John William Allman Marchant

John William Allman Marchant (9 October 1841 – 22 December 1920) was a New Zealand Surveyor-General and first-class cricketer.

Early life and surveying career John Marchant was born in Belgaum, India, where his father, Dr Allman, was a surgeon with the 4th King’s Own Regiment. He was educated at Queenwood College in Hampshire, and after the death of his father he adopted his stepfather's name. He assisted his stepfather on railway construction in Brazil, before joining the colonial survey staff in Victoria, Australia, where he obtained his surveying qualifications in 1862.

In 1882 he and a colleague observed the transit of Venus from a station they set up in the Wairarapa. Their observations formed part of the worldwide gathering of information on the event. An all-rounder, noted for the brilliance of his slip fielding, In the second he took three catches in each innings, two wickets with his bowling, and made a useful 20 in the second innings of a low-scoring tied match against Nelson. Between these two first-class matches, he played for Wellington in a one-day, two-innings match against Hawke's Bay in January 1874; in Hawke's Bay's second innings he took 9 for 21 and also took three catches, two off his own bowling and one in the slips.

Marchant was one of the leading figures in the conversion of the Basin Reserve from swampy land into a cricket ground. He contributed all the necessary surveying work and oversaw the addition and placement of soil, all at no cost.

Personal life Marchant married Maria Elise Wright in St Peter's Church, Te Aro, Wellington, on 10 June 1868. They had five sons and six daughters, one of whom was Maria Elise Allman Marchant, a noted school principal. He died at the Bowen Street hospital in Wellington on 22 December 1920.