The son of Harry Josiah Howson (1849-1923),[1] and Margaritta Armstrong Howson (1848-1922), née Firman,[2] Herbert Howson, widely known as "Bert",[3] was born at Newstead, Victoria on 11 August 1872.
At the end of the 1899 season, in the process of naming his own "champion player", the football correspondent for The Argus, Reginald Wilmot ("Old Boy"), selected a team of the best players of the 1899 VFL competition:
From those he considered to be the three best players — that is, Condon, Hickey, and Pleass — Wilmot selected Pat Hickey as his "champion player" of the season.[6]
Cricket
In 1903 he appeared in a first-class cricket match for Victoria, against Tasmania. He scored 40 in his first innings and took a couple of wickets.[7]
Coaching
Howson was appointed coach of South Melbourne, in a non-playing capacity, in 1918 and led them to the premiership with the help of Henry Elms, who shared the coaching duties with him. That season the club were premiers and the following season finished third.
Club Secretary
He was the Club Secretary of the South Melbourne Football Club for 17 years (1904-1921).[3]