Benjamin Henry Burns (28 May 1848 – 3 June 1932) was a Scottish rugby union footballer who represented England in the first international match against Scotland in 1871.

Sports career

Burns was a member of Blackheath F.C. during his early twenties, and in late 1870, along with Edwin Ash, he published a letter in '' The Times'' calling for "those who play the rugby-type game should meet to form a code of practice as various clubs play to rules which differ from others, which makes the game difficult to play." Such a meeting took place the following month, leading to the formation of the

Rugby Football Union The Rugby Football Union (RFU) is the Sports governing body, national governing body for rugby union in England. It was founded in 1871, and was the sport's international governing body prior to the formation of what is now known as World Rugby ...

. While he was serving as club secretary of Blackheath, the leading clubs in Scotland wrote a letter to the club issuing a challenge for a match between Scotland and England. Burns replied, agreeing to the contest. He was initially not meant to be among the 20-man England side, but the withdrawal of Francis Isherwood (who played in the second match) saw Burns take his place in the team. England lost the game, which was the first international rugby match, by one goal to nil on 27 March 1871. ESPNscrum lists him as playing as a forward in the match, but his obituary in ''

The Evening Post ''Evening Post'' or ''The Evening Post'' may refer to the following newspapers: United Kingdom * ''Evening Post'' (London) (1710–1732), then ''Berington's Evening Post'' (1732–1740) * '' London Evening Post'' (1727–1797) * '' ...

'' suggests that he was a half-back. When he worked in India, Burns appeared for the Calcutta Football Club. In addition to rugby, Burns was also an avid golfer, and while working in Christchurch, he was one of four promoters to establish a golf club at Hagley Park in the city. He won the Christchurch championship on two occasions, and became captain, and later life-member of the club.

Life and business career

Burns was born on 28 May 1848, to Archibald Burns who was general manager of the Bank of Scotland in

Perthshire Perthshire (locally: ; gd, Siorrachd Pheairt), officially the County of Perth, is a historic county and registration county in central Scotland. Geographically it extends from Strathmore in the east, to the Pass of Drumochter in the north, ...

. He started his working life as a clerk for the Oriental Bank Corporation. He moved to India during his work with the bank, but due to health issues, he moved to Christchurch, New Zealand, taking the position of manager of the Colonial Bank of New Zealand. Upon the merger with the

Bank of New Zealand Bank of New Zealand (BNZ) is one of New Zealand's Big Four (banking), big four banks and has been operating in the country since the first office was opened in Auckland in October 1861 followed shortly after by the first branch in Dunedin in D ...

, he became assistant-manager of the Christchurch branch. He then went into partnership with Mr Henderson, and upon his death he ran Henderson and Burns, a

share broker A stockbroker is a regulated broker, broker-dealer, or registered investment adviser (in the United States) who may provide financial advisory and investment management services and execute transactions such as the purchase or sale of stocks and ...

. By the time of his death in 1932, Burns was a director of Whitcombe & Tombs Ltd. a national chain of book stores. He married Alice May Gower, and the couple had a son, Archibald, who committed suicide during the First World War, while serving as part of the Canterbury Infantry Battalion.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Burns, Benjamin 1848 births 1932 deaths Blackheath F.C. players English rugby union players England international rugby union players Rugby union forwards Rugby union players from Perth, Scotland