His father, Henry William Baskiville, had been killed in an accident on 30 January 1903 when doing some drainage works on Upper Queen Street in Auckland.

He and some other workmen were working in a deep excavation when one side of it began to collapse, men called out but his father moved the wrong way and was buried to his neck.

His book, Modern Rugby Football: New Zealand Methods; Points for the Beginner, the Player, the Spectator, was published in 1907 and gave him somewhat of a national profile.

Baskerville began to work full-time on organising the tour, leaving his job at the Postal Department and severing his connection with the Oriental Football Club.

For most of the tour, Baskerville was busy with the administration work and it was not until the final game of the British leg, against St Helens R.F.C., that he played, scoring a try.

[4] The Courtney Goodwill Trophy, international rugby league's first, was presented for the first time in 1936 and depicted Baskiville, along with other pioneering greats of the code, Jean Galia (France), James Lomas (England) and Dally Messenger (Australia).