Fernand "Fred" Bonsor (1862-1932) was a rugby union international who represented

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 ...

from 1886 to 1889, he also captained his country. At club level he played for

Bradford FC Bradford (Park Avenue) Association Football Club is an association football club based in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in , at the sixth tier of the English football league system. The name derived from their former hom ...

, and Skipton RFC.

Early life

Fernand Bonsor was born in 1862 in France, the son of Robert and Louise Bonsor. His father was a dye manufacturer. Fernand, his elder brother Robert, younger brother Morris, and both parents, were born in France, though British subjects. The family moved to Shipley sometime after 1871 and Fernand soon became known as Fred. In his latter teens he studied for the Civil Service examination although his profession by his late twenties seemed to follow his father into industry, being a wholesale bottler and agent. During July–September 1885 he married Fannie Milnes of Halifax in Bradford district.FreeBMD. England & Wales, FreeBMD Marriage Index: 1837–1915 atabase on-line Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006. Original data: General Register Office. England and Wales Civil Registration Indexes. London, England: General Register Office.

Rugby union career

Bonsor made his international début on Saturday 2 January 1886 at the Rectory Field, Blackheath in the

versus

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 ...

match. Of the six matches he played for his national side he was on the winning side on 3 occasions. He played his last match for England on Saturday 16 February 1889 at Rectory Field, Blackheath in the

versus New Zealand Natives match.

Change of Code

When Bradford converted from the

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 ...

code to the

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

code on Thursday 29 August 1895, Fred Bonsor would have been approximately 33 years of age. Consequently, he may have been both a rugby union and rugby league footballer for Bradford.

References

External links

Search for "Bonsor" at rugbyleagueproject.org
*[http://www.rlhp.co.uk/archive/jpeg/RG-1884-7.jpg Photograph "Bradford's Yorkshire Rugby Union Cup winning side - Bradford's only Yorkshire Cup winning side of the Rugby Union era. - 01/01/1884" at rlhp.co.uk]
Photograph "Fred Bonsor - Half back and captain of the Yorkshire Cup winning team, also captained the England Rugby Union team in 1889 - 01/01/1890" at rlhp.co.ukPhotograph "Bradford (F.C.) c.1888 - This team contained six England internationals. - 01/01/1888" at rlhp.co.ukSearch for "Fred Bonsor" at britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bonsor, Fred 1862 births 1932 deaths Bradford F.C. players England international rugby union players English rugby union players Rugby union halfbacks Skipton RFC players Yorkshire County RFU players Sportspeople from Shipley, West Yorkshire Rugby union players from Yorkshire