William Cotterill

William John Cotterill (25 March 1863 – 30 October 1946) was a New Zealand cricketer who played first-class cricket for Canterbury from 1882 to 1894.

William Cotterill was one of the 17 children of the Rev. George Cotterill, who became Canon of Christchurch.[1] He and his seven brothers were educated at Christ's College, Christchurch, and five of them played first-class cricket in New Zealand.[2]

Cotterill was a right-handed batsman. He captained the Christ's College cricket team in 1880, scoring 252 runs at an average of 36, which was believed to be the best seasonal batting average by a player at the school to that time.[3] His best first-class score was 74 not out in Canterbury's victory over Otago in 1884–85, when the next-highest score in the match was 36. He was the only Canterbury batsman to play the bowling of Frank Cooke (who took 9 for 73) with any success, and was carried shoulder-high to the pavilion when the innings ended.[4][5]

He moved from Christchurch to Invercargill in his work for the New Zealand Shipping Company in 1892.[6] In 1896 he moved to Timaru to take up the position of Timaru manager for the company.[7] He retired from the position in 1920 after 39 years with the company.[8] While in the position he also performed "with tact and ability" as chairman of the local Wharf Labourers' Dispute Committee.[9]