Henry John Cecil Turner was a rugby union international who represented England in 1871 in the first international match.H.J.C. Turner Profile on scrum.com
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Early life

H.J.C. Turner was born in

Wartling Wartling is a village and civil parish in the Wealden District of East Sussex, England, between Bexhill and Hailsham, ten miles (16 km) west of the latter at the northern edge of the Pevensey Levels. The parish includes Wartling itself an ...

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

in 1850, and was christened on 3 March 1850 in the parish church. He was the younger son of John Turner (1817 to 1858) and Louisa Kemp (born 1824). His father was the Curate of Wartling at the time, a graduate of

Balliol College, Oxford Balliol College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided the f ...

University (B.A. 1838, M.A. 1844), he became the Rector of Tiffield in 1853 and died in 1858. Henry had at least two brothers, Edmund Malcolm Turner (born 1847) and Cyril James (born 1852), and two sisters, Ellen (born c.1849) and Alice Mary (1854–1945). His brother was educated 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 ...

but Henry was educated at St Nicholas College, Lancing (Lancing College) Having entered Lancing in 1861 and left in 1867, he would have been a contemporary at Lancing with Reginald Birkett who later played alongside him in the England rugby squad. His brother, Cyril James, also went to Lancing and eventually became a member of Lloyd's of London.

Rugby union career

By 1871, Turner had moved to Manchester and there he played for the

Manchester Football Club Manchester Rugby Club, founded in 1860 as Manchester Football Club, is one of the oldest rugby union clubs in the world. Home matches are played at Grove Park in Cheadle Hulme, Stockport. The club has a Senior Men's section (1st XV, 2nd XV and ...

. Turner made his international debut on 27 March 1871 at Edinburgh in the Scotland vs England match, the first international rugby match. He was one of four Manchester players to be selected. He was not selected to play for England again, perhaps due to his possible emigration.

Later life and career

In 1871, Turner was living in Manchester, boarding at the Albion Hotel in the Piccadilly district of the city. He was a banker's clerk.Census Returns of England and Wales, 1871. Kew, Surrey, England: The National Archives of the UK (TNA): Public Record Office (PRO), 1871. Class: RG10; Piece: 4046; Folio: 73; Page: 5; GSU roll: 846336. His brother, Edmund, had migrated to the United States previous to this, but whether Henry joined him there is not known. His old school, Lancing College, registered him as having died in a publication of their register in 1900, but a date or details were not given.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Turner, H.J.C. 1850 births England international rugby union players English rugby union players People educated at Lancing College People from Wealden District Rugby union forwards Rugby union players from East Sussex Year of death missing Manchester Rugby Club players