Born near Te Awamutu, Cunningham originally played club rugby in Waihi, in the Coromandel region.

He was first picked for New Zealand in 1901, and played against New South Wales that year, but was not selected again until the 1905 Originals' tour.

[2] Hera was the daughter of Thomas Halbert, a whaler and trader who landed in Poverty Bay in about 1832, and his fifth wife, Keita Kaikiri, who belonged to the Rongowhakaata iwi.

[5][6] The same year, Ethel gave birth to their son, William Henry Cunningham,[7] however he died at only a day old.

[10] Cunningham moved to Auckland in 1902, and played his club rugby for City, before joining Ponsonby the following season.

[14] Despite not being selected for New Zealand in 1904, Cunningham continued to appear for Auckland, and played in two particularly notable matches that season.

The Aucklanders defeated the British Isles side 13–0, with Cunningham scoring a try and contributing significantly to the dominance of his team's forwards.

According to Winston McCarthy, New Zealand's forwards were at "sixes and sevens mainly through want of a good lock.

"[21] Following the conclusion of the preliminary tour of Australia and New Zealand it was clear that a specialist lock forward needed to be added to the side.

[22] Vice-captain and first five-eighth Billy Stead was in charge of the backs, and consequently the services of the New Zealand Rugby Union-appointed coach Jimmy Duncan were not used.

[26] When time for the Scotland Test did arrive, it was discovered that as the ground had not been covered for protection from the elements, and had frozen over.

[29] On their arrival back in New Zealand on 6 March 1906, the All Blacks were welcomed by a crowd of 10,000 before being hosted at a civic reception in Auckland.

[43] They introduced a number of innovations to Britain and Ireland, including specialised forward positions and unfamiliar variations in attacking plays.

This period included two more matches against international opposition: a victory over the 1908 Anglo-Welsh side 11–0,[1][45] and a defeat of Australia in 1913.

[44] In the match Taranaki scored a converted try (worth five points at the time) four minutes from full-time to end Auckland's shield reign.

[11] After his casket had been lowered into its grave at Hillsborough Cemetery, an Auckland representative jersey was thrown on top.

He had three intuitions as far back as November 1904 [sic], that Wales would beat us, that war would occur between England and Germany within ten years, and that he would not live to get the old age pension.