Henry Harrison

DOB: October 16, 1836
Died: September 2, 1929

One of the major contributors to the drafting of the first set of rules of the game, Henry Colden Antill Harrison, the younger cousin of Tom Wills was one of the key figures of the early days of Australian Football. Born in New South Wales, Harrison's family moved to the new Port Phillip (Victoria) colony when he was one year old.

Educated at Melbourne Grammar, Harrison was a keen cricketer until Wills returned from England with a love of football which his young cousin followed with relish. Eventually they found themselves at the forefront of the new Australia version of the sport.

Taking up the new local game with relish, Harrison acted as the first captain of Richmond - opposed to Wills at Melbourne - before joining him a year later when Wills moved to Geelong. In 1862 he moved again, this time to Geelong, but returned to Melbourne in 1863 as captain and held the role until his retirement in 1872.

He had been a champion athlete as well, winning a match race against a previously undefeated opponent to be named best in the colony in 1861 before defending his title every year until retiring in 1867.

Having been confined to bed for a month after a particuarly windy game in 1871, Harrison retired at the start of the next year and and concentrated on administration. The club presented him with an engraved diamond ring as a token of appreciation for his hard work. In 1877 he was one of the founding fathers of the VFA - and served as their first vice-president. In 1885, Harrison travelled to England and extolled the virtues of the game to the British, he was also prominent in trying to sell the game to the other colonies.

Some sources list Harrison as the "Champion of the Colony" for 1862, 1863, 1866, 1867 and 1869 but there is some dispute over whether this award actually existed. He also doubled as a champion runner which kept him incredibly fit by the standard of the day.

First elected to the committee of the MCC in 1871, Harrison became Vice-President in 1892. Chairman of Melbourne from 1897 he served in the role until 1906 when a grandstand at the MCG was named in his honour. He was also chairman of the Australian Football Conference in 1905.

On his 90th birthday Harrison saw Melbourne win the 1926 premiership. He passed away on September 2, 1929 - aged 93 - and was buried in the Boorondara Cemetery.

In August 1929, the VFL purchased premises for headquarters at 61 Spring Street and named it Harrison House in honour of one of the founders of the modern game. They remained in the house until 1972 when they moved to Jolimont.

Media
Otago Witness - 18/07/1885

Links
Wikipedia profile