Frederick Charles Lohden

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(13 June 1871 – 13 April 1954) 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 ...

as a forward at international level for

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

in a single game during the

1893 Home Nations Championship The 1893 Home Nations Championship was the eleventh series of the rugby union Home Nations Championship. Six matches were played between 17 January and 11 March. It was contested by England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. In winning all three matc ...

. After retiring from playing sport he became a sports administrator, most notably as the chairman of the

Lawn Tennis Association The Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) is the national governing body of tennis in Great Britain, the Channel Islands, and the Isle of Man founded in 1888. The LTA promotes all levels of lawn tennis. The organization believes tennis can provide ...

Personal history

Lohden was born in

Hartlepool Hartlepool ( ) is a seaside resort, seaside and port town in County Durham, England. It is governed by a unitary authority borough Borough of Hartlepool, named after the town. The borough is part of the devolved Tees Valley area with an estimat ...

in the north of England on 13 June 1871 to Jacob and Mary Lohden, and christened at Christ Church, Hartlepool on 12 July of that year. He attended

Durham School Durham School is a Private schools in the United Kingdom, fee-charging boarding and day school in the English Public school (UK), public school tradition located in Durham, England, Durham, North East England. Since 2021 it has been part of th ...

as a youth, completing his education in France and Germany. In 1898 he was married to Margaret Emily Marshall of Broadwater, Sussex. With the outbreak of the First World War, Lohden, who already had military experience, was promoted to Lieutenant in the 4th Durham Volunteer Artillery. He later joined the

East Surrey Regiment The East Surrey Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 until 1959. The regiment was formed in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 31st (Huntingdonshire) Regiment of Foot, the 70th ( ...

. In 1917 he was transferred to the Ministry of Shipping and was placed in charge of Standard Steamers, Russian Steamers and Oilers. He was awarded the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

in the

1919 New Year Honours The 1919 New Year Honours were appointments by King George V to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of the British Empire. The appointments were published in ''The London Gazette'' and ''The Times'' in Janu ...

for his work for the Ministry of Shipping. He later moved to

Cheam Cheam () is a suburb of London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It is divided into North Cheam, Cheam Village and South Cheam. Cheam Village contains the listed buildings Lumley Chapel and the 16th-century Whitehall. It is adjacent to t ...

on the border between London and Surrey where he worked as a shipping broker. Lohden later became the mayor of

Sutton and Cheam Sutton and Cheam is a constituency in Greater London represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2024 by Luke Taylor, a Liberal Democrat. Political history The area's voters produced a 32.6% swing to the Liberal Party in ...

, and was also made a Justice of the Peace.

Sporting history

Lohden showed promise as a sportsman while a youth, making the Durham School rugby XV while still a 15-year-old, the biggest forward in his team. On his return from education in mainland Europe he joined

Hartlepool Rovers Hartlepool Rovers F.C. are a rugby union club who play at The New Friarage, West View Road in Hartlepool. The club plays in Counties 1 Durham & Northumberland, the seventh tier of the English rugby union system after being relegated from North ...

, and by the age of 19 he was selected to play at county level for

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city in north east England **County Durham, a ceremonial county which includes Durham *Durham, North Carolina, a city in North Carolina, United States Durham may also refer to: Places ...

. By the 1892/93 season he was playing for one of England's premier clubs, Blackheath. While representing Blackheath he came to the attention of the English selectors and was chosen for the South of England team in the trials of the

squad. He was given his first and only cap in the opening game of the

against

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 ...

at the

Cardiff Arms Park Cardiff Arms Park (), also known as The Arms Park, is primarily a rugby union stadium, and also has a bowling green. It is situated in Cardiff, Wales, next to the Millennium Stadium. The Arms Park was host to the 1958 British Empire and Common ...

. The game started well for the English side, opening a 7–0 lead in the first half, one of the two tries scored by Lohden. A further England try at the start of the second half appeared to give England an overwhelming lead only to see an historic Welsh comeback, led by their talismanic captain Arthur Gould, which snatched victory from England in the final minutes. Although Lohden never played for England again, a series of minor injuries ending his career by 1896, he was selected for invitational tourists the Barbarians in 1893, and also represented Surrey county. After retiring from playing he kept up his connection with the sport of rugby by being elected onto the Durham County Rugby Union committee, serving them from 1896 to 1902. As well as rugby, Lohden was a keen sports shooter, and won the

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'miniature' Championship for three years running. On returning to civilian life after the war, Lohden became increasingly active in the world of racket sports. A skillful badminton player he represented Surrey County playing in four consecutive London Badminton doubles finals in 1920. This was followed by the title of Veteran's Doubles Champion of England in 1921. That year Lohden also set up the Surrey Badminton Association, becoming their first honorary secretary. In 1907 Lohden put his sporting administrative abilities to further use when he was elected to the Surrey branch of the

. He progressed to becoming the organisations chairman, and then in 1911 he joined the Council of the LTA. In 1933 he became chairman of the LTA and the year later its vice-president.

References

Bibliography

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lohden, Frederick 1871 births 1954 deaths Rugby union forwards English rugby union players England international rugby union players Barbarian F.C. players Blackheath F.C. players Rugby union players from Hartlepool Officers of the Order of the British Empire People educated at Durham School British Army personnel of World War I East Surrey Regiment officers Tennis in the United Kingdom Surrey RFU players