Leonard Montague Harris

Leonard Montague Harris (21 December 1855 – 27 April 1947) was an Australian-born cricketer. He played first-class cricket in New Zealand for Otago and Wellington between the 1881–82 and 1893–94 seasons.[1]

Leonard Harris
Personal information
Full name
Leonard Montague Harris
Born(1855-12-21)21 December 1855
Swansea, Van Diemen's Land, Australia
Died27 April 1947(1947-04-27) (aged 91)
Durban, Natal, South Africa
BattingLeft-handed
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
1881/82–1887/88Otago
1891/92–1893/94Wellington
Source: CricketArchive, 28 February 2024

Harris was born at Swansea in what was then still Van Diemen's Land in 1855.[2] After moving to New Zealand he played club cricket for Dunedin Cricket Club.[3] Considered a "fine left-handed" batsman[4] He played a total of 11 first-class matches, nine for Otago between 1881–82 and 1887–88 and then two for Wellington, one in each of the 1891–92 and 1893–94 seasons. He scored 348 first-class runs, playing several innings for Otago which were later described as "excellent",[5] and took a single wicket.[6]

Professionally Harris was a flax merchant,[7] working for Guthrie and Larnach in Dunedin[8] before becoming the manager of the Wellington branch of AS Patterson.[9] He was prosecuted under the bankruptcy act in 1900 but the case was dismissed,[10][11] He established his own firm in Wellington in January the following year,[12] but by November has moved to Durban in South Africa where he planned to import butter from New Zealand.[13] He travelled to England in 1930, visiting Lord's to watch a Test match[14] and by 1940 owned a set of buildings in Durban.[8] He died at Durban in 1947. He was aged 91.[6]

References

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  1. ^ "Player Profile: Leonard Montague Harris". CricInfo. Retrieved 2009-05-21.
  2. ^ McCarron A (2010) New Zealand Cricketers 1863/64–2010, p. 63. Cardiff: The Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians. ISBN 978 1 905138 98 2 (Available online at the Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians. Retrieved 2023-06-05.)
  3. ^ Dunedin Cricket Club, Otago Daily Times, issue 6388, 3 August 1882, p. 3. (Available online at Papers Past. Retrieved 2023-12-21.)
  4. ^ Sixty years of cricket, Otago Daily Times, issue 23114, 13 February 1937, p. 22. (Available online at Papers Past. Retrieved 2023-12-21.)
  5. ^ Cricket retrospect, Evening Star, issue 22578, 20 February 1937, p. 13. (Available online at Papers Past. Retrieved 2023-12-21.)
  6. ^ a b Leonard Harris, CricketArchive. Retrieved 2023-12-21. (subscription required)
  7. ^ Special telegrams, Evening Star, issue 10647, 11 June 1898, p. 3 (Supplement). (Available online at Papers Past. Retrieved 2023-12-21.)
  8. ^ a b Personal, Otago Daily Times, issue 24238, 4 March 1940, p. 8. (Available online at Papers Past. Retrieved 2023-12-21.)
  9. ^ The Evening Star, Evening Star, issue 11003, 5 August 1899, p. 2. (Available online at Papers Past. Retrieved 2023-12-21.)
  10. ^ Charges against LM Harris, The Evening Post, volume LX, issue 110, 6 November 1900, p. 5. (Available online at Papers Past. Retrieved 2023-12-21.)
  11. ^ The charge against LM Harris, New Zealand Herald, volume XXXVII, issue 11527, 12 November 1900, p. 5. (Available online at Papers Past. Retrieved 2023-12-21.)
  12. ^ Local and general, The Evening Post, volume LXI, issue 18, 22 January 1901, p. 4. (Available online at Papers Past. Retrieved 2023-12-21.)
  13. ^ Commercial, Evening Star, issue 11647, 6 September 1901, p. 6. (Available online at Papers Past. Retrieved 2023-12-21.)
  14. ^ A tour of England, Otago Daily Times, issue 21153, 10 October 1930, p. 6. (Available online at Papers Past. Retrieved 2023-12-21.)
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