David Gallaher (30October 1873 – 4October 1917) was an Irish-born New Zealand rugby union footballer best remembered as the captain of the "Original All Blacks"—the 1905–06 New Zealand national team, the first representative New Zealand side to tour the British Isles. Under Gallaher's leadership the Originals won 34 out of 35 matches over the course of tour, including legs in France and North America; the New Zealanders scored 976 points and conceded only 59. Before returning home he co-wrote the classic rugby text The Complete Rugby Footballer with his vice-captain Billy Stead. Gallaher retired as a player after the 1905–06 tour and took up coaching and selecting; he was a selector for both Auckland and New Zealand for most of the following decade.
Born in Ramelton, Ireland, Gallaher migrated to New Zealand with his family as a small child. After moving to Auckland, in 1895 he joined Ponsonby RFC and was selected for his province in 1896. In 1901–02 he served with the New Zealand Contingent in the Anglo-Boer War. He first appeared on the New Zealand national team for their unbeaten tour of Australia in 1903, and played in New Zealand's first ever Test match, against Australia in Sydney. The Originals Gallaher captained during 1905–06 helped to cement rugby as New Zealand's national sport, but he was relentlessly pilloried by the British press for his role as wing-forward. The use of a wing-forward, which critics felt was a tactic to deliberately obstruct opponents, contributed to decades of strain between the rugby authorities of New Zealand and the Home Nations; the International Rugby Football Board (IRFB) effectively outlawed the position in 1931.
During the First World War, Gallaher enlisted in the New Zealand Division to fight in Europe. He was fatally wounded by shrapnel wounds to the head in 1917 at the Battle of Passchendaele in Belgium. He has since been inducted into the World Rugby Hall of Fame, International Rugby Hall of Fame, and the New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame. A number of memorials exist in Gallaher's honour, including the Gallaher Shield for the winner of Auckland's club championship, and the Dave Gallaher Trophy contested between the national teams of France and New Zealand.
Early life
Dave Gallaher was born as David Gallagher on 30October 1873 at Ramelton, County Donegal, Ireland, the third son of James Henry Gallagher, a 69-year-old shopkeeper, and his 29-year-old wife, Maria Hardy Gallagher (née McCloskie). James was a widower who had married Maria in 1866, a year after the death of his first wife. James had two children from his first marriage, and David was the seventh from his marriage to Maria. The couple had three more children after David, but of their ten offspring, three died in infancy. The couple's other offspring were: Joseph (born 1867), Isabella (1868), James (1869), Maria (called Molly, 1870), Jane (1871), Thomas (1872), William (1875), Oswald (1876), and James Patrick (1878). David was baptised as a Presbyterian in the First Ramelton Meeting House on 8January 1874.
After the struggling in his drapery business in Ramelton, James decided to emigrate with his family to New Zealand as part of George Vesey Stewart's Katikati Special Settlement scheme. In May 1878 the Gallaghersminus the sick James Patrick who at eight weeks old was too weak to make the tripsailed from Belfast on the Lady Jocelyn for Katikati in the Bay of Plenty. On arriving in New Zealand, the family altered their surname to "Gallaher" in an effort to reduce confusion over its spelling and pronunciation.
The Gallaher couple and their six children arrived in Auckland after a three-month voyage, and from there sailed to Tauranga in the Bay of Plenty, before their final voyage to Katikati. On arrival they found the settlement scheme was not what they had envisaged or been promised: the land allocated to the family required enormous work to be broken in before being suitable for farming, there was no easy access to water, and the settlement was very hilly. It had been hoped that James would be employed as the agent for the Donegal Knitting Company in New Zealand, which was to be established by Lord George Hill. But Hill died unexpectedly and his successor did not support the initiative. As the family's poor quality land was insufficient to make a living, the children's mother Maria soon became the chief breadwinner after she obtained a position teaching for £2 a week at the new No. 2 School.