Anthony Henniker-Gotley (2 March 1887 – 4 May 1972) was a

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 it ...

international who represented

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

from 1910 to 1911.Anthony Henniker-Gotley Profile on scrum.com
/ref> He also captained that country.

Early life

Anthony Henniker-Gotley was born on 2 March 1887 in

Tysoe Tysoe is a civil parish in the Stratford-on-Avon District of Warwickshire, England. The parish is on the boundary with Oxfordshire, about northwest of Banbury. The parish includes the contiguous villages of Middle and Upper Tysoe and the sepa ...

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Av ...

. He was the son of a vicar, the Revd George Henniker Gotley MA.

Rugby union career

Henniker-Gotley played as a scrum half for his school,

Tonbridge School (God Giveth the Increase) , established = , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent day and boarding , religion = , president = , head_label ...

. At his previous school,

West Downs School West Downs School, Romsey Road, Winchester, Hampshire, was an English independent preparatory school, which was established in 1897 and closed in 1988. History Founding The school was founded by Lionel Helbert (1870–1919), with help from h ...

, Winchester a boarding school for boys aged between eight and thirteen, he had been an avid cricketer, playing in the first XI in 1899 to 1901. After Tonbridge he went up to the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

and there received his Blue in 1909. At a club level he played for

Blackheath FC 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 fourth-oldest rugby club in continuous existence in the world, after Dublin University Fo ...

and at a representative level played for

Barbarian FC The Barbarian Football Club, known as the Barbarians is a British-based invitational rugby union club. The Barbarians play in black and white hoops, though players wear socks from their own club strip. Membership is by invitation. As of 2011, p ...

(playing in the Barbarians: v Leicester 1909 match ending 9–9) as well as county rugby for both Surrey and

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

. Henniker-Gotley made his international debut on 3 March 1910 at Parc des Princes in the

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

match. Of the 6 matches he played for his national side he was on the winning side on 4 occasions. He played his final match for England on 18 March 1911 at

Twickenham Twickenham is a suburban district in London, England. It is situated on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historically part of Middlesex, it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames since 1965, and the boroug ...

in the

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

match, in which game he captained England for the only time. Henniker-Gotley was also an early British and Irish Lion, representing the Combined British in the 1910 tour of Argentina, in which he featured in the only international match against the host nation.

Career outside sport

Henniker-Gotley moved to Rhodesia in 1911. During the First World War he served in the North Rhodesia Police and served in East Africa. He was a political officer in Tanganyika from 1918 to 1923 and called to the Bar in 1923. He then became the District Commissioner in Tanganyika in 1923, and served in this capacity until 1926. From 1926 he went into business in

Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...

until 1933 and then became Bursar and assistant master at

St Columba's College, Dublin St Columba's College is a co-educational independent day and boarding school founded in 1843 located in Whitechurch, County Dublin, Ireland. Among the founders of the college were Viscount Adare (who later became The 3rd Earl of Dunraven and M ...

, from 1934 to 1936. From 1936 he acted as a Temporary Education Officer for the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

and then served in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve as a Flight Lieutenant in

Fighter Command RAF Fighter Command was one of the commands of the Royal Air Force. It was formed in 1936 to allow more specialised control of fighter aircraft. It served throughout the Second World War World War II or the Second World War, oft ...

. After the outbreak of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

he was promoted to

Squadron Leader Squadron leader (Sqn Ldr in the RAF ; SQNLDR in the RAAF and RNZAF; formerly sometimes S/L in all services) is a commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence. It is als ...

in 1941. Following the war he was a civilian Substitution Officer with the RAF until 1947.

Personal and later life

Henniker-Gotley married Nora McMaster (17 May 1894 to 31 July 1979) on 2 June 1923. Her father was the

Test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film), ...

cricketer Emile McMaster and her brother was the first-class cricketer

Michael McMaster Michael McMaster (11 May 1896 – 29 March 1965) was an English first-class cricketer, Royal Naval Air Service officer and businessman. The son of the Test cricketer Emile McMaster, he was born in May 1896 at Porlock, Somerset. He served in t ...

. He died on 4 May 1972.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Henniker-Gotley, Anthony 1887 births 1972 deaths English rugby union players England international rugby union players Rugby union scrum-halves People educated at West Downs School People educated at Tonbridge School British & Irish Lions rugby union players from England Barbarian F.C. players Oxford University RFC players Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve personnel of World War II British colonial police officers British colonial political officers Royal Air Force squadron leaders Rugby union players from Warwickshire