Arnold Tancred
Encyclopedia
Arnold Joseph P. Tancred (30 October 1904 – 22 September 1963) was an Australia
n rugby union
player, a state and national representative flanker
. He was prominent in the meat industry in Australia with significant family business interests in meat wholesaling. He owned and raced horses and served a term as President of the New South Wales Rugby Union
.
was the last of ten children born to Thomas Tancred, a butcher from California, United States of America, and his Victorian-born wife Anna, née O'Connor. He was educated in New Zealand at St. Patrick's College, Wellington
where his father took the family pursuing opportunities in the meat trade. Arnold returned to Sydney in the 1920s along with a number of his six brothers.
administration or competition in place from 1919 to 1929, the New South Wales Waratahs
were the top Australia
n representative rugby union
side of the period and a number of their fixtures of 1920s played against full international opposition were decreed by the Australian Rugby Union
in 1986 as official Test matches. Tancred's appearances in the internationals against Ireland
, Wales
and Scotland
in 1927 thus now have Test match status.
on the 1947–48 Australia rugby union tour of Britain, Ireland, France and North America. Journalist Phil Tressider accompanied the touring party and wrote of Tancred "I remember Tancred as a grim, brooding man who not only managed the team but coached it and was sole selector. He would brook no interference and he kept the press at arm's length. He was fortified by his experiences as a player with the 1927-28 Waratahs and he had an aching ambition for victory", Sir Nicholas Shehadie
was in the playing squad and wrote of Tancred. "[He] was a very strict disciplinarian who was determined that we would win as many matches as possible. He would constantly remind us that we would only be remembered for the number of matches we won"
Tancred's single term as President of the New South Wales Rugby Union
was in 1959. He was active in the thoroughbred industry, owning and racing horses.
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n rugby union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
player, a state and national representative flanker
Flanker (rugby union)
A flanker is a position in the sport of rugby union. Flankers play in the forwards, and are generally classified as either blindside, or openside flankers; numbers six and seven respectively. The name comes from their position in a scrum in which they flank each set of forwards...
. He was prominent in the meat industry in Australia with significant family business interests in meat wholesaling. He owned and raced horses and served a term as President of the New South Wales Rugby Union
New South Wales Rugby Union
The New South Wales Rugby Union is the organisation responsible for the sport of rugby union in most of the state of New South Wales, Australia...
.
Early life
Arnold born in Leichhardt, New South WalesLeichhardt, New South Wales
Leichhardt is a suburb in the inner-west of Sydney in New South Wales, Australia. Leichhardt is located 5 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre for the local government area of the Municipality of Leichhardt...
was the last of ten children born to Thomas Tancred, a butcher from California, United States of America, and his Victorian-born wife Anna, née O'Connor. He was educated in New Zealand at St. Patrick's College, Wellington
St. Patrick's College, Wellington
- History :Founded by Archbishop Francis Redwood SM, St Patrick's opened on June 1, 1885 with nine day-boys and twelve boarders.The College represents one of the earliest educational establishments of the Society of Mary the religious congregation whose members accompanied Bishop Jean Baptiste...
where his father took the family pursuing opportunities in the meat trade. Arnold returned to Sydney in the 1920s along with a number of his six brothers.
Playing career
Tancred's Sydney club career was with the Glebe-Balmain club in the 1920s. He claimed a total of three international rugby caps for Australia on the 1927–28 Waratahs tour of the British Isles, France and Canada. With no Queensland Rugby UnionQueensland Rugby Union
The Queensland Rugby Union is the governing body for rugby union in Queensland. It is a member and founding union of the Australian Rugby Union.-See also:*Queensland Reds*Australian Rugby Union*The Wallabies*Rugby union in Queensland...
administration or competition in place from 1919 to 1929, the New South Wales Waratahs
New South Wales Waratahs
The New South Wales Waratahs are an Australian rugby union football team, representing the majority of New South Wales in the Super 15 Super Rugby competition...
were the top Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n representative rugby union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
side of the period and a number of their fixtures of 1920s played against full international opposition were decreed by the Australian Rugby Union
Australian Rugby Union
The Australian Rugby Union is the governing body of rugby union in Australia. It was founded in 1949 and is a member of the International Rugby Board the sport's governing body. It consists of eight member unions, representing each state and territory...
in 1986 as official Test matches. Tancred's appearances in the internationals against Ireland
Ireland national rugby union team
The Ireland national rugby union team represents the island of Ireland in rugby union. The team competes annually in the Six Nations Championship and every four years in the Rugby World Cup, where they reached the quarter-final stage in all but two competitions The Ireland national rugby union...
, Wales
Wales national rugby union team
The Wales national rugby union team represent Wales in international rugby union tournaments. They compete annually in the Six Nations Championship with England, France, Ireland, Italy and Scotland. Wales have won the Six Nations and its predecessors 24 times outright, second only to England with...
and Scotland
Scotland national rugby union team
The Scotland national rugby union team represent Scotland in international rugby union. Rugby union in Scotland is administered by the Scottish Rugby Union. The Scotland rugby union team is currently ranked eighth in the IRB World Rankings as of 19 September 2011...
in 1927 thus now have Test match status.
Rugby manager
Later he would be the Tour Manager and unofficial coach of the WallabiesAustralia national rugby union team
The Australian national rugby union team is the representative side of Australia in rugby union. The national team is nicknamed the Wallabies and competes annually with New Zealand and South Africa in the Tri-Nations Series, in which they also contest the Bledisloe Cup with New Zealand and the...
on the 1947–48 Australia rugby union tour of Britain, Ireland, France and North America. Journalist Phil Tressider accompanied the touring party and wrote of Tancred "I remember Tancred as a grim, brooding man who not only managed the team but coached it and was sole selector. He would brook no interference and he kept the press at arm's length. He was fortified by his experiences as a player with the 1927-28 Waratahs and he had an aching ambition for victory", Sir Nicholas Shehadie
Nicholas Shehadie
Sir Nicholas Michael Shehadie, AC, OBE KStJ is the former Lord Mayor of Sydney and a former national representative rugby union captain, who made thirty career Test appearances...
was in the playing squad and wrote of Tancred. "[He] was a very strict disciplinarian who was determined that we would win as many matches as possible. He would constantly remind us that we would only be remembered for the number of matches we won"
Businessman
Tancred's great-grandfather was a butcher. His grandfather Peter established himself as a wholesale butcher in Kent St Sydney in 1844 before travelling to the USA to further his prospects. Peter's son Thomas, Arnold's father, branched out in 1869 and started a wholesale and retail meat business on Glebe Island in Sydney before taking the family to New Zealand. In the 1920s Arnold and his six brothers returned to Sydney. Under the leadership of Henry (1897-1961), they established the Tancred Bros meat business which by 1956 was the listed company, Tancred Bros Industries Ltd one of Australia's largest wholesale butchering firms. Arnold succeeded his brother Henry as Chairman and Managing Director of the business in 1959 and from 1961-63 was a member of the Meat Board, the national producer-owned company that regulates promotes the meat industry in Australia. Arnold was one of pioneers of the export of Australian beef to the USA.Tancred's single term as President of the New South Wales Rugby Union
New South Wales Rugby Union
The New South Wales Rugby Union is the organisation responsible for the sport of rugby union in most of the state of New South Wales, Australia...
was in 1959. He was active in the thoroughbred industry, owning and racing horses.
Published sources
- Collection (1995) Gordon Bray presents The Spirit of Rugby, Harper Collins Publishers Sydney – (Essay specific to this article Phil Tressider's The Class of '47–48 1st published Sydney's Daily Telegraph 1987)
- Shehadie, NicholasNicholas ShehadieSir Nicholas Michael Shehadie, AC, OBE KStJ is the former Lord Mayor of Sydney and a former national representative rugby union captain, who made thirty career Test appearances...
(2003) A Life Worth Living, Simon & Schuster Australia