William Buckley Roderick (17 January 1862 – 1 February 1908) was a

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peopl ...

solicitor, international

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 and later a Vice-Consular for Spain. Roderick played club rugby for Llanelli Rugby Football Club 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 ...

Business career

Roderick was commissioned into the 1st Volunteer Regiment of the Welsh Regiment in 1882, and eventually rose to the rank of captain. He was awarded the

Volunteer Officers' Decoration The Volunteer Officers' Decoration, post-nominal letters VD, was instituted in 1892 as an award for long and meritorious service by officers of the United Kingdom's Volunteer Force. Award of the decoration was discontinued in the United Kingdom ...

(VD) on 30 December 1902. By 1885 Roderick had commenced his practice as a solicitor in

Llanelli Llanelli ("St Elli's llan (placename element), Parish"; ) is a market town and the largest community in Carmarthenshire and the Preserved counties of Wales, preserved county of Dyfed, Wales. It is located on the Loughor estuary north-west of ...

founding Rodericks Solicitors. Roderick held many posts throughout his career, including serving on the Local Board of Health in Llanelli, becoming a coroner within Carmarthen County and he was also Registrar for Llanelli County Court. Roderick was a company director of multiple businesses, one of which was local rail firm Llanelly and Mynydd Mawr Railway.

Rugby career

Roderick played only one international match for Wales, the final game of the

1884 Home Nations Championship The 1884 Home Nations Championship was the second series of the rugby union Home Nations Championship. Six matches were played between 5 January and 12 April 1884. It was contested by England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. England won the c ...

. Wales had lost the first two matches of the tournament and Roderick was one of six new caps brought into the team to face Ireland at the

Cardiff Arms Park Cardiff Arms Park ( cy, Parc yr Arfau Caerdydd), also known as The Arms Park, is situated in the centre of Cardiff, Wales. It is primarily known as a rugby union stadium, but it also has a bowling green. The Arms Park was host to the British ...

. Played under the captaincy of Joe Simpson the team was made up of mainly

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 ...

Newport Newport most commonly refers to: *Newport, Wales *Newport, Rhode Island, US Newport or New Port may also refer to: Places Asia *Newport City, Metro Manila, a Philippine district in Pasay Europe Ireland *Newport, County Mayo, a town on the ...

and Swansea players, Roderick being the sole representative from Llanelli. The Irish team turned up two players short for the game and their whole squad were highly inexperienced. Wales won by two tries and a dropped goal to nil; only the second victory the team had experienced. Despite the win, Roderick, like fellow solicitor Tom Barlow was dropped for the next game, both becoming one cap internationals.

International matches played

WalesSmith (1980), p. 471. * 1884

Personal history

Roderick was born in Llanelli to William and Maria (née Buckley) Roderick, and educated at Marlborough and Bath. A keen sportsman, he not only excelled at rugby, but was also an excellent cyclist. By 1887 Roderick had married Ella and was living in

Pembrey Pembrey (Welsh: ''Pen-bre'') is a village in Carmarthenshire, Wales, situated between Burry Port and Kidwelly, overlooking Carmarthen Bay, with a population of about 2,154 in 2011. The electoral ward having a population of 4,301. It is in th ...

Carmarthenshire Carmarthenshire ( cy, Sir Gaerfyrddin; or informally ') is a county in the south-west of Wales. The three largest towns are Llanelli, Carmarthen and Ammanford. Carmarthen is the county town and administrative centre. The county is known ...

. They had two sons of note who both served in the British Army. Hume Buckley Roderick was an acting captain in the Welsh Guard, and was killed in action in 1917, while William Buckley Nicholl Roderick became a Colonel in the

Coldstream Guards The Coldstream Guards is the oldest continuously serving regular regiment in the British Army. As part of the Household Division, one of its principal roles is the protection of the monarchy; due to this, it often participates in state ceremoni ...

, married the daughter of Sir George Ernest Clark and was awarded the

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

.The Peerage.com
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Bibliography

References

External links

Biography of Buckley Roderick {{DEFAULTSORT:Roderick, Buckley 1862 births 1908 deaths 19th-century Welsh businesspeople 20th-century Welsh businesspeople Llanelli RFC players Rugby union forwards Rugby union players from Llanelli Wales international rugby union players Welch Regiment officers Welsh rugby union players Welsh solicitors