Thomas Ellison facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Thomas Ellison

Date of birth	c. 1867
Place of birth	Ōtākou, New Zealand
Date of death	2 October 1904(1904-10-02) (aged 36–37)
Place of death	Porirua, New Zealand
Weight	86 kg (190 lb)
School	Te Aute College
Notable relative(s)	Edward Pohau Ellison (brother) Raniera Ellison (nephew) John Howell (father-in-law) Edward Weller (grandfather) Te Matenga Taiaroa (great-grandfather) Riki Ellison (grandnephew) Rhett Ellison (great-grandnephew)
Spouse	Ethel May Howell ​ (m. 1899)​
Occupation(s)	Lawyer
Rugby union career
Position(s) Forward and half-back All Black No. 23 Amateur team(s) Years Team Apps (Points) 1885–93 Poneke Football Club () Provincial / State sides Years Team Apps (Points) 1885–92 Wellington 23 () National team(s) Years Team Apps (Points) 1888–89 1893 New Zealand Natives New Zealand 83 7 (113) (23)

Thomas Rangiwahia Ellison, also known as Tom Ellison or Tamati Erihana, was a famous New Zealand rugby union player and a lawyer. He was born around 1867 and passed away on October 2, 1904.

Ellison led the first official New Zealand rugby team on their tour of Australia in 1893. He also played for the 1888–89 New Zealand Native football team, which went on a very long tour of 107 matches. During this tour, he scored 113 points and 43 tries.

Born in Ōtākou, Ellison learned rugby at Te Aute College. After moving to Wellington, he played for the Poneke Football Club and the Wellington provincial team. He helped make the "wing-forward" playing style popular, which was key to New Zealand rugby's success for many years. In 1893, he suggested that the New Zealand team's uniform should be mostly black with a silver fern. This uniform led to the team's famous name: the All Blacks.

After captaining the 1893 New Zealand team, Ellison stopped playing rugby but continued as a coach and manager. He even wrote a coaching book called The Art of Rugby Football in 1902. Besides rugby, he was one of the first Māori lawyers. He also tried to become a Member of Parliament for the Southern Maori area.

Early Life and Rugby Beginnings

Thomas Rangiwahia Ellison was born in Ōtākou, near Otago Heads, between 1866 and 1868. His parents were Raniera Taheke Ellison and Nani Weller. He was named after his grandfather, and his middle name, Rangiwahia, honored his great-uncle. Thomas Ellison was Māori, with family roots in the Ngāi Tahu, Kāti Māmoe, and Te Āti Awa tribes.

He first played rugby around age 14 in Ōtākou with his cousins. He later wrote about his first game, saying he was very curious about the ball and the game.

In 1882, after finishing at Ōtākou Native School, Ellison received a scholarship. This allowed him to attend Te Aute College in the Hawke's Bay. There, he started playing organized rugby. In his last two years, he played for the school team that won the Hawke's Bay senior club championship. Ellison later said that Te Aute taught him "nearly all I ever knew of forward play".

After moving to Wellington in 1885, Ellison joined the Poneke Football Club. His team was promoted to the senior competition after winning all their games that year. Poneke then won the Wellington club championship every year from 1886 to 1889. Ellison was chosen to play for the Wellington provincial team in 1885 and played for them until 1892. He played in 23 games for Wellington, which was a lot for that time. He started as a forward or on the wing, but later played half-back.

Playing for the New Zealand Natives Team

A team photo of the 1888–89 New Zealand Native football team while in England prior to a match against Middlesex. Thomas Ellison is seated in the row second from front, third from left.

In 1888, Joe Warbrick put together a special team of Māori players to tour Great Britain. This team became known as the New Zealand Native football team. Ellison's cousin, Jack Taiaroa, helped Warbrick find players. It was likely through Taiaroa that Ellison decided to join the team.

The team included both Māori and non-Māori players born in New Zealand, plus a few born overseas. There were 26 players in total. They toured New Zealand, then went to Melbourne, Australia, then Great Britain, and finally back to Australia and New Zealand. The whole trip lasted 14 months. Ellison mostly played as a forward and played in at least 83 of the team's 107 matches. He played at least 58 games in Britain alone.

Ellison played in all three of the Natives' international matches: against Ireland, Wales, and England. The game against Ireland was the first international match of the tour. It was played in Dublin on December 1, 1888. Ireland was leading at half-time, but the Natives played much better in the second half. Ellison scored one of the four tries, helping his team win 13–4.

The match against Wales was on December 22 in Swansea. Ellison played in the forwards again. The Natives played well but couldn't score, and Wales won 5–0.

One famous event happened during the game against England in Blackheath. Ellison tried to tackle an English player, Andrew Stoddart, and accidentally ripped his shorts off. The Native players quickly formed a circle around Stoddart so he could put his clothes back on without being seen by the crowd. While this was happening, an English player, Frank Evershed, picked up the ball and scored a try. The New Zealanders protested, thinking the game had stopped. But the referee, Rowland Hill, allowed the try. Some Native players left the field in protest but were convinced to return. Ellison was very critical of the referee, especially because Hill was also the Secretary of England's Rugby Football Union.

Outside of London, the team was usually well-liked, especially in the north where working-class people played rugby. In the south, where richer schools controlled the game, the team was not as well received. Despite this, Ellison enjoyed the tour. He wrote in 1902, "I shall never forget the trip, even though we had a very busy schedule."

Thomas Eyton, one of the tour organizers, said Ellison's "knowledge of the game, his strength, and energy made him very valuable." Ellison played in most of the Natives' games, scoring 113 points and 43 tries during the tour.

The Wing-Forward Position

The 2–3–2 scrum formation with wing-forward (in blue) that was popularised by Ellison, and the 3–2–3 scrum formation common in the early 20th century (in red).

After the Natives' tour, Ellison kept playing for Poneke and Wellington. While playing for his club, he started using a special player called a "wing-forward" in a seven-man scrum system. It's not clear who first thought of the wing-forward position, but Ellison said he developed it. Some historians believe it came from northern England, and Ellison just made it better after seeing it on the Natives' tour.

The wing-forward's job was to put the ball into the scrum. Then, they would hold onto one of their own hookers as the ball moved through the scrum to the half-back. With the wing-forward attached to the side of the scrum, the other team's half-back would have to get past them to tackle the player with the ball. This gave the half-back more time with the ball before being tackled. Ellison said he came up with the idea because he found it hard to stop opponents from getting off-side and blocking his passes.

Ellison was very important in making this position popular across New Zealand. Even if it wasn't used on the 1893 tour of Australia, by the time the All Blacks played their first test match in 1903, the wing-forward was a key part of New Zealand's playing style.

The wing-forward position caused some arguments in New Zealand and later in the British Isles when the All Blacks toured there in 1905. Opposing teams often complained that wing-forwards were blocking their half-backs illegally. However, Ellison believed that if the position was played correctly, there would be no reason to complain. The wing-forward remained a vital part of New Zealand rugby until 1932. At that time, other rugby unions complained so much that the International Rugby Football Board banned the position.

Later Rugby Career and Legacy

In 1892, the New Zealand Rugby Football Union (NZRFU) was created. Ellison was a rugby official for Wellington. In 1893, at the first NZRFU meeting, he suggested the uniform for the first official New Zealand team. It was a black cap, a black jersey with a white fern, white shorts (originally knickerbockers), and black socks. This black uniform inspired the name All Blacks, which the New Zealand national team has used since their 1905–06 tour.

Ellison was chosen to be the captain of the first official New Zealand team that toured New South Wales and Queensland in 1893. Three other players from the New Zealand Natives team were also on this team. Ellison played seven matches on the tour, including games against New South Wales and Queensland. The team won ten out of their eleven matches. Ellison scored two tries, kicked six conversions, and one goal, giving him 23 points for the tour. This was the second-highest score of any player. This tour was his last time playing rugby.

In total, Ellison played 117 rugby matches, with 68 of them being top-level games. He scored 160 points in his career, including 51 tries. After he stopped playing, Ellison stayed involved in rugby as a provincial official, a referee, and a team manager. In 1898, he suggested that players should be paid for wages they missed while on long tours. This was almost 100 years before rugby stopped being an amateur sport.

In 1902, he published The Art of Rugby Football. This book was a coaching guide that also shared his experiences as a player. Journalist Hayden Meikle called it one of rugby's "pioneering texts."

Professional and Personal Life

Outside of rugby, Thomas Ellison was a lawyer. He was one of the first Māori people to become a lawyer. He worked as an interpreter for the Land Courts and as a solicitor. Later, he became a barrister in Wellington.

Ellison was also interested in politics. He ran for the Southern Maori parliamentary seat several times but did not win. He also worked to help the government consider the land claims of the Ngāi Tahu people.

He married Ethel May Howell on March 22, 1899. They had three children, but only one, their daughter Hinemura, survived past infancy. In 1904, Ellison became sick with tuberculosis. He was admitted to a special hospital before he passed away on October 2, 1904. He was buried in Ōtākou, Otago Heads. His gravestone says, "One of the greatest rugby footballers New Zealand ever possessed."

Many people believe Ellison had a huge impact on New Zealand rugby. Māori researcher Malcolm Mulholland said he was "arguably the player who contributed the most to New Zealand rugby." In 1916, a writer called "Touchline" said Ellison "was the greatest of them all." He added that Ellison could play well in different positions and was a great coach.

Ellison has been honored in the Māori Sports Hall of Fame. In 2005, he was named one of New Zealand's Top 100 History Makers. The New Zealand Native Football team, which Ellison played for, was inducted into the World Rugby Hall of Fame in 2008. They were the first team to receive this honor.

See also

• List of 1888–89 New Zealand Native football team matches