Edwin Mayfiled (21 July 1870 – 18 January 1961) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

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 ...

forward who played club rugby for

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

, and was also a member of the first official British Lions tour in 1891. He was educated for the law but became a professional soldier.

Personal life

Mayfield was born in

Brantingham Brantingham is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, about north of Brough, East Riding of Yorkshire, Brough, west of Kingston upon Hull, Hull and north of the A63 road. The United Kin ...

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

in 1870 to Joseph Robinson Mayfield, a paper manufacturer from Hemel Hempstead. Mayfield was educated at several schools, including

Lockers Park School Lockers Park School is a day and boarding preparatory and pre-preparatory school for boys, situated in 23 acres of countryside in Boxmoor, Hertfordshire. Its headmaster is Gavin Taylor. History Lockers Park was founded in 1872 by Henry Monta ...

and

The Leys School The Leys School is a co-educational private school in Cambridge, England. It is a boarding and day school for about 565 pupils between the ages of eleven and eighteen. The head is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference. ...

, before going up to

Caius College, Cambridge Gonville and Caius College, commonly known as Caius ( ), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1348 by Edmund Gonville, it is the fourth-oldest of the University of Cambridge's 31 colleges an ...

in 1888. He graduated in 1891 and was

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

, through the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court entitled to Call to the bar, call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple (with whi ...

in 1898. Mayfield was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the

Royal Sussex Militia Artillery The Royal Sussex Militia Artillery was a part-time reserve unit of Britain's Royal Artillery from the County of Sussex, which served from 1853 to 1909. Background The long-standing national Militia of the United Kingdom was revived by the Mili ...

on 2 March 1900. He saw active service during the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, reaching the temporary rank of lieutenant colonel and also served with the newly formed

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

Rugby career

Mayfield first came to note as a rugby player, when he represented Cambridge during his student years. In 1891 he won a sporting 'Blue' when he represented Cambridge in the 1891

Varsity Match A varsity match in Britain and Ireland is a fixture, especially of a sporting event or team, between university teams, usually the highest-level team, or varsity team, in that sport. The University Match in cricket between Oxford University an ...

. In 1891 Mayfield was selected to take part in the first official British Isles tour when he joined

Bill Maclagan William Edward Maclagan (5 April 1858 – 10 October 1926) was a Scotland, Scottish international rugby union forward who played club rugby for London Scottish F.C. Maclagan was one of the longest-serving international rugby players during the ...

's team on their

tour of South Africa The Tour of South Africa was a stage cycling race in South Africa that was only held once, in 2011. It was part of UCI Africa Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competitions which were introduced in 2005 by ...

. Mayfield was not part of the First Test at Port Elizabeth, but played in both the Second Test at Kimberley and the Third Test in Cape Town; both wins over the South African national team.

Bibliography

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mayfield, Edwin 1870 births 1961 deaths British & Irish Lions rugby union players from England Rugby union players from the East Riding of Yorkshire Rugby union forwards Alumni of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge People educated at Lockers Park School People educated at The Leys School British Army personnel of World War I Military personnel from the East Riding of Yorkshire Cambridge University R.U.F.C. players