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Henry Harris (Australian cricketer)
Henry Vere Poulett-Harris (22 April 1865 – 7 March 1933) was an Australian cricket player,[3] runner,[2] footballer, gold prospector and gold mine owner.[4][5] Vere Poulett-Harris played five first-class cricket matches for the Tasmania and Western Australia cricket teams between 1883 and 1899.[6] One early news report described him as a "sterling cricketer and footballer"[7] whilst another described him as a "sterling batsman and good field."[8] Vere Poulett-Harris' father was Richard Deodatus Poulett-Harris, an educationalist, priest, the founder of the Masonic Lodge in Tasmania and the co-founder of the University of Tasmania. Amongst his other activities, Richard was passionate about cricket and, in 1882, was elected a trustee of the Southern Tasmanian Cricket Association.[9] Furthermore, he encouraged the boys at the high school of which he was the headmaster to compete at sports.[10] Vere Poulett-Harris left Tasmania to study medicine[11] but ended up working for a time as a bank clerk at Charters Towers before becoming a gold prospector. By 1898, he was prospecting in Western Australia.[12][5] He discovered the Corinthian gold mine in the Yilgarn Gold Field of Western Australia and was also one of the first people to prospect at Burtville.[12] He wrote an account of the discovery of Corinthian which was published in a newspaper of the time.[13][14] In 1911, he was called as a witness to testify during Chaffinch Mine Conspiracy trial.[5] Vere Poulett-Harris' obituary states that he was "one of the outstanding athletes in the State, winning great success as a runner, cricketer and footballer. He played cricket for the Wellington Club and was regarded as one of the most graceful batsmen in the State. He was a member of the State team when a youth, and toured New Zealand with the Tasmanian team under the captaincy of the late Sir George Davies. Later he met with success as a batsman on the mainland. He was also a champion footballer and a member of the Cricketers' Football Club, some of his contemporaries being Messrs. W. H. Cundy, L. H. Macleod, K. E. Burn, A. Stuart and G. Watt. As a runner he defeated many of the recognised champions of his day."[11] He died aged 67, leaving no wife or children.[11] His younger sister, Lily Poulett-Harris, founded women's cricket in Australia.[1] See also
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