Arthur Ollivier

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.

Arthur Ollivier
Ollivier in 1895
Personal information
Full name
Arthur Morton Ollivier
Born(1851-03-23)23 March 1851
Hammersmith, Middlesex, England
Died21 October 1897(1897-10-21) (aged 46)
Christchurch, New Zealand
BattingRight-handed
RoleWicketkeeper
RelationsJohn Ollivier (father)
Keith Ollivier (son)
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
1866/67–1882/83Canterbury
Career statistics
Competition First-class
Matches 11
Runs scored 349
Batting average 23.26
100s/50s 0/3
Top score 67
Catches/stumpings 8/1
Source: ESPNCricInfo, 3 January 2020

Early life

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]

Sport

Cricket

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]

Mountaineering
Mueller Hut and the summit of Mount Ollivier

Ollivier was known for his mountaineering exploits and Mount Ollivier is named for him.[14]

Other sports

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]

Professional career

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]

Community involvement

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]

Family, death and commemoration

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]

  • Cecil Claude Morton Ollivier (2 July 1878 – 27 July 1935)
  • Keith Morton Ollivier (2 August 1880 – 12 September 1951)
  • Muriel Morton Ollivier (19 April 1883 – 20 June 1971)[21][22]

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]

References
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Arthur Ollivier.
  1. Frost, Tony. "Arthur Morton Ollivier". Frost Family. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
  2. Frost, Tony. "John Ollivier". Frost Family. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
  3. Greenaway, Richard L. N. (June 2007). "Woolston / Heathcote Cemetery Tour" (PDF). Christchurch City Libraries. pp. 21–22. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
  4. "Shipping News". Lyttelton Times. Vol. III, Issue 146. 22 October 1853. p. 6. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
  5. Bastin, Kay. "John Taylor". Rootsweb. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
  6. "Page 3 Advertisements Column 1". Ashburton Guardian. Vol. XVIII, Issue 4326. 21 October 1897. p. 3. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
  7. The School List of Christ's College Grammar School: From 1852 to 1877. Christchurch: Christ's College Grammar School. 1877. p. 23.
  8. "Arthur Ollivier". Cricket Archive. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
  9. "Interprovincial Cricket Match". The Press. Vol. XI, Issue 1328. 8 February 1867. p. 2. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
  10. "Interprovincial Cricket Match". The Press. Vol. XI, Issue 1329. 9 February 1867. p. 2. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
  11. "Canterbury v James Lillywhite's XI". Cricket Archive. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
  12. "Canterbury v Australians". Cricket Archive. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
  13. Miller, Graham M. "Stevens, Edward Cephas John". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
  14. Booker, Jarrod (18 January 2008). "Renaming peak for Sir Ed meets resistance". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 25 April 2009.
  15. Newick, Conrad Brice (23 April 2009) [1966]. "Championship Roll". An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
  16. Cyclopedia Company Limited (1903). "Sports, Games, And Pastimes". The Cyclopedia of New Zealand : Canterbury Provincial District. Christchurch: The Cyclopedia of New Zealand. p. 216. Retrieved 31 March 2013.
  17. "Obituary". The Press. Vol. LIV, Issue 9868. 21 October 1897. p. 6. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
  18. Cyclopedia Company Limited (1903). "Duncan, Ronald O.". The Cyclopedia of New Zealand : Canterbury Provincial District. Christchurch: The Cyclopedia of New Zealand. p. 278. Retrieved 31 March 2013.
  19. Ryan, Greg (2012). The Making of New Zealand Cricket: 1832–1914. Routledge. ISBN 9781135754822.
  20. "Florence Agnes May THOMSON". Iconz. Archived from the original on 26 September 2012. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
  21. "Deaths Jun 1971". FreeBMD. Retrieved 3 January 2020.
  22. "England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858–1995". Ancestry.com Operations. 2010. Retrieved 3 January 2020.
  23. "Obituary". The Star. No. 6007. 21 October 1897. p. 3. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
  24. "Death". The Press. Vol. LIV, Issue 9868. 21 October 1897. p. 1. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
  25. "Canterbury Cricket Association". The Press. Vol. LIV, no. 9865. 23 October 1897. p. 10. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
  26. "The early years - Ed Hillary". Ministry for Culture and Heritage. 20 December 2012. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
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