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] Later he lived in South Africa.
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Leonard Montague Harris | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 21 December 1855 Swansea, Van Diemen's Land, Australia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 27 April 1947 (aged 91) Durban, Natal, South Africa | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Batting | Left-handed | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Role | Batsman | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Domestic team information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1881/82–1887/88 | Otago | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1891/92–1893/94 | Wellington | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career statistics | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Source: CricketArchive, 15 September 2025 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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]
Harris was the first batsman in New Zealand first-class cricket to carry his bat: for Otago against the touring Tasmanian team in February 1884 he batted throughout the first innings to finish 41 not out in an innings total of 65.[7] The next-highest individual score in the match was 11, and Otago won by eight wickets.[8]
Professionally Harris was a flax merchant,[9] working for Guthrie and Larnach in Dunedin[10] before becoming the manager of the Wellington branch of AS Patterson.[11] He was prosecuted under the bankruptcy act in 1900 but the case was dismissed.[12][13] He established his own firm in Wellington in January the following year,[14] but by November had moved to Durban in South Africa where he planned to import butter from New Zealand.[15] He travelled to England in 1930, visiting Lord's to watch a Test match[16] and by 1940 owned a set of buildings in Durban.[10]
Harris married Anna Russell at her home in the Dunedin suburb of Ravensbourne in March 1892.[17] He died at Durban in 1947, aged 91.[6]
References
edit- ↑ "Player Profile: Leonard Montague Harris". CricInfo. Retrieved 2009-05-21.
- ↑ McCarron, Tony (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 5 June 2023.)
- ↑ Dunedin Cricket Club, Otago Daily Times, issue 6388, 3 August 1882, p. 3. (Available online at Papers Past. Retrieved 21 December 2023.)
- ↑ Sixty years of cricket, Otago Daily Times, issue 23114, 13 February 1937, p. 22. (Available online at Papers Past. Retrieved 21 December 2023.)
- ↑ Cricket retrospect, Evening Star, issue 22578, 20 February 1937, p. 13. (Available online at Papers Past. Retrieved 21 December 2023.)
- 1 2 Leonard Harris, CricketArchive. Retrieved 21 December 2023. (subscription required)
- ↑ Francis Payne & Ian Smith, eds, 2021 New Zealand Cricket Almanack, Upstart Press, Takapuna, 2021, p. 346.
- ↑ "Otago v Tasmania 1883–84". CricketArchive. Retrieved 2025-09-17.
- ↑ Special telegrams, Evening Star, issue 10647, 11 June 1898, p. 3 (Supplement). (Available online at Papers Past. Retrieved 21 December 2023.)
- 1 2 Personal, Otago Daily Times, issue 24238, 4 March 1940, p. 8. (Available online at Papers Past. Retrieved 21 December 2023.)
- ↑ The Evening Star, Evening Star, issue 11003, 5 August 1899, p. 2. (Available online at Papers Past. Retrieved 21 December 2023.)
- ↑ Charges against LM Harris, The Evening Post, volume LX, issue 110, 6 November 1900, p. 5. (Available online at Papers Past. Retrieved 21 December 2023.)
- ↑ The charge against LM Harris, New Zealand Herald, volume XXXVII, issue 11527, 12 November 1900, p. 5. (Available online at Papers Past. Retrieved 21 December 2023.)
- ↑ Local and general, The Evening Post, volume LXI, issue 18, 22 January 1901, p. 4. (Available online at Papers Past. Retrieved 21 December 2023.)
- ↑ Commercial, Evening Star, issue 11647, 6 September 1901, p. 6. (Available online at Papers Past. Retrieved 21 December 2023.)
- ↑ A tour of England, Otago Daily Times, issue 21153, 10 October 1930, p. 6. (Available online at Papers Past. Retrieved 21 December 2023.)
- ↑ "Marriages". Otago Witness: 25. 17 March 1892.