Charles Alexander Hooper (6 July 1869 – 16 September 1950) 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 its m ...

forward who played club rugby for

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

and Middlesex Wanderers and international rugby for

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 ...

. In 1890 Hooper became one of the original members of the Barbarians Football Club.

Personal history

Hooper was born in

Stonehouse, Gloucestershire Stonehouse is a town in the Stroud District of Gloucestershire in southwestern England. The town centre is 2.5 miles east of the M5 motorway, junction 13. Stonehouse railway station has a regular train service to London. The town is situated ...

in 1869 to Charles Henry Hooper, and was educated at

Clifton College ''The spirit nourishes within'' , established = 160 years ago , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent boarding and day school , religion = Christian , president = , head_label = Head of College , head ...

, where he was head boy, before matriculating to

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by Henry VIII, King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge ...

in 1888. He received his BA in 1891, and in 1914 he emigrated to Hong Kong where he practised as a solicitor. With the outbreak of World War I, he served in the Hong Kong Special Police Force. He returned to England later in his life, dying in 1950 at

Gerrards Cross Gerrards Cross is a town and civil parish in south Buckinghamshire, England, separated from the London Borough of Hillingdon at Harefield by Denham, south of Chalfont St Peter and north bordering villages of Fulmer, Hedgerley, Iver Heath and St ...

, Buckinghamshire, from a cerebral haemorrhage.http://www.cliftonrfchistory.co.uk/internationals/england/hooper/hooper.htm Clifton Rugby Football Club History

Rugby career

While at Clifton College, Hooper played both rugby football and cricket for the college team. After entering Cambridge, Hooper joined the university team, and played in

the Varsity Match The Varsity Match is an annual rugby union fixture played between the universities of Oxford University RFC, Oxford and Cambridge University R.U.F.C., Cambridge in England. The event began in 1872 with the first men's match, with interruptions ...

of 1890. The Cambridge team for the 1890 encounter contained several players that would go on to play at international level, and

Gregor MacGregor General Gregor MacGregor (24 December 1786 – 4 December 1845) was a Scottish soldier, adventurer, and confidence trickster who attempted from 1821 to 1837 to draw British and French investors and settlers to "Poyais", a fictional Central Am ...

Thomas Storey Thomas Storey (1871 – 5 January 1953) was an Australian politician. He was the younger brother of New South Wales premier John Storey, and father of Liberal Politician Sydney Storey. He was born in Balmain to shipbuilder William John Sto ...

Randolph Aston Randolph Littleton Aston (6 September 1869 – 3 November 1930) was an English rugby union centre who played club rugby for Blackheath and Cambridge University and was a member of the first official British Isles tour in 1891. Personal history ...

and

Charles Nicholl Charles "Boomer" Bowen Nicholl (19 June 1870 – 9 July 1939) was a Welsh international rugby union forward who played club rugby for Cambridge University and Llanelli. Nicholl played for Wales on fifteen occasions during the 1891 and 1896 Ho ...

, would all join Hooper as original members of 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 less c ...

later that season. The Varsity Match ended in a draw, with both teams scoring a goal, in a match that was postponed on three occasions due to fog. Barbarians FC April 1891

In the 1890/91 season, Hooper was approached to join the newly formed invitational touring club the Barbarians. In accepting, Hooper became one of the team's original members and represented the team on the pitch nine times. Although only appearing in one winning team, he scored four tries, including two in the win over Devonshire in April 1891. Away from the playing field, Hooper also represented the Barbarians as a committee member. On leaving University, Hooper joined Middlesex Wanderers, and as a member of this team he was selected to play at county level with Gloucestershire and later England. Hooper won all three of his caps for England during the

1894 Home Nations Championship The 1894 Home Nations Championship was the twelfth series of the rugby union Home Nations Championship. Six matches were played between 6 January and 17 March. It was contested by England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Table Results ...

. After the events of the

1893 Events January–March * January 2 – Webb C. Ball introduces railroad chronometers, which become the general railroad timepiece standards in North America. * Mark Twain started writing Puddn'head Wilson. * January 6 – Th ...

encounter with

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 ...

, England decided to emulate the Welsh tactic and switched from three three-quarter players to four three-quarter players. Hooper came into the three-quarters at centre along with

Samuel Morfitt Samuel Morfitt (10 December 1868 – 16 January 1954) was an English rugby union and rugby league footballer who played in the 1880s and 1890s. He played representative level rugby union (RU) for England, Yorkshire and Durham, and at club level ...

, who was also making his team debut. The first match of the tournament was against Wales, and the Welsh played a messy and confused game, that despite winning most of the scrums were unable to utilise their backs properly.Griffiths (1982), pg 65. England won 24–3, with Hooper making a mark during the game, from which Ernest William Taylor scored a goal. Hooper's second international match was played with home advantage at the

Rectory Field Rectory Field is a sports ground in Blackheath in the Royal Borough of Greenwich in south-east London. It was developed in the 1880s by Blackheath Cricket, Football and Lawn Tennis Company and became the home ground of rugby union team Blackheath ...

against

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 ...

. England failed to learn from the Welsh mistakes of the previous match, and concentrated too much on heeling from scrummages, which allowed the Irish to play a spoiling game.Griffiths (1982), pg 66. With good dribbling skills the Irish camped for most of the first half of the game in English territory. Despite England taking the lead with a few minutes remaining, Hooper was caught in possession under his posts, and when the ball ran loose, Irish forward

Edmund Forrest Edmund is a masculine given name or surname in the English language. The name is derived from the Old English elements ''ēad'', meaning "prosperity" or "riches", and ''mund'', meaning "protector". Persons named Edmund include: People Kings and ...

collected the ball and scored a winning dropped goal. For Hooper's final international, England were without their inspirational captain Richard Lockwood, who had marshalled the English three-quarters in the opening two games. His position was filled by the inexperienced

Walter Jesse Jackson Walter Jesse Jackson (16 March 1870 – 1 December 1958) was an English rugby union and professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1890s. He played representative level rugby union (RU) for the British Isles, and England, and at clu ...

, and the without Lockwood's pace and skill the backs were unable to manufacture any scoring opportunities from the possession the forwards produced.Griffiths (1982), pg 67. Even down to 14 men, Scotland were still the stronger team, and won the match 6–0, taking the

Calcutta Cup The Calcutta Cup is the trophy awarded to the winner of the rugby match between England and Scotland played annually in the Six Nations Championship. Like the match itself (England–Scotland), the Calcutta Cup is the oldest trophy contested be ...

. Hooper never represented England again. The following season, Middlesex Wanderers folded, and Hooper joined

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, ...

Bibliography

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hooper, Charles 1869 births 1950 deaths English rugby union players England international rugby union players Rugby union centres Barbarian F.C. players Richmond F.C. players People educated at Clifton College Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Cambridge University R.U.F.C. players People from Stonehouse, Gloucestershire Rugby union players from Gloucestershire