William Samuel Bussell[2] (19 February 1887 – 7 June 1917) was a New Zealand rugby league player who represented New Zealand.[1] Bussell was killed in action during World War I.
Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | William Samuel Bussell | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 19 February 1887 Christchurch, New Zealand | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 7 June 1917 (aged 30) Messines, Belgium | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Playing information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 163 cm (5 ft 4 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 59 kg (9 st 4 lb) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Halfback | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source: [1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Personal life edit
Bussell was the son of William and Hester Bussell and lived in St Albans, Christchurch.[3]
Playing career edit
In 1912 Bussell was part of the first ever Canterbury side. Canterbury went down 4-5 to Wellington on 7 September.[4]
In 1914 he played for Sydenham in the Canterbury Rugby League competition and also captained Canterbury before being selected to represent New Zealand against the Great Britain Lions. New Zealand lost the Test match 13-16.[5] He was selected for the 1915 New Zealand tour of Australia that was later abandoned.[4]
World War I edit
With the outbreak of World War I, Bussell enlisted. In 1917 Private Bussell was killed in action during the Battle of Messines.[3][4]
References edit
- ^ a b "Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org". rugbyleagueproject.org. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
- ^ BUSSELL, William Samuel 1914 - Kiwi #105 Archived 8 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine nzleague.co.nz
- ^ a b New Zealand and World War One Roll of Honour 1917 January - June
- ^ a b c Coffey, John. Canterbury XIII, Christchurch, 1987.
- ^ John Coffey, Bernie Wood (2008). 100 years: Māori rugby league, 1908-2008. Huia Publishers. p. 35. ISBN 978-1-86969-331-2.