Randolph Littleton Aston (6 September 1869 – 3 November 1930) was an English

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 ...

centre who played club rugby for Blackheath and

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 a member of the first official

British Isles The British Isles are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner Hebrides, Inner and Outer Hebr ...

tour in 1891.

Personal history

Aston was born in 1869 in South Kensington, London, to John Astbury Aston, a clerk. Aston was educated at a succession of notable schools including

Cheltenham Cheltenham () is a historic spa town and borough adjacent to the Cotswolds in Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort following the discovery of mineral springs in 1716, and claims to be the mo ...

Westminster Westminster is the main settlement of the City of Westminster in Central London, Central London, England. It extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street and has many famous landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Buckingham Palace, ...

and Berkhamstead, but finally and mainly at

Tonbridge Tonbridge ( ) (historic spelling ''Tunbridge'') is a market town in Kent, England, on the River Medway, north of Royal Tunbridge Wells, south west of Maidstone and south east of London. In the administrative borough of Tonbridge and Mall ...

, before being admitted to

Gonville and 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 and ...

in 1888. He graduated in 1891 and from 1891 to 1892 was an Assistant Master at Blairlodge School in

Polmont Polmont () is a village in the Falkirk council area of Central Scotland. It lies towards the east of the town of Falkirk, north of the Union Canal (Scotland), Union Canal, which runs adjacent to the village. Due to its situation in Central Sco ...

, Scotland, then at

Tonbridge School Tonbridge School is a public school (English fee-charging boarding and day school for boys aged 13–18) in Tonbridge, Kent, England, founded in 1553 by Sir Andrew Judde (sometimes spelt Judd). It is a member of the Eton Group and has clo ...

from 1892 to 1923.

Rugby career

Aston's rugby career began in earnest while he was at Cambridge. He was selected for the Cambridge University team, and won two Blues in the 1889 and 1890 Varsity Matches. In 1890 he was selected to represent the

England national rugby union team The England national rugby union team represents the Rugby Football Union (RFU) in international rugby union. They compete in the annual Six Nations Championship with France national rugby union team, France, Ireland national rugby union team, ...

, and was awarded two caps both in the

1890 Home Nations Championship The 1890 Home Nations Championship was the eighth series of the rugby union Home Nations Championship. Six matches were played between 1 February and 15 March. It was contested by England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Table Results ...

. The first was an away win over

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

and the other a home victory over

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

played at the

Rectory Field Rectory Field is a sports ground in Blackheath in the Royal Borough of Greenwich in south-east London. It was developed in the 1880s by Blackheath Cricket, Football and Lawn Tennis Company and became the home ground of rugby union team Blackhea ...

in Blackheath. Barbarians FC April 1891

In 1890, and now playing for

Blackheath F.C. Blackheath Football Club is a rugby union club based in Well Hall, Eltham, in south-east London. The club was founded in Blackheath in 1858 and is the oldest open rugby club in continuous existence in the world. The Blackheath club also assi ...

outside university months, was selected to join Percy Carpmael's newly formed invitational team, the Barbarians. Aston became an original member of the team, and toured the South of England in 1891.Starmer-Smith, Nigel ''The Barbarians'' Macdonald & Jane's Publishers (1977) pg. 28 Although Aston's international career with England was now behind him, he would play his part in a representative British Isles team, when he was selected to become part of

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 British Isles team on their 1891 tour of South Africa. On the hard grounds of South Africa, Aston was a revelation, possessing not only a massive frame, recorded as 15 stone, but also impressive speed.Griffiths (1987), 9:3. Aston played in all twenty games of the tour including the three Tests, amassing an incredible 30 tries in total. He scored a try in two of the Test matches, the first in Port Elizabeth and the final Test in Cape Town. If it wasn't for the peculiar scoring system of the time, he would have ended the tour as the top Test points scorer, but his two tries were surpassed by two conversions by

Arthur Rotherham Arthur Rotherham (27 May 1869 – 3 March 1946) was an English rugby union scrum-half who was a member of the first official British Isles tour and was later capped for the England team. Personal history Rotherham was born in Coventry in 1869 t ...

Bibliography

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aston, Randolph 1869 births 1930 deaths Alumni of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge Barbarian F.C. players Blackheath F.C. players British & Irish Lions rugby union players from England Cambridge University R.U.F.C. players England international rugby union players English rugby union players People educated at Berkhamsted School People educated at Cheltenham College People educated at Tonbridge School People educated at Westminster School, London Rugby union centres Rugby union players from the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea People from Kensington