Edwin Mayfiled (21 July 1870 – 18 January 1961) was an English rugby union forward who played club rugby for Cambridge University, and was also a member of the first official British Lions tour in 1891. He was educated for the law but became a professional soldier.

Personal life

Mayfield was born in

Brantingham Brantingham is a village and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, about north of Brough, west of Hull and north of the A63 road. The 2011 UK Census gave the parish had a population of 370, marking a decrease from the 2001 ...

, Yorkshire in 1870 to Joseph Robinson Mayfield, a paper manufacturer from Hemel Hempstead. Mayfield was educated at several schools, including Lockers Park School and The Leys School, before going up to

Caius College, Cambridge Gonville and Caius College, often referred to simply as Caius ( ), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1348, it is the fourth-oldest of the University of Cambridge's 31 colleges and one of th ...

in 1888. He graduated in 1891 and was

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

, through the Middle Temple in 1898. Mayfield was commissioned as a

second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

in the Royal Sussex Militia Artillery on 2 March 1900. He saw active service during the First World War, reaching the temporary rank of

lieutenant colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

and also served with the newly formed Royal Air Force.

Rugby career

Mayfield first came to note as a rugby player, when he represented Cambridge during his student years. In 1891 he won a sporting 'Blue' when he represented Cambridge in the 1891 Varsity Match. In 1891 Mayfield was selected to take part in the first official British Isles tour when he joined

Bill Maclagan William Edward Maclagan (5 April 1858 – 10 October 1926) was a Scottish international rugby union forward who played club rugby for London Scottish F.C. Maclagan was one of the longest-serving international rugby players during the early dev ...

's team on their

tour of South Africa The Tour of South Africa was a stage cycling race in South Africa that was only held once, in 2011. It was part of UCI Africa Tour as a 2.2 The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), the world's governing body in the sport of bicycle racing, clas ...

. Mayfield was not part of the First Test at Port Elizabeth, but played in both the Second Test at Kimberley and the Third Test in Cape Town; both wins over the

South African national team South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz' ...

Bibliography

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mayfield, Edwin 1870 births 1961 deaths British & Irish Lions rugby union players from England Rugby union players from Yorkshire Rugby union forwards People from the East Riding of Yorkshire Alumni of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge People educated at Lockers Park School People educated at The Leys School British Army personnel of World War I Military personnel from the East Riding of Yorkshire Cambridge University R.U.F.C. players