Albert Mortimer Jenkin (14 September 1872 – 3 July 1961) was an English-born

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the Comparison of rugby league and rugby union, two codes of ru ...

forward who played club rugby for Swansea, county rugby for Glamorgan and international rugby for

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

Personal life

Jenkin was born in Ibsley,

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

in 1872 to the Rev. Albert Jenkin and Elizabeth Seager. Jenkin was educated at Llandovery CollegeOspreys player profiles
/ref> before gaining entry to

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge founded by the Tudor matriarch Lady Margaret Beaufort. In constitutional terms, the college is a charitable corporation established by a charter dated 9 April 1511. Th ...

in 1892. In 1902 he was ordained a deacon at

Llandaff Cathedral Llandaff Cathedral ( cy, Eglwys Gadeiriol Llandaf) is an Anglican cathedral and parish church in Llandaff, Cardiff, Wales. It is the seat of the Bishop of Llandaff, head of the Church in Wales Diocese of Llandaff. It is dedicated to Saint Pe ...

and the next year he was ordained as an Anglican priest. In 1903 he took a position at St Martin's Church in Roath,

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a ...

, but in 1905 he left the position when he joined the Universities' Mission to Central Africa taking a missionary role in Mponda,

Nyasaland Nyasaland () was a British protectorate located in Africa that was established in 1907 when the former British Central Africa Protectorate changed its name. Between 1953 and 1963, Nyasaland was part of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasal ...

. He stayed at Mponda until 1911, then joined missions at Zomba and Blantyre until 1916. After the outbreak of World War I he served as an

Army chaplain A military chaplain ministers to military personnel and, in most cases, their families and civilians working for the military. In some cases they will also work with local civilians within a military area of operations. Although the term '' ...

in East Africa, before settling for some time in South Africa, where he became an

Archdeacon An archdeacon is a senior clergy position in the Church of the East, Chaldean Catholic Church, Syriac Orthodox Church, Anglican Communion, St Thomas Christians, Eastern Orthodox churches and some other Christian denominations, above that of m ...

Pretoria Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends eastward into the foot ...

. He eventually returned to Britain and died in

Bromley Bromley is a large town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is south-east of Charing Cross, and had an estimated population of 87,889 as of 2011. Originally part of Kent, Bromley became a market town, char ...

in 1961.

Rugby career

Jenkin first joined first class Welsh team Swansea in 1893, and in the winter of the 1895 season he was selected to represent Wales as part of the Home Nations Championship. Jenkin was brought into the pack for the last game of the tournament against Ireland, and was one of two new Welsh caps on the day, with Llanelli's David Morgan chosen for the first time at half-back. Under the captaincy of Welsh rugby legend Arthur 'Monkey' Gould, Wales were looking at the unwanted title of Wooden spoon after losing their first two games of the Championship to England and Scotland. Played at the Cardiff Arms Park, Wales won by a narrow margin thanks to a converted try from Tom Pearson. At the start of the 1895/96 season, Jenkin was awarded the captaincy of the Swansea senior team, but was forced to give it up in November due to 'professional duties', and Billy Bancroft took over his duties. Nonetheless, Jenkin was reselected two months later for the opening game of the 1896 Championship. The pack was almost identical to the previous match, with the only change seeing Treorchy's

Sam Ramsey Samuel Ramsey (1873 – 14 January 1956) was a Scottish-born rugby union forward who played club rugby for Treorchy and international rugby for Wales. Ramsey is noted as being one of the first 'Rhondda forwards', impact players selected by the ...

replacing the experienced but aging Jim Hannan. The game was a disaster for the Welsh team, with England winning the match 25–0, scoring seven tries without reply. This caused the Welsh selectors to rethink their team strategy; and the next match saw six of the eight forwards replaced; five of them new caps. Jenkin was one of those replaced and never played for Wales again.

International matches played

WalesSmith (1980), p. 463. * 1896 *

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

1895

External links

Albert Jenkin
Player profile of Albert Jenkin (ESPN)

Bibliography

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jenkin, Albert 1872 births 1961 deaths English rugby union players Wales international rugby union players Rugby union forwards People from New Forest District Swansea RFC players Cambridge University R.U.F.C. players 20th-century Welsh Anglican priests People educated at Llandovery College Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge World War I chaplains Royal Army Chaplains' Department officers Rugby union players from Hampshire