Maurice Wetherill was born in Auckland on January 15, 1928, the son of Maurice Charles Wetherill and Mary Ann Wetherill. He had a brother, James Ewart Wetherill, and a sister, Ivy Pearl Wetherill. He was a plumber by trade, and at the time of signing up for World War I, he was living on Ardmore Road in Ponsonby with his family and working for A.J. Letham.
Maurice Wetherill enlisted in the armed forces on February 27, 1918, aged 20. At the time of his service his weight was recorded as 122lb, and his height 5 feet 5 inches. He commenced duty on March 14, 1918, and embarked for Suez, Egypt on the Moeraki on October 11. The ship stopped in Sydney where the soldiers 'transhipped' to Malta to complete the journey. Wetherill was part of the Mounted Rifles – 43rd reinforcements. He served in Egypt during the latter part of the war, and when his overseas duty was complete, he departed from Plymouth, England to New Zealand onboard the Hororata. Wetherill was discharged from duty on October 18, 1919, after 1 year and 219 days of duty, with 346 days served overseas. He later received the British War Medal for his service.
Playing career
After returning from the war Wetherill joined the City Rovers rugby league club where he played for the senior team in the Auckland Rugby League competition. He was small in stature, measuring just 5 feet 5 inches and spent his career playing in the halves or on the wing. In his first season for City, he scored 4 tries and kicked 4 conversions, including a try on debut. In 1921 the City team won the Monteith Shield by winning the first grade championship. They also won the Roope Rooster trophy after defeating Maritime in the final by 30 points to 14 with Wetherill kicking a conversion. He made his Auckland debut this same season and went on to play 7 matches for them. His first match in an Auckland jersey was against the New Zealand team at the Auckland Domain in front of 11,000 spectators. Auckland lost the match 22-16. He then played against Wellington for the Northern Union Challenge Cup which Auckland won 31-8. Wetherill then played 5 further matches all resulting in wins, against Hawkes Bay, Wellington, West Coast, Canterbury, and South Auckland. In 1922 Wetherill scored 8 tries during the season for City as they again won the first grade championship. Remarkably Wetherill played in 9 matches for Auckland. He scored a try in the 18-28 loss to New Zealand Māori. He then played 3 matches against the touring Australian University side scoring a try in the 3rd match. Wetherill turned out again for Auckland in a Northern Union Challenge Cup match against Hawkes Bay with Auckland retaining the trophy and Wetherill touching down for another try in a 23-5 win. Prior to this he has been part of the 73-29 thrashing of Cambridge where he crossed the line once. He then went on to play in a loss to South Auckland which saw the Northern Union Challenge Cup change hands. Wetherill was to represent Auckland against the touring New South Wales side where they were well beaten 25-40 with Wetherill kicking a conversion, and he played the same team 4 days later but playing for Auckland Province this time in a 20-21 defeat. His final representative match of the season was an Auckland effort to regain the Northern Union Challenge Cup from South Auckland which was unsuccessful. South Auckland win the match 26-18 and retained the trophy for the summer. In 1923 he was part of the City Rovers team which won the first grade championship for the 3rd consecutive season. He played 2 matches for Auckland. The first was against the Auckland Province side which saw the city team win 44-15 with Wetherill scoring a try. While the second match was against South Auckland at Carlaw Park and on this occasion Wetherill scored twice in a 35-11 win. Wetherill played 5 matches for Auckland in 1924 and he also made his New Zealand debut. He played at halfback in the first test against the touring England side and scored New Zealand’s first try in the corner in a 16-8 win. Unfortunately Wetherill was unable to travel south to play in the remaining test matches which saw New Zealand lose twice and therefore lose the series 1-2. The 1925 season saw Wetherill selected for the New Zealand team to tour Australia. His weight was listed as 10 stone, 7 pounds which was a significant increase on his weight when he had signed up for the war 5 years earlier. Wetherill played a remarkable 10 matches on the tour of Australia and a further 2 matches for New Zealand against Queensland when they toured New Zealand later in the year. While he missed many matches for City Rovers while on tour he still helped to captain the side to another first grade championship where they edged out Ponsonby United. He played all 3 test matches for New Zealand against the touring England team in 1928. Wetherill also toured Australia again in 1930, playing 4 more matches for New Zealand. Wetherill was the top point scorer in the 1926 club season in Auckland with 62 points. He was a likely inclusion in the New Zealand team to tour England but was unavailable for the tour with other commitments. Earlier in the season he had missed a match as he had a plumbing exam.
Maurice’s father who was also named Maurice Charles Wetherill died in 1925, while his mother Mary died in 1932. He married Stella Jessen on October 19, 1923. They had two sons, Maurice George Wetherill and Desmond Charles Wetherill, and two daughters, Lola Mary Wetherill and Velma Wetherill. His son, Maurice passed away in 1970. Desmond passed away in 1981. His wife Stella died in 1964. Maurice Wetherill died in 1983 aged 85.
