Albert Mortimer Jenkin (14 September 1872 – 3 July 1961) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

-born

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

forward who played club rugby for

Swansea Swansea (; cy, Abertawe ) is a coastal city and the second-largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Swansea ( cy, links=no, Dinas a Sir Abertawe). The city is the twenty-fifth largest in ...

, county rugby for Glamorgan and international rugby for

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

Personal life

Jenkin was born in

Ibsley Ibsley is a village in Hampshire, England. It is about 2.5 miles (4 km) north of the town of Ringwood. It is in the civil parish of Ellingham, Harbridge and Ibsley. Overview The village of Ibsley lies to the east of the River Avon on the m ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

in 1872 to the Rev. Albert Jenkin and Elizabeth Seager. Jenkin was educated at

Llandovery College , image = Llandovery College (geograph 5927072).jpg , image_size = , motto = Gwell Dysg Na Golud( here areno riches better than learning) , established = , closed = , type = Independent day and bo ...

Ospreys player profiles
/ref> before gaining entry to

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch Lady Margaret Beaufort. In constitutional terms, the college is a charitable corpo ...

in 1892. In 1902 he was ordained a deacon at

Llandaff Cathedral Llandaff Cathedral ( cy, Eglwys Gadeiriol Llandaf) is an Anglican cathedral and parish church in Llandaff, Cardiff, Wales. It is the seat of the Bishop of Llandaff, head of the Church in Wales Diocese of Llandaff. It is dedicated to Saint Peter ...

and the next year he was ordained as an

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

priest. In 1903 he took a position at St Martin's Church in

Roath Roath ( cy, Y Rhath) is a district and community to the north-east of the city centre of Cardiff, capital of Wales. There is no community council for the area which is mostly covered by the Plasnewydd electoral ward, and stretches from Adamsdo ...

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

, but in 1905 he left the position when he joined the Universities' Mission to Central Africa taking a missionary role in Mponda,

Nyasaland Nyasaland () was a British protectorate located in Africa that was established in 1907 when the former British Central Africa Protectorate changed its name. Between 1953 and 1963, Nyasaland was part of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasala ...

. He stayed at Mponda until 1911, then joined missions at Zomba and

Blantyre Blantyre () is Malawi's centre of finance and commerce, and its second largest city, with an enumerated 800,264 inhabitants . It is sometimes referred to as the commercial and industrial capital of Malawi as opposed to the political capital, L ...

until 1916. After the outbreak of World War I he served as an

Army chaplain A military chaplain ministers to military personnel and, in most cases, their families and civilians working for the military. In some cases they will also work with local civilians within a military area of operations. Although the term '' ch ...

in East Africa, before settling for some time in South Africa, where he became an

Archdeacon An archdeacon is a senior clergy position in the Church of the East, Chaldean Catholic Church, Syriac Orthodox Church, Anglican Communion, St Thomas Christians, Eastern Orthodox churches and some other Christian denominations, above that o ...

Pretoria Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends ...

. He eventually returned to Britain and died in

Bromley Bromley is a large town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is south-east of Charing Cross, and had an estimated population of 87,889 as of 2011. Originally part of Kent, Bromley became a market town, char ...

in 1961.

Rugby career

Jenkin first joined first class Welsh team Swansea in 1893, and in the winter of the 1895 season he was selected to represent Wales as part of the Home Nations Championship. Jenkin was brought into the pack for the last game of the tournament against Ireland, and was one of two new Welsh caps on the day, with Llanelli's David Morgan chosen for the first time at half-back. Under the captaincy of Welsh rugby legend Arthur 'Monkey' Gould, Wales were looking at the unwanted title of

Wooden spoon Wooden Spoon may refer to: * Wooden spoon, implement * Wooden spoon (award) A wooden spoon is an award that is given to an individual or team that has come last in a competition. Examples range from the academic to sporting and more frivolous e ...

after losing their first two games of the Championship to England and Scotland. Played at the

Cardiff Arms Park Cardiff Arms Park ( cy, Parc yr Arfau Caerdydd), also known as The Arms Park, is situated in the centre of Cardiff, Wales. It is primarily known as a rugby union stadium, but it also has a bowling green. The Arms Park was host to the British E ...

, Wales won by a narrow margin thanks to a converted try from Tom Pearson. At the start of the 1895/96 season, Jenkin was awarded the captaincy of the Swansea senior team, but was forced to give it up in November due to 'professional duties', and

Billy Bancroft William James Bancroft (2 March 1871 – 3 March 1959) was a Welsh international fullback, who played club rugby for Swansea, and a county cricketer for Glamorgan, for whom he was the first professional player in 1895. Bancroft was seen as o ...

took over his duties. Nonetheless, Jenkin was reselected two months later for the opening game of the 1896 Championship. The pack was almost identical to the previous match, with the only change seeing Treorchy's Sam Ramsey replacing the experienced but aging

Jim Hannan James John Hannan (January 7, 1940 in Jersey City, New Jersey) is an American retired professional baseball player who pitched in Major League Baseball from 1962 to 1971 for the Washington Senators, Detroit Tigers and Milwaukee Brewers. Th ...

. The game was a disaster for the Welsh team, with England winning the match 25–0, scoring seven tries without reply. This caused the Welsh selectors to rethink their team strategy; and the next match saw six of the eight forwards replaced; five of them new caps. Jenkin was one of those replaced and never played for Wales again.

International matches played

WalesSmith (1980), p. 463. * 1896 *

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

1895

External links

Albert Jenkin
Player profile of Albert Jenkin (ESPN)

Bibliography

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jenkin, Albert 1872 births 1961 deaths English rugby union players Wales international rugby union players Rugby union forwards People from New Forest District Swansea RFC players Cambridge University R.U.F.C. players 20th-century Welsh Anglican priests People educated at Llandovery College Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge World War I chaplains Royal Army Chaplains' Department officers Rugby union players from Hampshire