Old Boys club.

Avery captained both his club and the Wellington provincial side.

A wing forward, he played for Wellington between 1905 and 1910 and in the latter season he also played for the North Island.

Lindsay Knight, in his profile on the All Blacks website, continues Avery’s story:

“Avery was not an original choice in the 1910 All Black team for its tour of Australia. But after captaining Wellington in the preliminary match before departing for Australia Avery was one of the replacements called in when five players from the original selection withdrew.

“Arriving in Australia after the team had already played one match, Avery soon became a first choice, making six appearances including all three tests.

“Avery was involved, too, in a rousing Ranfurly Shield match against Auckland in the 1910 season. With a dribbling burst into the clear Avery helped create the try from which Wellington finished with a 3-all draw.”

In 1910 he also captained Wellington to an 8-8 draw with the inaugural New Zealand Māori team, to a then union record 60-0 win over Southland (scoring two of 14 tries in that game), to a 19-6 win over Otago and to a 26-9 home win over Canterbury in his swansong match at the end of the season.

Avery played a total of 19 games for Wellington and 28 first-class matches overall.

Wellington College Old Boys had first taken the field in 1898, and the Junior team won the grade in 1899, meaning promotion to the Senior Championship in 1900. They became a competitive, generally mid-table team over the next decade or so, and contributed many players to the Wellington represeantive team.

Avery was playing for WCOB’s Senior team in 1903 (perhaps earlier), and in 1905 became one of those players to make the Wellington side as they finished third in the Senior Championship.  He remained a key player for them and became WCOB’s captain in his final year 1910.

This was all before his army career kicked off. He joined the army in 1911 necessitating is rugby retirement, and he subsequently went to Gallipoli with the New Zealand forces and then on to the western front for the remainder of the war.

Avery was awarded the DSO in 1916 for distinguished and gallant service at Gallipoli and the CMG in 1919.  He was mentioned in despatches four times. He remained in the army between 1919-24 and was New Zealand’s Quarter-Master General.

He was a key administrator in arranging the New Zealand Rugby Services programme for the King’s Cup and tour to South Africa.

New Zealand won the King’s Cup series in early 1919, involving teams and countries including Australia and South Africa from the allied forces. From this, the 28-strong team to travel to South Africa was chosen, which became the forerunner for full All Blacks-South Africa series that started two years later.

Avery returned to the army in World War Two and was recalled to his formed role as Quarter-Master General. He rose to the rank of Brigadier in 1941. He was awarded a CBE in 1943, before retiring in 1948.

A third strong to his bow was as a businessman and after leaving the army for the first time in the 1920s he obtained the franchise for Ford Motor Cars and established one of Wellington’s biggest motor companies, Avery Motors.

In 1939/40, he was general manager in Wellington of the 1939-40 Centennial Exhibition.

Avery’s connection with his WCOB club remained for life. He was made a life member of the club 1911 and he and later members of his family had a lifetime association with the club. Avery was club captain in 1920 and again in 1923-24.

Avery passed away on 22 March 1961. He was 75.

REFERENCES

• Akers, Clive. New Zealand Rugby Register 1870-2015. New Zealand Rugby Museum, 2016.
• All Blacks online profile of Henry Avery, by Lindsay Knight: https://stats.allblacks.com/all-players/profile/Henry-Avery-AB-170
• Hayward, Dai. Follow Up. 100 Years of the Wellington College Old Boys’ Rugby Football Club. W.C.O.B Centennial Committee, Wellington, 1998.
• Moloney, J.K. Ranfurly Shield Story. Ronault House of Publishers, Auckland, 1960.
• Swan, Arthur C. Jackson, Gordon F. W. (1952). Wellington’s Rugby History 1870 – 1950. Wellington, New Zealand: A. H. & A. W. Reed.
• Swan, Arthur C. History of New Zealand Rugby Football V.1 1870-1945. A.H. & A.W. Reed, Wellington, 1948.
• Wellington College Old Boys Football Club. Golden Jubilee 1898-1948 Souvenir Booklet