Gilbert Austin (first ¼ 1895 – first ¼ 1948) was an English professional

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 ...

footballer who played in the 1910s and 1920s. He played at representative level for

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

, and at club level fo

Hull Kingston Rovers Hull Kingston Rovers are a professional rugby league club based in Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, England, that competes in the Super League, the top tier of British rugby league. The club has won five league championships, and one Challeng ...

and

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

, as a (occasional)

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-kicking , or .

Background

Gilbert Austin's birth was registered in

Sculcoates Sculcoates is a suburb of Kingston upon Hull, north of the city centre, in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. For many centuries, much of what was called Hull came within the parish of St Mary's Church. Sculcoates railway station closed ...

district,

Hull Hull may refer to: Structures * Chassis, of an armored fighting vehicle * Fuselage, of an aircraft * Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds * Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a ship * Submarine hull Mathematics * Affine hull, in affi ...

East Riding of Yorkshire The East Riding of Yorkshire, or simply East Riding or East Yorkshire, is a ceremonial county and unitary authority area in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and west, South Yorkshire to t ...

, England, he lived in First Lane, Northfield,

Hessle Hessle () is a town, civil parish and electoral ward in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, west of Kingston upon Hull city centre. Geographically it is part of a larger urban area consisting of the city of Kingston upon Hull, the town of ...

, he died from injuries sustained in a traffic collision, when a taxi that he, his wife (also seriously injured) and another four people (of which one woman was also seriously injured) were travelling in, was in collision with a

truck A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame construction ...

near Ferriby,

, England, and his death aged 53 was registered in

district,

, England.

Playing career

International honours

Gilbert Austin played for "The Reds" in the 15–38 defeat by "The Whites" in a trial match for the 1924 Great Britain Lions tour of Australia and New Zealand trial match at

Central Park Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West Side, Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the List of New York City parks, fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban par ...

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas, Lancashire, River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the nor ...

on Wednesday 20 February 1924, in front of a crowd of 15,000, but ultimately he was not selected for

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

.Irvin Saxton (publish date tbc) "History of Rugby League – № 29 – 1923–24".

Rugby Leaguer Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

ISBN n/a

County honours

Gilbert Austin played for

while at

; he played in the 5–6 defeat by

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

in the 1923–24

County Championship The County Championship (referred to as the LV= Insurance County Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales and is organised by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). It bec ...

match during the 1923–24 season at

Watersheddings Watersheddings was the site of a former rugby league stadium in the Watersheddings area of Oldham in Greater Manchester, England. Historically it was in Lancashire, lying on the A672 (Ripponden Road) approximately 2 miles north east of Oldham ...

Oldham Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, amid the Pennines and between the rivers Irk and Medlock, southeast of Rochdale and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, wh ...

on Saturday 8 December 1923, he played in the 0–20 defeat by

Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is a historic county in the far North West England. It covers part of the Lake District as well as the north Pennines and Solway Firth coast. Cumberland had an administrative function from the 12th century until 1974. From 19 ...

in the 1924–25

match during the 1924–25 season at the

Recreation Ground A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are green spaces set aside for recreation inside towns and cities. N ...

Whitehaven Whitehaven is a town and port on the English north west coast and near to the Lake District National Park in Cumbria, England. Historically in Cumberland, it lies by road south-west of Carlisle and to the north of Barrow-in-Furness. It is th ...

on Saturday 18 October 1924.Irvin Saxton (publish date tbc) "History of Rugby League – № 30 – 1924–25".

ISBN n/a he played in the 9–28 defeat by

in the 1924–25

match during the 1924–25 season at

Thrum Hall Thrum Hall was a rugby league stadium on Hanson Lane in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. It was the home of Halifax for 112 years. The site on which the ground stood is now occupied by a supermarket. History In 1878, Halifax, who had just w ...

, Halifax on Saturday 29 November 1924. and he played in the 10–26 defeat by

in the 1925–26

match during the 1925–26 season at

City Road City Road or The City Road is a road that runs through central London. The northwestern extremity of the road is at Angel where it forms a continuation of Pentonville Road. Pentonville Road itself is the modern name for the eastern part of Lo ...

(the then home ground of St. Helens Recs), St. Helens on Saturday 12 December 1925.Irvin Saxton (publish date tbc) "History of Rugby League – № 31 – 1925–26".

ISBN n/a

Challenge Cup Final appearances

Gilbert Austin played in the

' 3–16 defeat by

in the 1924–25 Challenge Cup Final during the 1924–25 season at

Headingley Headingley is a suburb of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, approximately two miles out of the city centre, to the north west along the A660 road. Headingley is the location of the Beckett Park campus of Leeds Beckett University and Headingle ...

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

on Saturday 25 April 1925, in front of a crowd of 28,335.Hoole, Les (1998). ''The Rugby League Challenge Cup – An Illustrated History''. Breedon Books.

Club career

Gilbert Austin made his début (as did Frank Bielby) for

, and scored a

try Try or TRY may refer to: Music Albums * ''Try!'', an album by the John Mayer Trio * ''Try'' (Bebo Norman album) (2014) Songs * "Try" (Blue Rodeo song) (1987) * "Try" (Colbie Caillat song) (2014) * "Try" (Nelly Furtado song) (2004) * " Try (Ju ...

in the 22–10 victory over

Wakefield Trinity Wakefield Trinity is a professional rugby league club in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England, that plays in the Super League. One of the original twenty-two clubs that formed the Northern Rugby Football Union in 1895, between 1999 and 2016 the c ...

Craven Street Craven Street is a street in the City of Westminster, London, near Strand. A number of notable historical figures have lived in the street which was the home of Benjamin Franklin when he lived in London before the American Revolution. History T ...

Kingston upon Hull Kingston upon Hull, usually abbreviated to Hull, is a port city and unitary authority in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It lies upon the River Hull at its confluence with the Humber Estuary, inland from the North Sea and south-east ...

Saturday 25 January 1919, he mainly played in his first two seasons of 1918–19 season and 1919–20 season, mainly playing in the 1920–21 season and 1921–22 season, and mainly playing from the 1922–23 season onwards, he scored 37- tries in the 1924–25 season, including 6- tries against Halifax in the

RFL Yorkshire Cup The RFL Yorkshire Cup is a rugby league county cup competition for teams in Yorkshire. Starting in 1905 the competition ran, with the exception of 1915 to 1918, until the 1992–93 season, when it folded due to fixture congestion. In 2019, th ...

, he was described as being ‘not blessed with either pace or tremendous strength, he was an extremely dedicated and reliable all-rounder who knew his way to the try-line and who never gave less than his best’, he scored his last try for Hull Kingston Rovers against St. Helens Recs on Sunday 1 January 1928, he played his last match for Hull Kingston Rovers in the 0–0 draw with

Dewsbury Dewsbury is a minster and market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It lies on the River Calder and on an arm of the Calder and Hebble Navigation waterway. It is to the west of Wakefield, east of Hudder ...

on Saturday 7 January 1928, and he was transferred from Hull Kingston Rovers to

during early October 1928.

Testimonial match

A joint benefit

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pol ...

testimonial match A testimonial match or testimonial game, often referred to simply as a testimonial, is a practice in some sports, particularly in association football in the United Kingdom and South America, where a club has a match to honour a player for servic ...

during the 1927–28 season was shared by; Gilbert Austin and Frank Bielby, during May 1928 each player received £81 9 s 7 d (based on increases in average earnings, this would be approximately £25,480 in 2017).

Career records

Gilbert Austin previously held rugby league's "most consecutive matches played" record with 190-matches, from his début on Saturday 25 January 1919 to nearly 5-years later on Saturday 8 December 1923, when he played for

against

, this record was subsequently extended to 239-matches (242?) by

Keith Elwell Keith Elwell (12 February 1950), also known by the nicknames of "The Mole", "Chiefy", and "The Ubiquitous Elwell", is an English former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1970s and 1980s. He played at representative level fo ...

Genealogical information

Gilbert Austin's marriage to Susanna S. (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Clark ( – death registered fourth ¼ 1928 aged 32 in

district)) was registered during fourth ¼ 1918 in

district. They had children; Edith E. Austin (birth registered during fourth ¼ 1920 in

district), Joan Austin (birth registered during first ¼ 1924 in

district), and Vera Austin (birth registered during third ¼ 1925 in

district). Gilbert Austin's second marriage was to Ethel B. (

Candler, born ) was registered during fourth ¼ 1933 in

district. They had children; Pauline M. Austin (birth registered during third ¼ 1937 in

district), and Gilbert D. Austin (birth registered during fourth ¼ 1941 in

Holderness Holderness is an area of the East Riding of Yorkshire, on the north-east coast of England. An area of rich agricultural land, Holderness was marshland until it was drained in the Middle Ages. Topographically, Holderness has more in common wit ...

district).

References

External links

Search for "Austin" at rugbyleagueproject.orgSearch for "Gilbert Austin" at britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Austin, Gilbert 1895 births 1948 deaths English rugby league players Hull Kingston Rovers players Rugby league centres Rugby league fullbacks Rugby league players from Kingston upon Hull Rugby league wingers York Wasps players Yorkshire rugby league team players Road incident deaths in England Truck road incident deaths