Edward Bowler Millton (7 March 1861 – 11 March 1942) was a New Zealand

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 represented his country in 1884, playing as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

. Born in

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

in 1861 and educated at Christ's College, Millton played for the Christchurch club and made seven appearances for the provincial team between 1883 and 1886, as well as one for as a loan player in 1884. He was a member of the first

New Zealand national rugby union team The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987 ...

, which toured New South Wales in 1884. He played in seven of the eight matches on that tour, scoring one try. He did not play in any Test matches, as New Zealand did not play its first full international until 1903. Millton and his older brother,

William William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

, who captained the New Zealand team on the 1884 tour to New South Wales, have the distinction of being the first brothers to represent New Zealand in rugby. Millton married Maud Eliza Ford at St Peter's Church,

Riccarton Riccarton may refer to: New Zealand * Riccarton, New Zealand, a suburb of Christchurch ** Riccarton (New Zealand electorate), the electorate named after it ** The location of Riccarton Race Course * a locality on the Taieri Plains in Otago Scotlan ...

, on 22 March 1892. He died at

Loburn Loburn is a rural community in North Canterbury, New Zealand, Canterbury, New Zealand. It is located ten kilometres northwest of Rangiora and nearly 50 kilometres north of Christchurch. Loburn is a small community, with no shops. Local industr ...

on 11 March 1942. He bequeathed his sheep farm, Birch Hill Station, and another property at Okuku, to the Sunlight League of New Zealand for the establishment of the "Ford Millton Memorial Home for Children".

References

1861 births 1942 deaths New Zealand international rugby union players New Zealand rugby union players People educated at Christ's College, Christchurch Rugby union players from Christchurch Canterbury rugby union players Rugby union forwards Wellington rugby union players New Zealand philanthropists New Zealand farmers {{NewZealand-rugbyunion-bio-1860s-stub