Fitzmaurice "Ferdie" Thomas Drake Aston (18 September 1871 – 15 October 1926) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

-born South African

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 it ...

player. He was capped four times for

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

, captaining them in three Tests. Aston made his debut appearance for South Africa on 30 July

1896 Events January–March * January 2 – The Jameson Raid comes to an end, as Jameson surrenders to the Boers. * January 4 – Utah is admitted as the 45th U.S. state. * January 5 – An Austrian newspaper reports that ...

, when a

British Isles The British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isles, ...

team came to

. The game was played in Port Elizabeth, and won by the British, eight points to nil. Aston was also captain on that day. He was capped again on 22 August, again as captain in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Dem ...

at Wanderers, South Africa going down 17 to eight. Aston captained South Africa again on 29 August against the

in Kimberley, which

also lost, three points to nine. He did not skipper the final game on 5 September in

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

Newlands Newlands may refer to: Places Australia * Newlands, Queensland, a locality in the Whitsunday Region New Zealand * Newlands, Wellington, a suburb of Wellington South Africa * Newlands, Cape Town, a suburb of Cape Town * Newlands, Johannesbur ...

, though South Africa won this game, five to nil. He did not play for South Africa again after the tour. Aston died in 1926.

External links

Ferdie Aston
on the Springbok Rugby Hall of Fame 1871 births 1926 deaths British emigrants to South Africa English rugby union players Golden Lions players Rugby union players from Cheltenham South Africa international rugby union players South African rugby union players Rugby union wings {{SouthAfrica-rugbyunion-bio-stub

See also

External links