Barzillai Beckerleg Bennetts

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

, also known as Barrie Bennetts (14 July 1883 – 26 July 1958) born in

Penzance Penzance ( ; kw, Pennsans) is a town, civil parish and port in the Penwith district of Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is the most westerly major town in Cornwall and is about west-southwest of Plymouth and west-southwest of London. Situated ...

and was a Cornish

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 ...

player who played at international level, touring

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

with the 1910 Combined British rugby union side, an early incarnation of the

British and Irish Lions The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. The Lions are a test side and most often select players who have already played for their national ...

Personal life

Barzillai Beckerleg Bennetts was born in Penzance in 1883 to Mr J H Bennetts, a local

coal merchant Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when dead ...

. He was educated at Bridgend College, London and trained in the legal profession. By 1910 he was a solicitor for Boase and Bennetts in Penzance. He excelled in many sports and represented Cornwall at

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

, golf and hockey, and was President of the Cornwall RFU from 1945 to 1950. During the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

he joined the

Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders Argyll (; archaically Argyle, in modern Gaelic, ), sometimes called Argyllshire, is a historic county and registration county of western Scotland. Argyll is of ancient origin, and corresponds to most of the part of the ancient kingdom of ...

, seeing action in France and being

mentioned in dispatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches, MiD) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face ...

. At the age of 57 he saw further military service when he was one of the first, in Penzance, to volunteer for the newly formed

Home Guard Home guard is a title given to various military organizations at various times, with the implication of an emergency or reserve force raised for local defense. The term "home guard" was first officially used in the American Civil War, starting wi ...

. Bennetts was awarded the MBE for services to the

Royal National Lifeboat Institution The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) is the largest charity that saves lives at sea around the coasts of the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, the Channel Islands, and the Isle of Man, as well as on some inland waterways. It i ...

(RNLI) in 1949 and was made a Lifetime Governorship for the RNLI in 1957. He died in 1958 at his brother's home in Alverton, Penzance.

Sports

Bennetts was an accomplished sportsman excelling in many sports including football, playing for Penzance Football Club and appearing in four

Cornwall Senior Cup The Cornwall County Football Association Senior Cup, commonly known as the Cornwall Senior Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football for clubs based in Cornwall, run by and named after the Cornwall County Football Association. It i ...

finals. He played

minor counties The National Counties, known as the Minor Counties before 2020, are the cricketing counties of England and Wales that do not have first-class status. The game is administered by the National Counties Cricket Association (NCCA), which comes unde ...

level for

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

, making eleven appearances between 1906 and 1914. He also represented Cornwall at golf and hockey, and tennis would have probably been on the list if there was a Cornwall tennis team at the time. While in London training to be a solicitor he played rugby for

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

. Bennetts played twice for

Leicester Tigers Leicester Tigers (officially Leicester Football Club) are a professional rugby union club based in Leicester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded in 1880 and since 1892 plays its hom ...

, once in 1907 and once in 1910.

Combined British Team to Argentina

England

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bennetts, Barrie 1883 births 1958 deaths Barbarian F.C. players British & Irish Lions rugby union players from England Cornish Pirates players Cornwall RFU players Cornwall cricketers England international rugby union players English rugby union players Leicester Tigers players Members of the Order of the British Empire Plymouth Albion R.F.C. players Richmond F.C. players Royal National Lifeboat Institution people Rugby union centres Sportspeople from Penzance Rugby union players from Penzance Rugby union wings

Personal life

Sports

Combined British Team to Argentina

England

See also

References