Dick Taiaroa

Riki Te Mairiki "Dick" Taiaroa OBE (c.1866 – 9 April 1954) was a New Zealand rugby union footballer who was a member of the 1888–89 New Zealand Native football team that toured New Zealand, the British Isles, and Australia. The tour was the longest in rugby history—the team played 107 matches on tour—and Taiaroa played at least 59 matches in the British Isles and 85 in total.[lower-alpha 2] This was second in number only to William Elliot who played 86 matches total.[4] Taiaroa also played provincial rugby for Wellington in 1886 and 1887, and Hawke's Bay in 1889.[3] Outside of rugby, he was a surveyor and then farmer. He also served with the New Zealand Contingent of Mounted Rifles during the Anglo-Boer War. Taiaroa was from a prominent Māori family, and was a representative at the coronation of Edward VII and George V. In the 1949 King's Birthday Honours he was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for services to the Māori people.[5]

Dick Taiaroa

OBE
Born
Riki Te Mairiki Taiaroa

c.1866
Otakou, New Zealand
Died(1954-04-09)9 April 1954[lower-alpha 1]
Taumutu, New Zealand
EducationChristchurch Boys' High School
OccupationSurveyor, farmer, soldier[3]
RelativesHori Kerei Taiaroa (father)
Tini Kerei Taiaroa (mother)
Te Matenga Taiaroa (grandfather)
John Taiaroa (brother)
Thomas Ellison (cousin)
Rugby career
Rugby union career
Position(s) Forward
Amateur team(s)
Years Team Apps (Points)
  • Wellington FC
  • Athletic (Wellington)
 ()
Provincial / State sides
Years Team Apps (Points)
1886–87
1889
2
1		 ()
National team(s)
Years Team Apps (Points)
1888–89 New Zealand Native team 85[4] (10)

Notes
  1. Sources differ on Tairoa's date of death. Some say 1 July,[1] others 9 April.[2]
  2. The exact team lineups for every match is unknown, so this is a minimum number.[4]
gollark: Probably with more rewards for more productive-or-whatever people because something something incentives,
gollark: I generally think it should be good for everyone.
gollark: This may be true, but reality is complex and unpredictable and determining who is that would be hard and probably prone to horrible bias.
gollark: It's not like the amount of people doing that doesn't scale with population.
gollark: We could probably fix a lot of issues by just, say, actually using nuclear power.

References
  1. "Dick Taiaroa". espnscrum.com. ESPN. Retrieved 25 August 2015.
  2. Potiki, Paul (1954). "Maori Personalities in Sport". Te Ao Hou: The New World Spring. The Maori Affairs Department (9): 44. Retrieved 25 August 2015.
  3. Ryan 1993, p. 137.
  4. Ryan 1993, p. 145.
  5. "No. 38629". The London Gazette (Supplement). 9 June 1949. p. 2830.

Works cited
  • Ryan, Greg (1993). Forerunners of the All Blacks. Christchurch, New Zealand: Canterbury University Press. ISBN 0-908812-30-2.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
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