Alexander Littlejohn

{{short description|New Zealand cricketer}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2020}}

{{Use New Zealand English|date=October 2020}}

{{Infobox cricketer

| name = Alexander Littlejohn

| image =

| fullname = Alexander Ironside Littlejohn

| birth_date = 1860

| birth_place = Scotland

| death_date = 25 May {{death year and age|1910|1860}}

| death_place = Wellington, New Zealand

| batting =

| bowling =

| role =

| club1 = Wellington

| year1 = {{nowrap|1887/88–1889/90}}

| date = 24 October

| year = 2020

| source = http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/player/37660.html Cricinfo

}}

Alexander Ironside Littlejohn (1860 – 25 May 1910) was a New Zealand jeweller, chess player and cricketer. He played in two first-class cricket matches for Wellington, one in each of the 1887–88 and 1888–90 seasons.[http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/player/37660.html Alexander Littlejohn], CricInfo. Retrieved 24 October 2020.[https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/22/22312/22312.html Alexander Littlejohn], CricketArchive. Retrieved 24 October 2020. {{subscription}}

Born in Scotland in 1860, Littlejohn apprenticed with his father as a jeweller and watchmaker before the family moved to New Zealand in 1879. Wilson, his father, established the firm of W Littlejohn and Son at Lambton Quay in Wellington; the business was taken over by his son during the 1890s.Death of Mr W Littlejohn, Evening Post, volume LIII, issue 152, 30 June 1897, p. 6. ([https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/EP18970630.2.56 Available online] at Papers Past. Retrieved 14 May 2025.)Personal items, The Dominion, volume 3, issue 826, 26 May 1910, p. 4. ([https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/DOM19100526.2.20 Available online] at Papers Past. Retrieved 14 May 2025.)Death of Mr AI Littlejohn, Evening Post, volume LXXIX, issue 121, 25 May 1910, p. 8. ([https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/EP19100525.2.137 Available online] at Papers Past. Retrieved 14 May 2025.)McCarron A (2010) New Zealand Cricketers 1863/64–2010, p. 81. Cardiff: The Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians. {{isbn|978 1 905138 98 2}} ([https://archive.acscricket.com/cricketers_series/new_zealand_cricketers_1863-64_2010/index.html Available online] at the Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians. Retrieved 5 June 2023.) The firm manufactured the clock for the post office building in Wellington and had a reputation throughout New Zealand.Leader, Nelson Evening Mail, volume XXXI, issue 154, 1 July 1897, p. 2. ([https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NEM18970701.2.9 Available online] at Papers Past. Retrieved 14 May 2025.)

Littlejohn's representative cricket debut for Wellington came in a December 1887 match against Nelson. He made scores of four and five not out on debut and the following March was one of 22 Wellington players in a non-first-class match against Arthur Shrewsbury's English touring side at the Basin Reserve. His final first-class match was a December 1889 fixture against Canterbury at Hagley Oval in Christchurch. He scored 13 not out in Wellington's first innings and opened the batting in their second, being dismissed for a single run.

A founder of the Metropolitan Building and Investment Society in Wellington, Littlejohn was the society's chairman for a number of years. He was one of New Zealand's leading chess players, was considered "well known" throughout the country, and was a member of the council of the New Zealand chess association.Personalia, New Zealand Times, volume XXXII, issue 7137, 26 May 1910, p. 7. ([https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZTIM19100526.2.52 Available online] at Papers Past. Retrieved 14 May 2025.)Mouat FJ (1910) Chess matters, Otago Witness, 1 June 1910, p. 67. ([https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/OW19100601.2.244 Available online] at Papers Past. Retrieved 14 May 2025.)Mouat FJ (1910) Chess, Otago Witness, issue 2938, 6 July 1910, p. 66. ([https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/OW19100706.2.251 Available online] at Papers Past. Retrieved 14 May 2025.) He was a vice-president of Wellington Chess Club, and played lawn bowls at Kelburne Bowling Club. Married with two daughters, he died at Wellington in 1910 after being ill for some time with heart disease.