Horace Nunn
New Zealand rugby union footballer, and rugby league footballer, coach and administrator
About Horace Nunn
Lived 1891 – 1957 (aged 65). Horace Nunn was a New Zealand rugby league player and rugby union player.
Rugby union A "diminutive but nuggety" halfback, Nunn played for the Petone Rugby Club, and represented Wellington at a provincial level from 1912 to 1914, and the North Island in 1914.
Rugby league Nunn 2nd from the right in the 'New Zealand' team to play Auckland on 21 May 1921Nunn played for Wellington, as a , captaining the side in 1922. In 1923 he began coaching the new Hutt rugby league club, and was appointed as one of the three selectors for the Wellington senior representative side. The Hutt side won the competition in their first year beating Petone who had won for several years by one competition point. The following year they finished 3rd under his tutelage. He also coached the Wellington representative team. In 1926 Nunn was elected as one of 10 vice-presidents of the Wellington Rugby League.
Nunn represented New Zealand on their 1921 tour of Australia,
World War I Nunn enlisted as a private in F Company, 28th Reinforcements, New Zealand Expeditionary Force in February 1917, but deserted from camp at Trentham in May that year. In 1919 Nunn was listed as one of the country's military defaulters. Arrested in Dunedin in April 1920, he was found guilty by a district court-martial the following month and sentenced to one year's imprisonment with hard labour. If Nunn had been detained during the war, he would have potentially faced a firing squad. Although Nunn had blamed his sport commitments, there were earlier indications of his pacificism as he had been previously fined for failing to attend training parades in 1913.
In 1919 Horace and his brother played for Marist in a Roope Rooster match at the Auckland Domain. In the Marist Memories book produced by the Marist Club for their Golden Jubilee, it was recalled by Bill Glover that the Robinson brothers who played for Marist in that game were in fact the Nunn brothers from Wellington. The story was retold by Glover 50 years later that they were trying to avoid detection from the military police, and gave aliases to the police.
Personal life After release from prison, Nunn became involved in a paternity case involving Lydia Ann Scott and her son, Howard Phillip Scott. Nunn's visibility as a sportsperson attracted the attentions of the newspapers. Nunn lost the affiliation case. Subsequent DNA testing of the descendants of Lydia Scott has confirmed that Nunn was the child's father.
Death Nunn died unmarried at a care home in Upper Hutt on 4 February 1957. He is credited in his obituary as one of the founding members of the Upper Hutt Cricket Club.
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Important facts
People in Horace Nunn's life
Named in this biography and alive at the same time
Contemporaries
People whose lives overlapped Horace Nunn's
Frequently asked questions
Who was Horace Nunn?
New Zealand rugby union footballer, and rugby league footballer, coach and administrator
When was Horace Nunn born?
Horace Nunn was born on 8 August 1891 in Rockhampton.
When did Horace Nunn die?
Horace Nunn died on 4 February 1957 in Wellington.
What was Horace Nunn's occupation?
Horace Nunn was a rugby league player and rugby union player.
What nationality was Horace Nunn?
Horace Nunn was New Zealand.
Sources & further reading
Cite this page
APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Horace Nunn. https://biography.guide/horace-nunn/
MLA: "Horace Nunn." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/horace-nunn/.
Chicago: "Horace Nunn." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/horace-nunn/.
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