Profile Text
Birth Name: Samuel Lawrence Whitelock
Place of Birth: Palmerston North, New Zealand
Date of Birth: 12 October, 1988
Ethnicity: English, Scottish, Danish, Northern Irish, German, distant Cornish
Sam Whitelock is a New Zealand rugby union player. A lock, he played for Canterbury, Crusaders, Panasonic Wild Knights, and Pau; and over 100 Test Matches for the All Blacks , also serving as their captain. In 2023, he became the most capped All Blacks player ever. He is 6′8″.
Sam is the son of Caroline and Braeden Whitelock, a rugby player, who played with the Junior All Blacks. His brothers, George Whitelock, Adam Whitelock, and Luke Whitelock, are also rugby union players. His uncle, by marriage, Graeme Higginson; and his cousins, Ben Funnell and Hamish Dalzell, are rugby union players as well. He is married to Hannah Lawton, with whom he has three children.
Sam’s paternal grandfather was the son of George Matthew Whitelock and Emily Cathrina Petra Mortensen. George was the son of Matthew Whitelock, who was English, from Yorkshire, and of Laura Louisa Nielsen, who was Danish, from Uvelse. Emily was the daughter of Johannes Frederick Mortensen, who likely had Danish ancestry, and of Elise Maria Burmeister, who had German and Danish ancestry.
Sam’s paternal grandmother was the daughter of Loyal Heath Craw and Constance Iris Lyndall Priest. Loyal was the son of George Craw, whose parents were Scottish, from Lanarkshire, and of Elizabeth Hunter, whose father was English, from Durham. Constance was the daughter of Charles Alfred John Priest, whose father was born in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, England, and who had English, Welsh, and distant Cornish, ancestry; and of Eveline Marion Constance Lavinia Waghorn, who was of English, and some Scottish, background.
Sam’s maternal grandfather was Nelson Dalzell (George Nelson Dalzell, the son of Laurence Hubert Dalzell and Victoria Gray). Nelson was born in Rotheram, Canterbury, New Zealand, and was a rugby union player, who played with the All Blacks. Laurence was the son of James “Jimmy” Dalzell, who was of Northern Irish descent, and of Laura Maud Mason, whose parents were English, from Gloucestershire. Victoria was the daughter of Alexander Gray, who was Scottish, from Ballater, Aberdeenshire, and of Mary Ann Thomson, who was born in Australia, to Scottish parents.
Sam’s maternal grandmother was Shirley Caroline Elsom (the daughter of George Markham Elsom and Jane Allison MacKenzie). Shirley was born in Christchurch, Canterbury, New Zealand, and was the sister of rugby union player Allan Elsom. George was the son of English parents, George Elsom and Caroline Rose Boston. Jane was the daughter of Edwin Waddell MacKenzie, who had Scottish ancestry, and of Ellen Jane Webb.
Source: Genealogy of Sam Whitelock – https://www.geni.com