Engineer Captain Charles Gerald Taylor (8 May 1863 – 24 January 1915) was a

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

officer and

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 ...

international

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 club rugby for

Blackheath Blackheath may refer to: Places England *Blackheath, London, England ** Blackheath railway station **Hundred of Blackheath, Kent, an ancient hundred in the north west of the county of Kent, England *Blackheath, Surrey, England ** Hundred of Blackh ...

. He was the first Welsh international to be killed in action during World War I.Rugby Heroes who went to War

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Matthew Ferris, November 2008 Taylor was an all-round athlete, and at one time was the Welsh pole vault champion.Jenkins (1991), pg 151.

Military career

Born in

Ruabon Ruabon ( cy, Rhiwabon ) is a village and community in Wrexham County Borough, Wales. The name comes from ''Rhiw Fabon'', ''rhiw'' being the Welsh word for "slope" or "hillside" and ''Fabon'' being a mutation from St Mabon, the original church ...

, on 8 May 1863, Taylor joined the Royal Navy on 1 July 1885, when he was rated an acting assistant engineer. Following his initial training he was confirmed in the rank on 1 July 1886.RN Officer's Service Records—Taylor, Charles Gerald
''DocumentsOnline'',

The National Archives National archives are central archives maintained by countries. This article contains a list of national archives. Among its more important tasks are to ensure the accessibility and preservation of the information produced by governments, both ...

(fee may be required to view pdf of full original record). Retrieved 10 November 2008. He was promoted to engineer on 1 September 1890, and chief engineer on 30 December 1900. He became an engineer

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...

on 26 March 1903, and on 30 December 1904 was promoted to engineer

commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries this naval rank is termed frigate captain. ...

. On 3 February 1911

King George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. Born during the reign of his grandmother Que ...

appointed him a Member of the Fourth Class of the Royal Victorian Order On 7 February 1912 he was promoted to engineer

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

. Much of Taylor's career was spent at training or other shore establishments. However, shortly after the outbreak of World War I he was posted to the

battlecruiser The battlecruiser (also written as battle cruiser or battle-cruiser) was a type of capital ship of the first half of the 20th century. These were similar in displacement, armament and cost to battleships, but differed in form and balance of attr ...

HMS ''Queen Mary'', on 16 September 1914. On 20 November he was transferred to HMS ''Tiger''. On 24 January 1915, ''Tiger'' was one of the vessels engaged in the Battle of Dogger Bank. HMS ''Tiger'' was struck by fire from the German cruiser SMS ''Blücher'', and Taylor died during the engagement. Taylor was not buried at sea, and his body was returned to Britain to be buried at Tavistock New Cemetery in

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Rugby career

It is unlikely Taylor ever played rugby for Ruabon as widely reported. He was an association footballer before he left home at sixteen to enrol as a naval engineering student at HMS Marlborough in Portsmouth. It was there he was converted into a rugby player. Taylor was a member of the HMS Marlborough rugby club when he made his debut for

against England in 1884 under the captaincy of Charlie Newman in the Home Nations Championship. Wales lost the game but Taylor would play in the remaining two games of the campaign against Scotland and Ireland. In 1884 Taylor was reselected for Wales, in a team that would host several past and future captains, including Arthur Gould,

Tom Clapp Tom Clapp (25 October 1858 – 15 October 1933) was an English-born international rugby union forward who played club rugby for Newport and Nantyglo RFC. He won 14 caps for Wales and captained the team on three occasions. Clapp was the first ...

Frank Hancock Francis Escott "Frank" Hancock (7 February 1859 – 29 October 1943) was an English-born rugby union centre who played club rugby for Somerset and Cardiff and international rugby for Wales. Hancock is best known as being the sport's first fourth ...

and Newman. In the 1885 Championship Taylor made his first international score when he converted

William Stadden William James Wood "Buller" Stadden (1861 –30 December 1906) was a Welsh international rugby union half back who played club rugby for Canton, Cardiff and Dewsbury. Stadden won eight caps for Wales over a period of seven years and is mos ...

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, though as no points were given to conversions at the time he is recorded with no career score. In 1885, Taylor was spending much of his time in London, and when a group of Welshmen came together to form a club for London 'exiles', Taylor was among them. The club formed in June 1885, and Taylor became a committee member at the first meetingJones (1985), pg 3. and then on 21 October became a member of the very first London Welsh team.Jones (1985), pg 6. London Welsh would become a prominent club providing many Welsh internationals, the very first team containing six internationals; Taylor, Arthur Gould,

Martyn Jordan Martyn Jordan (7 March 1865 – 14 July 1902) was an English-born international rugby union player who played club rugby for London Welsh and Newport and international rugby for Wales. Jordan played in three games for Wales scoring two tries, ...

, Thomas Judson, T. Williams and Rowley Thomas. In 1886, Taylor was part of Frank Hancock's team that experimented with the four threequarter system for the first time in an international match. It was an unsuccessful experiment and was abandoned during the match. Taylor's final game for Wales was in 1887 against Ireland in a win at Birkenhead.

International games played

WalesSmith (1980), pg 472. * 1884, 1885, 1886, 1887 * 1884, 1887 * 1884, 1885, 1886

Bibliography

* * * *Prescott, Gwyn (2014). ''Call Them to Remembrance: The Welsh Rugby Internationals who died in the Great War''. .

References

External links

Career Statistics
at ESPN Scrum {{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Charles 1863 births 1915 deaths People from Ruabon Welsh military personnel British military personnel killed in World War I Blackheath F.C. players Graduates of the Royal Naval College, Greenwich Lieutenants of the Royal Victorian Order London Welsh RFC players Rugby union players from Wrexham Maelor Royal Navy officers Royal Navy officers of World War I Welsh rugby union players Wales international rugby union players Rugby union three-quarters