Edward Kewley (20 June 1852 – 17 April 1940) was an English sportsman who played

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

for England and also played

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is of three or more days scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officially adju ...

for

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

. He captained England three times, and was the first captain to be drawn from the north of England as well as captaining England in the first ever 15-a-side international.

Early life

Edward Kewley was born in

Farnham Royal Farnham Royal is a village and civil parish within Buckinghamshire, England. It is in the south of the county, immediately north of Slough (with which it is contiguous), and around 22 miles west of Charing Cross, Central London. Within the parish ...

on 20 June 1852, to Thomas Kewley, curate of Farnham Royal, and his wife Jane. He was educated at

Marlborough College Marlborough College is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English private boarding school) for pupils aged 13 to 18 in Marlborough, Wiltshire, England. It was founded as Marlborough School in 1843 by the Dean of Manchester, George ...

and on leaving school he travelled to his father's home county of

to pursue a career in the cotton industry as a cotton broker. The style of rugby taught at Marlborough in the 1870s favoured kicking and dribbling rather than handling. This was at a time when a number of varying interpretations of the game existed. It was only when the

Rugby Football Union The Rugby Football Union (RFU) is the Sports governing body, national governing body for rugby union in England. It was founded in 1871, and was the sport's international governing body prior to the formation of what is now known as World Rugby ...

was formed in 1871 and began to create uniformity that clubs and schools began to play similar forms.

Rugby career

Kewley played his rugby for

Liverpool Football Club Liverpool Football Club is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in Liverpool, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Founded in ...

, the world's oldest open rugby club. The club had been founded in 1857 and was aligned to the rugby code rather than association football. It was in no way a predecessor to the association football club,

Liverpool F.C. Liverpool Football Club is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in Liverpool, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Founded in ...

He was selected as one of the 14 forwards for the fourth ever game against Scotland on 23 February

1874 Events January * January 1 – New York City annexes The Bronx. * January 2 – Ignacio María González becomes head of state of the Dominican Republic for the first time. * January 3 – Third Carlist War: Battle of Caspe &n ...

. He missed the next game, the first England-Ireland international on 15 February 1875, but was recalled to play against Scotland on 8 March 1875. He kept his place and in 1877 was selected as captain. His first game as captain was in the landmark match of 5 February 1877 against Ireland at the

Oval An oval () is a closed curve in a plane which resembles the outline of an egg. The term is not very specific, but in some areas of mathematics (projective geometry, technical drawing, etc.), it is given a more precise definition, which may inc ...

. This game was the first international following the Law change that reduced the teams to 15 players and thus was the first 15-a-side international. England won the match 2 goals and 2 tries to nil. Kewley went on to captain England twice more against Scotland. He was the first player from the north of England to captain the national side. Kewley later continued to focus much energy on the game after he retired from playing. He encouraged the formation of new clubs and he was made honorary secretary, honorary treasurer and president of Liverpool Football Club. He was also elected to the first committee of the Lancashire County Football Club in 1881 and later became president. Additionally, he was elected the fourth vice-president of the RFU.

Cricket

Kewley not only had the distinction of playing for and captaining his country in rugby. His sporting prowess saw him selected to play for

as a right-handed batsman. Kewley made his only first-class appearance against

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

in 1875. He scored just three runs with the bat and took one catch during the game. His dedication to rugby diverted him from developing his cricketing career.

Personal life

Edward Kewley died in

Winchester Winchester (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs N ...

on 17 April 1940, aged 87.Edward Kewley
CricketArchive.com. Accessed 28 November 2022.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kewley, Edward 1852 births 1940 deaths English cricketers English rugby union players England international rugby union players Lancashire cricketers Lancashire County RFU players Rugby union players from Buckinghamshire Rugby union forwards Liverpool St Helens F.C. players People educated at Marlborough College