James Carlaw was a New Zealand rugby league administrator and uncle of Arthur Carlaw, a New Zealand international.

Carlaw Park was named after him.

Early years

Carlaw was born in Newcastle-upon-Tyne in 1854. His family emigrated to New Zealand when he was nine.[1]

Carlaw worked as a waterworks engineer, spending forty six years with the Auckland City Council.

Administration career

Like his nephew, Carlaw was involved in the formation of the Ponsonby United club in 1908 and on 30 July 1909 he was elected the club's first Chairman.[2]

Carlaw served as the President of the New Zealand Rugby League between 1914 and 1919. As Ponsonby's representative on the Auckland Rugby League board, Carlaw was chairman of the board between 1918 and 1920.[3] While in this position he started the negotiations that resulted in the league's acquisition of a Chinese market garden that was transformed into Carlaw Park.[4] The opening, on 21 June 1921, was the result of three years of negotiations between the committee led by Carlaw and the Auckland Hospital Board who owned the land.[5]

Between 1926 and 1928 Carlaw again served as the President of the New Zealand Rugby League.[6]

In 1928 he was elected Auckland Rugby League President and served in this role until 1935.[2][3]

References

  1. ↑ John Coffey Strike! The Tour That Died of Shame, Scratching Shed Publishing 2012. p.17
  2. 1 2 Coffey, John and Bernie Wood Auckland, 100 years of rugby league, 1909-2009, 2009. ISBN 978-1-86969-366-4.
  3. 1 2 Ponsonby United Rugby League Club Archived 2011-07-20 at the Wayback Machine aucklandleague.co.nz
  4. ↑ Jessup, Peter (29 June 2002). "Carlaw Park chapter closes". nzherald.co.nz. New Zealand: APN Holdings NZ Limited. Retrieved 5 February 2011.
  5. ↑ Carlaw Park Archived 2008-12-05 at the Wayback Machine rleague.com
  6. ↑ Coffey, John. Canterbury XIII, Christchurch, 1987.
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