Edward Peake (29 March 1860 – 3 January 1945) was a Wales international

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 ...

three-quarter and

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

er. Educated at

Oriel College, Oxford Oriel College () is Colleges of the University of Oxford, a constituent college of the University of Oxford in Oxford, England. Located in Oriel Square, the college has the distinction of being the oldest royal foundation in Oxford (a title for ...

, Peake would win a

Blue Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB color model, RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB color model, RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between Violet (color), violet and cyan on the optical spe ...

for cricket before representing

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( , ; abbreviated Glos.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcestershire to the north, Warwickshire to the north-east, Oxfordshire ...

. Peake is most notable for being a member of the first

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

rugby union team that played England in 1881. In his later life he became a teacher and

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

minister.

Personal life

He was born in

Tidenham Tidenham () is a village and civil parish in the Forest of Dean (district), Forest of Dean of west Gloucestershire, England, adjoining the Wales, Welsh border. Tidenham is bounded by the River Wye (which forms the Welsh border) to the west ...

to Richard Peake of Chepstow and his wife Gertrude Peake. He was educated first 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 matriculated at

in 1880, graduating B.A. in 1883 and M.A. in 1886. While at Oxford, Peake won Blues in both cricket and athletics and represented the university rugby team. He had a brief career in rugby, curtailed by injury, but was able to have a longer cricketing career, representing Gloucestershire and Berkshire. Peake was a school teacher by profession and became assistant master at two

private schools A private school or independent school is a school not administered or funded by the government, unlike a public school. Private schools are schools that are not dependent upon national or local government to finance their financial endowme ...

at Southborne and Clifton before later teaching at

Clifton College Clifton College is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in the city of Bristol in South West England, founded in 1862 and offering both boarding school, boarding and day school for pupils aged 13–18. In its early years, unlike mo ...

. From 1885 until 1896 he was assistant master at

Giggleswick School Giggleswick School is a public school (English private boarding and day school) in Giggleswick, near Settle, North Yorkshire, England. Early school In 1499, Giggleswick School was founded on half an acre of land leased by the Prior and Co ...

in Yorkshire, before gaining his first headship, at Bradford College, a post he held from 1896 to 1909. In 1909 he gained a position as chaplain of

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church (, the temple or house, ''wikt:aedes, ædes'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by Henry V ...

where he was also the headmaster of their Cathedral Choir School. By 1921, Peake had left education and was the rector of Bluntisham in

Huntingdonshire Huntingdonshire (; abbreviated Hunts) is a local government district in Cambridgeshire, England, which was historically a county in its own right. It borders Peterborough to the north, Fenland to the north-east, East Cambridgeshire to the e ...

, where he died on 3 January 1945. Edward Peake left money in his will for a school to be built, Edward Peake Middle School on Potton Road,

Biggleswade Biggleswade ( ) is a market town and civil parish in Central Bedfordshire in Bedfordshire, England. It lies on the River Ivel, 11 miles (18 km) south-east of Bedford. Its population was 16,551 in the 2011 United Kingdom census, This figur ...

, Bedfordshire.

Rugby career

Peake first played rugby at Marlborough College, before representing

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

, though he did not win a sporting Blue. Peake later played rugby for

Chepstow Chepstow () is a town and community in Monmouthshire, Wales, adjoining the border with Gloucestershire, England. It is located on the tidal River Wye, about above its confluence with the River Severn, and adjoining the western end of the ...

and while representing the club was chosen by

Richard Mullock Richard Mullock (3 May 1851 – 1920) was a Welsh sporting administrator and official, who is most notable for organising the first Welsh rugby union international game and was instrumental in the creation of the Welsh Football Union, which bec ...

as one of the Welsh XV to face England in the very first Wales rugby international. The first Welsh team was mainly chosen from the geographic distribution of the representative clubs, so Mulloch could appease the different club regions of Wales, and the university pedigree of the players.Smith (1980), pg 40. Peake would have fitted both these categories, and would have been known to Mullock as his Newport team had played Chepstow twice in the 1879–1880 season.Smith (1980), pg 38. Peake played at three-quarters alongside the team captain James Bevan, in a game that quickly turned into a national embarrassment when England scored 13 tries without reply. This first historic game would be Peake's one and only international rugby cap, along with eight other members of the Welsh squad. From that first Welsh squad, Peake was one of three players who later became Anglican clergymen, the others being captain, Bevan and future Wales' captain

Charlie Newman Charlie Henry Newman (28 February 1857 – 28 September 1922) was a Welsh international three-quarter who played club rugby for Newport. He was awarded ten caps for Wales and captained the team on six occasions. An original member of the Newp ...

.Smith (1980), pg 7. Peake later played a single game for first-class Welsh team

Newport RFC Newport Rugby Football Club () is a Welsh rugby union club based in the city of Newport, Wales. They presently play in the Super Rygbi Cymru. Until 2021 Newport RFC were based at Rodney Parade situated on the east bank of the River Usk. Ever ...

, but his rugby career would be cut short after a

hurdling Hurdling is the act of jumping over an obstacle at a high speed or in a sprint. In the early 19th century, hurdlers ran at and jumped over each hurdle (sometimes known as 'burgles'), landing on both feet and checking their forward motion. Today ...

accident at Oxford.

International matches played

WalesSmith (1980), pg 470. * 1881

Cricket career

Peake first played cricket for Marlborough College, where he was a member of the cricket eleven in 1878, captaining the team in 1879. At Oriel College he joined the University cricket team, playing from the 1880 season through to 1883, winning a Sporting Blue. Peake played in 46 first-class cricket matches, 26 of them for Gloucester, and played alongside E. M. and

W. G. Grace William Gilbert Grace (18 July 1848 – 23 October 1915) was an English cricketer who is widely considered one of the sport's all-time greatest players. Always known by his initials as "WG", his first-class career spanned a record-equalling 4 ...

. He also played minor counties championship cricket with Berkshire. As a first-class cricketer he took 116 wickets as a right-arm fast bowler, and averaged 13.07 runs with the bat in 80 innings.cricket statistics for Edward Peake
cricinfo.com

Bibliography

References

External links

Cricketarchive.co.uk
Edward Peake playing profile, Newport RFC
BlackandAmbers.co.uk * {{DEFAULTSORT:Peake, Edward 1860 births 1945 deaths 20th-century English Anglican priests Alumni of Oriel College, Oxford Berkshire cricketers English cricketers English rugby union players Gentlemen of England cricketers Gloucestershire cricketers Newport RFC players Oxford University cricketers Oxford University RFC players People from Bluntisham People from Tidenham Rugby union players from Gloucestershire Schoolteachers from Gloucestershire Wales international rugby union players Welsh rugby union players Rugby union three-quarters People educated at Marlborough College