Arthur Rotherham (27 May 1869 – 3 March 1946) was an English
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 ...
scrum-half who was a member of the first official
British Isles
The British Isles are a group of islands in the 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 and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isles, ...
tour and was later capped for the
England team.
Personal history
Rotherham was born in
Coventry
Coventry ( or ) is a city in the West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its city status until the Middle Ages. The city is governed b ...
in 1869 to Alexander Rotherham of Coundon Hall. He was educated at
Uppingham School
Uppingham School is a public school (English independent day and boarding school for pupils 13-18) in Uppingham, Rutland, England, founded in 1584 by Robert Johnson, the Archdeacon of Leicester, who also established Oakham School. The headma ...
before being accepted into
Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge or Oxford. ...
in 1888, gaining a
BA in 1891. Rotherham began his medical career at
St Thomas' Hospital, London before becoming a house surgeon at
Nottingham General Hospital
Nottingham General Hospital was a major hospital in Nottingham, England. It was founded in 1781 and closed in 1992.
History
The hospital was the result of a legacy from John Key, a wealthy banker, who had left money in his will for hospitals t ...
. He later became an Assistant Medical Officer at several asylums; London County Asylum in
Purley, Horton Asylum and Manor Asylum in
Epsom
Epsom is the principal town of the Borough of Epsom and Ewell in Surrey, England, about south of central London. The town is first recorded as ''Ebesham'' in the 10th century and its name probably derives from that of a Saxon landowner. The ...
, before becoming a superintendent at the Dareth mental home in 1911. Arthur was also the cousin of
Alan Rotherham, who was the son of Arthur's father's older brother John. In the late nineteenth century and into the twentieth century, players were listed by their initial and surname and the two cousins were often confused with each other. Compounding the confusion is the fact that they had similar backgrounds and playing careers and as Alan's ended so Arthur's began. Both were born in Coventry, both went to Uppingham School, both played for
Richmond F.C.
Richmond Football Club is a rugby union club from Richmond, London. It is a founding member of the Rugby Football Union, and is one of the oldest football clubs (of any code). It fields teams in both men's and women's rugby; the men's first ...
, both played at half-back and both played for England and went on to captain the national side.
Rugby career
Rotherham first came to note as a rugby player when he represented
Cambridge University
The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III of England, Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world' ...
, winning two sporting Blues in the Varsity matches of 1890 and 1891. Soon after, Rotherham is recorded as playing for
Richmond, then during the 1890/91 season he was picked for the invitational tourists, the
Barbarians
A barbarian (or savage) is someone who is perceived to be either uncivilized or primitive. The designation is usually applied as a generalization based on a popular stereotype; barbarians can be members of any nation judged by some to be les ...
.
[Starmer-Smith, Nigel ''The Barbarians'' Macdonald & Jane's Publishers (1977) pg. 229 ] In 1891 Rotherham was selected to join
Bill Maclagan's British Isles team on their
tour of South Africa
The Tour of South Africa was a stage cycling race in South Africa that was only held once, in 2011. It was part of UCI Africa Tour
The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competitions which were introduced in 2005 by th ...
. Rotherham played in two Tests, the first at Port Elizabeth, paired at half back with
William Wotherspoon and the final test in Cape Town, this time partnered with
Howard Marshall. Both Tests resulted in wins for the tourists and saw Rotherham score with conversions in each of his appearances; making him the tour's top Test scorer.
Despite the experience he had accumulated as a rugby player, it took until 1898 for Rotherham to be selected for the England national rugby team. Still representing Richmond at club level, Rotherham was selected for the encounter with Scotland in the
1898 Home Nations Championship
The 1898 Home Nations Championship was the sixteenth series of the rugby union Home Nations Championship. Five matches were played between 5 February and 2 April. It was contested by England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
For the second year ru ...
, which ended in a 3–3 draw. He kept his place in the third and final game of the Championship, against Wales, and was reselected the next season for all three games of the
1899 Championship. Rotherham was given the England captaincy for the entire 1899 tournament, which resulted in England losing all three matches, the first time this had occurred. Although the critics of the time were hard on the England pack during this season,
[Griffiths (1987), 1:12.] only two players in the backs kept their place throughout the Championship, with four positions seeing a different player every single game.
Bibliography
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References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rotherham, Arthur
1869 births
1946 deaths
England international rugby union players
British & Irish Lions rugby union players from England
Rugby union scrum-halves
Cambridge University R.U.F.C. players
Barbarian F.C. players
Rugby union players from Coventry
Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge
People educated at Uppingham School
Richmond F.C. players