Edward Peake (29 March 1860 – 3 January 1945) was a Wales 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 ...

three-quarter and

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

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 ...

er. Educated at

Oriel College, Oxford Oriel College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in Oxford, England. Located in Oriel Square, the college has the distinction of being the oldest royal foundation in Oxford (a title formerly claimed by University College, wh ...

, Peake would win a

Blue Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between violet and cyan on the spectrum of visible light. The eye perceives blue when obs ...

for cricket before representing

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

. Peake is most notable for being a member of the first

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 ...

rugby union team that played England in 1881. In his later life he became a teacher and

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

minister.

Personal life

He was born in Tidenham,

to Richard Peake of Chepstow and his wife Gertrude Peake. He was educated first at

Marlborough College Marlborough College is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Independent school (United Kingdom), independent boarding school) for pupils aged 13 to 18 in Marlborough, Wiltshire, England. Founded in 1843 for the sons of Church ...

, and matriculated at

in 1880, graduating B.A. in 1883 and M.A. in 1886. While at Oxford Peake won Blues in both cricket and athletics and represented the university rugby team. He had a brief career in rugby, curtailed by injury, but was able to have a longer cricketing career, representing Gloucestershire and Berkshire. Peake was a school teacher by profession and became assistant master at two

private schools An independent school is independent in its finances and governance. Also known as private schools, non-governmental, privately funded, or non-state schools, they are not administered by local, state or national governments. In British Eng ...

at Southborne and

Clifton Clifton may refer to: People *Clifton (surname) *Clifton (given name) Places Australia * Clifton, Queensland, a town **Shire of Clifton *Clifton, New South Wales, a suburb of Wollongong *Clifton, Western Australia Canada *Clifton, Nova Scotia ...

before later teaching 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 ...

. From 1885 until 1896 he was assistant master at

Giggleswick School Giggleswick School is a public school (English independent day and boarding school) in Giggleswick, near Settle, North Yorkshire, England. Early school In 1499, Giggleswick School was founded on half an acre of land leased by the Prior an ...

in Yorkshire, before gaining his first headship, at

Bradford College Bradford College is a further and higher education college in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, with approximately 25,000 students. The college offers a range of full and part-time courses from introductory level through to postgraduate l ...

, a post he held from 1896 to 1909. In 1909 he gained a position as chaplain of

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church ( la, Ædes Christi, the temple or house, '' ædēs'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, the college is uniqu ...

where he was also the headmaster of their Cathedral Choir School. By 1921, Peake had left education and was the rector of

Bluntisham Bluntisham is a village and civil parish in Cambridgeshire, England. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 2,003. Bluntisham lies approximately east of Huntingdon. Bluntisham is situated within Huntingdonshire whi ...

in Huntingdonshire, where he died on 3 January 1945. Edward Peake left money in his will for a school to be built, Edward Peake Middle School on Potton Road, Biggleswade, Bedfordshire.

Rugby career

Peake first played rugby at Marlborough College, before representing

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, though he did not win a sporting Blue. Peake later played rugby for Chepstow and while representing the club was chosen by Richard Mullock as one of the Welsh XV to face England in the very first Wales rugby international. The first Welsh team was mainly chosen from the geographic distribution of the representative clubs, so Mulloch could appease the different club regions of Wales, and the university pedigree of the players.Smith (1980), pg 40. Peake would have fitted both these categories, and would have been known to Mullock as his Newport team had played Chepstow twice in the 1879–1880 season.Smith (1980), pg 38. Peake played at three-quarters alongside the team captain

James Bevan James Alfred Bevan (15 April 1858 – 3 February 1938) was a Wales international rugby union three-quarter who played club rugby for Clifton RFC and Newport. He is best known for being the first Welsh international captain, whilst at Cambridg ...

, in a game that quickly turned into a national embarrassment when England scored 13 tries without reply. This first historic game would be Peake's one and only international rugby cap, along with eight other members of the Welsh squad. From that first Welsh squad, Peake was one of three players who later became Anglican clergymen, the others being captain, Bevan and future Wales' captain

Charlie Newman Charlie Newman (28 February 1857 – 28 September 1922) was a Welsh international three-quarter who played club rugby for Newport. He was awarded ten caps for Wales and captained the team on six occasions. An original member of the Newport squa ...

.Smith (1980), pg 7. Peake later played a single game for first-class Welsh team

Newport RFC Newport Rugby Football Club ( cy, Clwb Rygbi Casnewydd) is a Welsh rugby union club based in the city of Newport, South Wales. They presently play in the Welsh Premier Division. Until 2021 Newport RFC were based at Rodney Parade situated on t ...

, but his rugby career would be cut short after a

hurdling Hurdling is the act of jumping over an obstacle at a high speed or in a sprint. In the early 19th century, hurdlers ran at and jumped over each hurdle (sometimes known as 'burgles'), landing on both feet and checking their forward motion. Today, ...

accident at Oxford.

International matches played

WalesSmith (1980), pg 470. * 1881

Cricket career

Peake first played cricket for Marlborough College, where he was a member of the cricket eleven in 1878, captaining the team in 1879. At Oriel College he joined the University cricket team, playing from the 1880 season through to 1883, winning a Sporting Blue. Peake played in 46 first-class cricket matches, 26 of them for Gloucester, and played alongside E. M. and

W. G. Grace William Gilbert Grace (18 July 1848 – 23 October 1915) was an English Amateur status in first-class cricket, amateur cricketer who was important in the development of the sport and is widely considered one of its greatest players. He played ...

. He also played minor counties championship cricket with Berkshire. As a first-class cricketer he took 116 wickets as a right-arm fast bowler, and averaged 13.07 runs with the bat in 80 innings.cricket statistics for Edward Peake
cricinfo.com

Bibliography

References

External links

Cricketarchive.co.uk
Edward Peake playing profile, Newport RFC
BlackandAmbers.co.uk

Scrum.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Peake, Edward 1860 births 1945 deaths 20th-century English Anglican priests Alumni of Oriel College, Oxford Berkshire cricketers English cricketers English rugby union players Gentlemen of England cricketers Gloucestershire cricketers Newport RFC players Oxford University cricketers Oxford University RFC players People from Bluntisham People from Tidenham Rugby union players from Gloucestershire Schoolteachers from Gloucestershire Wales international rugby union players Welsh rugby union players Rugby union three-quarters