Charles Young Adamson (18 April 1875 – 17 September 1918) was an English 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 ...

utility As a topic of economics, utility is used to model worth or value. Its usage has evolved significantly over time. The term was introduced initially as a measure of pleasure or happiness as part of the theory of utilitarianism by moral philosopher ...

back who played club rugby for Durham. Adamson played international rugby for the

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team on its 1899 tour of Australia. Adamson was also a gentleman cricketer, playing mainly for Durham City. After the 1899 rugby tour, he remained in Brisbane playing for the

Valley District Cricket Club Valley District Cricket Club is a cricket club playing in the Bulls Masters premiership, the leading club cricket competition in Queensland, Australia. The club was established on 16 August 1897 and is one of only four remaining foundation club ...

and turned out for a single

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 ...

match for

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

, as well as playing in

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham *County Durham, an English county * Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States *Durham, North Carolina, a city in N ...

's first

Minor Counties Championship The NCCA 3 Day Championship (previously the Minor Counties Cricket Championship) is a season-long competition in England and Wales that is contested by the members of the National Counties Cricket Association (NCCA), the so-called national cou ...

match in 1895. He played for Durham until 1914.

Personal history

Adamson was born in

Neville's Cross Neville's Cross is a place in County Durham, in England. It is also a ward of Durham with a population taken at the 2011 census of 9,940. It is situated on the A167 trunk road to the west of the centre of Durham. The area is primarily residenti ...

County Durham County Durham ( ), officially simply Durham,UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. is a ceremonial county in North East England.North East Assembly �About North East E ...

in 1875 to John Adamson of Little Grant,

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

. The Adamson family were strongly connected to cricket, with John representing Durham, and Adamson's sons, Charles Lodge Adamson and John Alfred Adamson playing in the minor counties. Adamson was brother-in-law to

Lewis Vaughan Lodge Lewis Vaughan Lodge (21 December 1872 – 21 October 1916) was an English footballer who represented the England national football team. He also played first-class cricket with Hampshire. Sporting career Lodge, a left- or right-back, made his ...

, who played international football 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 ...

. Adamson set up in business, and ran a hotel in partnership with William Henry Wood and John Adamson, but the business was dissolved on 18 October 1917. During the First World War, Adamson was a captain (

Quartermaster Quartermaster is a military term, the meaning of which depends on the country and service. In land armies, a quartermaster is generally a relatively senior soldier who supervises stores or barracks and distributes supplies and provisions. In m ...

) in the 6th Battalion of the Royal Scots Fusiliers. He was killed on 17 September 1918 during an assault on enemy trenches at the Fourth Battle of Doiran on the

Macedonian front The Macedonian front, also known as the Salonica front (after Thessaloniki), was a military theatre of World War I formed as a result of an attempt by the Allied Powers to aid Serbia, in the autumn of 1915, against the combined attack of German ...

in the

Kingdom of Greece The Kingdom of Greece ( grc, label=Greek, Βασίλειον τῆς Ἑλλάδος ) was established in 1832 and was the successor state to the First Hellenic Republic. It was internationally recognised by the Treaty of Constantinople, where ...

. He is buried at Karasouli Military Cemetery in Thessaloniki regional unit.

Rugby career

Adamson came to note as a rugby player while representing

Durham School Durham School is an independent boarding and day school in the English public school tradition located in Durham, North East England and was an all-boys institution until 1985, when girls were admitted to the sixth form. The school takes pupils a ...

and Durham City Rugby Football Club. In 1898 he was made a member of invitational touring side The Barbarians. Although never representing the England national team, Adamson was invited to tour with the British Isles team on the first official tour of Australia in 1899. Adamson was the stand-out player of the tour, being selected in all 20 matches and amassing 136 points in all games. He scored 17 points from the Test matches, two tries, four conversions and a penalty goal, making him the Tour's top scorer. In total he scored 8 tries, 35 conversions, 3 dropped goals and 10 penalty goals, 136-point by 1899 IRB rules; 149 by modern (2009) scoring rules. In the First Test, Adamson was placed at centre, alongside

Gwyn Nicholls Erith Gwyn Nicholls (15 July 1874 – 24 March 1939)Newport RFC player profiles
was a W ...

; but after the British team lost the game, team captain

Matthew Mullineux Matthew Mullineux MC (8 August 1867 – 13 February 1945) was an English rugby union scrum-half who, although not capped for England, was selected for two British Lions tours. He gained one cap during the 1896 tour to South Africa and cap ...

dropped himself from the team to bring Adamson into his position at half-back. This move is seen as the turning point in the tour, and the British team won the final three Tests, with Adamson scoring in all three victories. On his return to Britain, Adamson continued playing rugby and during the 1901–02 season represented Bristol.Clifton Rugby Football Club History
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Bibliography

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Adamson, Charlie 1875 births 1918 deaths Barbarian F.C. players British & Irish Lions rugby union players from England British Army personnel of World War I British military personnel killed in World War I Durham cricket captains Durham cricketers English cricketers English rugby union players People educated at Durham School Queensland cricketers Royal Scots Fusiliers officers Rugby union players from Durham, England