Gilbert Austin (first ¼ 1895 – first ¼ 1948) was an English professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

footballer who played in the 1910s and 1920s. He played at representative level for

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 ...

, and at club level fo

Hull Kingston Rovers Hull Kingston Rovers (often abbreviated to Hull KR) are a professional rugby league club based in Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, England. The club play home games at Craven Park, Hull, Craven Park and compete in Super League, the top tier of B ...

and

York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...

, as a (occasional)

goal A goal or objective is an idea of the future or desired result that a person or a group of people envision, plan, and commit to achieve. People endeavour to reach goals within a finite time by setting deadlines. A goal is roughly similar to ...

-kicking , or .

Background

Gilbert Austin's birth was registered in

Sculcoates Sculcoates is a suburb of Kingston upon Hull, north of the city centre, in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. History Because of increased mobility of an increasing population, the parishes of Drypool, Garrison Side, Hessle Within, Mar ...

district,

Hull Hull may refer to: Structures * The hull of an armored fighting vehicle, housing the chassis * Fuselage, of an aircraft * Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds * Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a sea-going craft * Submarine hull Ma ...

East Riding of Yorkshire The East Riding of Yorkshire, often abbreviated to the East Riding or East Yorkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and west, S ...

, England, he lived in First Lane, Northfield,

Hessle Hessle () is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, west of Kingston upon Hull. Geographically it is part of a larger urban area consisting of the city of Kingston upon Hull, the town of H ...

, he died from injuries sustained in a

traffic collision A traffic collision, also known as a motor vehicle collision, or car crash, occurs when a vehicle collides with another vehicle, pedestrian, animal, road debris, or other moving or stationary obstruction, such as a tree, pole or building. Tr ...

, when a taxi that he, his wife (also seriously injured) and another four people (of which one woman was also seriously injured) were travelling in, was in collision with a

truck A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport freight, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame construct ...

near Ferriby,

, England, and his death aged 53 was registered in

district,

, England.

Playing career

International honours

Gilbert Austin played on the for "The Reds" in the 15–38 defeat by "The Whites" in a trial match for the

1924 Great Britain Lions tour The 1924 Great Britain Lions tour was a tour by the Great Britain national rugby league team of Australia and New Zealand which took place between May and August 1924. The tour involved a schedule of 27 games; 18 in Australia, including a three- ...

of Australia and New Zealand trial match at

Central Park Central Park is an urban park between the Upper West Side and Upper East Side neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City, and the first landscaped park in the United States. It is the List of parks in New York City, sixth-largest park in the ...

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. It is the largest settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and is its ad ...

on Wednesday 20 February 1924, in front of a crowd of 15,000, but ultimately he was not selected for

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

.Irvin Saxton (publish date tbc) "History of Rugby League – № 29 – 1923–24". Rugby Leaguer ISBN n/a

County honours

Gilbert Austin played for

while at

; he played on the in the 5–6 defeat by

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 ...

in the 1923–24

County Championship The County Championship, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Rothesay County Championship, is the only domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales. Established in 1890, it is organised by the England and Wales Cri ...

match during the 1923–24 season at

Watersheddings Watersheddings was the site of a former rugby league stadium in the Watersheddings area of Oldham in Greater Manchester, England. Historically it was in Lancashire, lying on the A672 ( Ripponden Road) approximately 2 miles north east of Old ...

Oldham Oldham is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amongst the Pennines on elevated ground between the rivers River Irk, Irk and River Medlock, Medlock, southeast of Rochdale, and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative cent ...

on Saturday 8 December 1923, he played on the in the 0–20 defeat by

Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is an area of North West England which was historically a county. The county was bordered by Northumberland to the north-east, County Durham to the east, Westmorland to the south-east, Lancashire to the south, and the Scottish ...

in the 1924–25

match during the 1924–25 season at the

Recreation Ground A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are green spaces set aside for recreation inside towns and cities. N ...

Whitehaven Whitehaven is a town and civil parish in the Cumberland (unitary authority), Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. It is a port on the north-west coast, and lies outside the Lake District National parks of England and Wales, National Park. ...

on Saturday 18 October 1924.Irvin Saxton (publish date tbc) "History of Rugby League – № 30 – 1924–25". Rugby Leaguer ISBN n/a he played on the in the 9–28 defeat by

in the 1924–25

match during the 1924–25 season at

Thrum Hall Thrum Hall was a rugby league stadium on Hanson Lane in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. It was the home of Halifax R.L.F.C., Halifax for 112 years. The site on which the ground stood is now occupied by a supermarket. History In 1878, Halifa ...

, Halifax on Saturday 29 November 1924. and he played on the in the 10–26 defeat by

in the 1925–26

match during the 1925–26 season at

City Road City Road or The City Road is a road that runs through central London. The northwestern extremity of the road is at Angel where it forms a continuation of Pentonville Road. Pentonville Road itself is the modern name for the eastern part of Lo ...

(the then home ground of St. Helens Recs), St. Helens on Saturday 12 December 1925.Irvin Saxton (publish date tbc) "History of Rugby League – № 31 – 1925–26". Rugby Leaguer ISBN n/a

Challenge Cup Final appearances

Gilbert Austin played on the in

' 3–16 defeat by

in the

1924–25 Challenge Cup The 1924–25 Challenge Cup was the 25th staging of rugby league's oldest knockout competition, the Challenge Cup. First round The draw for the first round of the competition was made on 21 January 1925 and brought together the 27 teams of the r ...

Final during the 1924–25 season at

Headingley Headingley is a suburb of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, approximately two miles out of the city centre, to the north west along the A660 road. Headingley is the location of the Beckett Park campus of Leeds Beckett University and Headingley ...

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

on Saturday 25 April 1925, in front of a crowd of 28,335.Hoole, Les (1998). ''The Rugby League Challenge Cup – An Illustrated History''. Breedon Books.

Club career

Gilbert Austin made his début (as did Frank Bielby) for

, and scored a try in the 22–10 victory over

Wakefield Trinity Wakefield Trinity is a professional rugby league club in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. The club play their home fixtures at the DIY Kitchen Stadium, Belle Vue (Wakefield), Belle Vue and currently compete in the Super League, the top tier o ...

Craven Street Craven Street is a street in the City of Westminster, London, England, near The Strand. Several notable historical figures have lived in the street which was the home of Benjamin Franklin, when he lived in London before the American Revolution. ...

Kingston upon Hull Kingston upon Hull, usually shortened to Hull, is a historic maritime city and unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It lies upon the River Hull at its confluence with the Humber Est ...

Saturday 25 January 1919, he mainly played in his first two seasons of 1918–19 season and 1919–20 season, mainly playing in the 1920–21 season and 1921–22 season, and mainly playing from the 1922–23 season onwards, he scored 37- tries in the 1924–25 season, including 6- tries against Halifax in the

RFL Yorkshire Cup The RFL Yorkshire Cup is a rugby league county cup competition for teams in Yorkshire. Starting in 1905 the competition ran, with the exception of 1915 to 1918, until the 1992–93 season, when it folded due to fixture congestion. The compe ...

, he was described as being ‘not blessed with either pace or tremendous strength, he was an extremely dedicated and reliable all-rounder who knew his way to the try-line and who never gave less than his best’, he scored his last try for Hull Kingston Rovers against St. Helens Recs on Sunday 1 January 1928, he played his last match for Hull Kingston Rovers in the 0–0 draw with

Dewsbury Dewsbury is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It lies on the River Calder, West Yorkshire, River Calder and on an arm of the Calder and Hebble Navigation waterway. It is to the west of Wakefield, ...

on Saturday 7 January 1928, and he was transferred from Hull Kingston Rovers to

during early October 1928.

Testimonial match

A joint

benefit Benefit(s) may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Benefit'' (album), by Jethro Tull, 1970 * "Benefits" (''How I Met Your Mother''), a 2009 TV episode * "Benefits", a 2018 song by Zior Park * ''The Benefit'', a 2012 Egyptian action film Busin ...

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...

testimonial match A testimonial match or testimonial game, often referred to simply as a testimonial, is a practice in some sports, particularly in association football in the United Kingdom and South America, where a club has a match to honour a player for servic ...

during the 1927–28 season was shared by; Gilbert Austin and Frank Bielby, during May 1928 each player received £81 9 s 7 d (based on increases in average earnings, this would be approximately £25,480 in 2017).

Career records

Gilbert Austin previously held rugby league's "most consecutive matches played" record with 190-matches, from his début on Saturday 25 January 1919 to nearly 5-years later on Saturday 8 December 1923, when he played for

against

, this record was subsequently extended to 239-matches (242?) by

Keith Elwell Keith Elwell (born 12 February 1950), also known by the nicknames of "The Mole" or "Chiefy", is an English former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1970s and 1980s. He played at representative level for Great Britain, Engla ...

Genealogical information

Gilbert Austin's marriage to Susanna S. (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Clark ( – death registered fourth ¼ 1928 aged 32 in

district)) was registered during fourth ¼ 1918 in

district. They had children; Edith E. Austin (birth registered during fourth ¼ 1920 in

district), Joan Austin (birth registered during first ¼ 1924 in

district), and Vera Austin (birth registered during third ¼ 1925 in

district). Gilbert Austin's second marriage was to Ethel B. (

Candler, born ) was registered during fourth ¼ 1933 in

district. They had children; Pauline M. Austin (birth registered during third ¼ 1937 in

district), and Gilbert D. Austin (birth registered during fourth ¼ 1941 in

Holderness Holderness is an area of the East Riding of Yorkshire, on the north-east coast of England. An area of rich agricultural land, Holderness was marshland until it was drained in the Middle Ages. Topographically, Holderness has more in common wit ...

district).

References

External links

Search for "Austin" at rugbyleagueproject.orgSearch for "Gilbert Austin" at britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Austin, Gilbert 1895 births 1948 deaths English rugby league players Hull Kingston Rovers players Rugby league centres Rugby league fullbacks Rugby league players from Kingston upon Hull Rugby league wingers York Wasps players Yorkshire rugby league team players Road incident deaths in England 20th-century English sportsmen