Jonathan "Jonty" Parkin (1894–1972) was an English professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 11 ...

footballer who played the 1910s, 1920s and 1930s. One of the nine inaugural inductees of the

Rugby Football League Hall of Fame The Rugby League Hall of Fame honours the leading players of the sport of rugby league. It was established by the sport's governing body in the UK, the Rugby Football League, in 1988. Players must have been retired for at least five years to be ...

, he toured Australia three times, twice as captain of

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...

, earning 17 Test caps. Parkin played at or , i.e., number 6, or 7, and also captained

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

for whom he made 12 appearances, as well as 17 for

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...

. Parkin gave the Wakefield Trinity club seventeen years' service, including victory in the 1924–25 Yorkshire Cup.

Background

Parkin was born in

Sharlston Sharlston is a village and civil parish situated east of Wakefield in West Yorkshire, England, and includes the settlements of Old Sharlston, Sharlston Common and New Sharlston. Its population at the 2001 census was 2,756, reducing to 2,663 at ...

on 5 November 1894, and later played for the Sharlston rugby league club.

Playing career

Wakefield Trinity

Parkin joined

Wakefield Trinity Wakefield Trinity is a professional rugby league club in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England, that plays in the Super League. One of the original twenty-two clubs that formed the Northern Rugby Football Union in 1895, between 1999 and 2016 the ...

as an 18-year-old in 1913 ( Heritage No. 207). He would go on to become captain of the club. Parkin played in

's 0–6 defeat by

Hull F.C. Hull Football Club, commonly referred to as Hull or Hull F.C., is a professional rugby league football club established in 1865 and based in West Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The club plays in the Super League competition and were ...

in the 1913–14 Challenge Cup Final at

Thrum Hall Thrum Hall was a rugby league stadium on Hanson Lane in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. It was the home of Halifax for 112 years. The site on which the ground stood is now occupied by a supermarket. History In 1878, Halifax, who had just w ...

, Halifax, in front of a crowd of 19,000, He also won

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...

s for

while at Wakefield Trinity.

International

Parkin was selected to go on the 1920 Great Britain Lions tour of

Australasia Australasia is a region that comprises Australia, New Zealand and some neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term is used in a number of different contexts, including geopolitically, physiogeographically, philologically, and ecologi ...

. He was the

Landlord A landlord is the owner of a house, apartment, condominium, land, or real estate which is rented or leased to an individual or business, who is called a tenant (also a ''lessee'' or ''renter''). When a juristic person is in this position, t ...

of the Griffin Hotel, Bull Ring, Wakefield circa-1921. Parkin played in

's 9–8 victory over Batley in the 1924–25 Yorkshire Cup Final at

Headingley Headingley is a suburb of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, approximately two miles out of the city centre, to the north west along the A660 road. Headingley is the location of the Beckett Park campus of Leeds Beckett University and Headingley ...

Rugby Stadium,

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popula ...

on Saturday 22 November 1924, and played in the 3–10 defeat by

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a market town in the Kirklees district in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confluence into ...

in the 1926–27

County Cup The county football associations are the local governing bodies of association football in England and the Crown dependencies. County FAs exist to govern all aspects of football in England. They are responsible for administering club and player ...

Final during the 1926–27 season at

Rugby Stadium,

on Wednesday 1 December 1926. Parkin played in

's 3–29 defeat by Australia in the

1921–22 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain The 1921–22 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain was the third ever Kangaroo tour. Again an Australasian side rather than an Australian team alone (although the 28-man squad featured only one New Zealander) travelled to Great Britain to contest the ...

match at Belle Vue,

Wakefield Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 99,251 in the 2011 census.https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/census/2011/ks101ew Census 2011 table KS101EW Usual resident population, ...

on Saturday 22 October 1921. Parkin won

s for England while at

in 1921 against Wales, Other Nationalities and Australia, in 1922 against Wales, in 1923 against Wales, in 1924 against Other Nationalities, in 1925 against Wales, in 1926 against Wales and Other Nationalities, in 1927 against Wales, in 1928 against Wales (2 matches) and won

s for Great Britain while at

in 1920 against Australia (2 matches) and New Zealand (3 matches), in 1921–22 against Australia (2 matches), in 1924 against Australia (3 matches) and New Zealand, in 1926–27 against New Zealand (2 matches), in 1928 against Australia and New Zealand and in 1929 against Australia (2 matches). Parkin was unavailable for the first Test of the 1929–30 Ashes series, and the game was lost to the touring Australians. He recovered for the second Test and Great Britain ultimately defended the Ashes.

Hull Kingston Rovers

Parkin decided he wanted to leave Wakefield Trinity in 1930, at the age of thirty-four, and he was put on the transfer list at £100 (). For some reason,

Hull Kingston Rovers Hull Kingston Rovers are a professional rugby league club based in Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, England, that competes in the Super League, the top tier of British rugby league. The club has won five league championships, and one Challen ...

couldn't, or wouldn't, find the money. So Parkin paid the fee himself to secure his release. The game's by-laws were adjusted shortly afterwards, so that no player could ever do that again. Parkin appears to have scored no drop-goals (or field-goals as they are currently known in Australasia), but prior to the 1974–75 season all goals, whether;

conversion Conversion or convert may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * "Conversion" (''Doctor Who'' audio), an episode of the audio drama ''Cyberman'' * "Conversion" (''Stargate Atlantis''), an episode of the television series * "The Conversion" ...

s, penalties, or drop-goals, scored 2-points, consequently prior to this date drop-goals were often not explicitly documented, therefore '0' drop-goals may indicate drop-goals not recorded, rather than no drop-goals scored. In addition, prior to the 1949–50 season, the archaic field-goal was also still a valid means of scoring points.

Post-playing

Parkin served as an administrator of the Wakefield club after retiring from playing. He died in his home town of Wakefield on 9 April 1972 at the age of 77. In 1988 Parkin was one of the inaugural nine inductees into the

Personal

Parkin married Frances Akeroyd in 1926 and had six children, Patricia, Nadine, Willie (Bill), Geoff, Neal and Trevor, and 16 grandchildren.

References

External links

*(archived by web.archive.org
Jonty Parkin at rugbyleaguehistory.co.uk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Parkin, Jonty 1894 births 1972 deaths England national rugby league team captains England national rugby league team players English rugby league players Great Britain national rugby league team captains Great Britain national rugby league team players Hull Kingston Rovers players People from Sharlston Rugby league five-eighths Rugby league halfbacks Rugby league players from Wakefield Wakefield Trinity captains Wakefield Trinity players Yorkshire rugby league team captains Yorkshire rugby league team players