Howard Marshall OBE (20 December 1870 – 9 October 1929) was an English

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 ...

half-back who played club rugby for

Blackheath Blackheath may refer to: Places England *Blackheath, London, England ** Blackheath railway station **Hundred of Blackheath, Kent, an ancient hundred in the north west of the county of Kent, England *Blackheath, Surrey, England ** Hundred of Blackh ...

and

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

and was a member of the first official

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, ...

tour in 1891. Marshall played just one game for

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 ...

, scoring a hat-trick of tries on his debut.

Personal life

Marshall was born in

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

in 1870 to John Ferrow Marshall, a ship-owner. He was educated at several schools, including

Barnard Castle Barnard Castle (, ) is a market town on the north bank of the River Tees, in County Durham, Northern England. The town is named after and built around a medieval castle ruin. The town's Bowes Museum's has an 18th-century Silver Swan automato ...

and Norfolk County, before gaining entry into

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. Although Marshall would later have a notable rugby career, he did not win a sporting Blue while at Cambridge. Marshall first entered medicine when he joined the medical college, St. Bartholomew's, becoming a House Surgeon and the Clinical Assistant in the Throat Department. He later became an Assistant House Surgeon at

Nottingham General Hospital Nottingham General Hospital was a major hospital in Nottingham, England. It was founded in 1781 and closed in 1992. History The hospital was the result of a legacy from John Key, a wealthy banker, who had left money in his will for hospitals t ...

, before becoming a General practitioner at

Bexhill-on-Sea Bexhill-on-Sea (often shortened to Bexhill) is a seaside town and civil parish situated in the county of East Sussex in South East England. An ancient town and part of the local government district of Rother, Bexhill is home to a number of arc ...

and

Cirencester Cirencester (, ; see below for more variations) is a market town in Gloucestershire, England, west of London. Cirencester lies on the River Churn, a tributary of the River Thames, and is the largest town in the Cotswolds. It is the home of ...

. From 1910 he became a surgeon at Cirencester Memorial Hospital. Marshall was the medical officer to the Royal Agricultural College in Cirencester and was also the civil surgeon to the 4th Battalion of the Gloucester Regiment. On the outbreak of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, Bingham Hall in Cirencester was turned into a Red Cross Hospital and Marshall was made medical officer in charge of it. For his services in Cirencester during the war he was awarded the OBE.

Rugby career

Marshall played for several club teams during his rugby career, and in 1890 he was representing first-class English team Blackheath. That season saw

William Percy Carpmael William Percy Carpmael (20 May 1864 – 27 December 1936) was the founder and first president of the rugby union Barbarian Football Club. Carpmael was born the eldest of eight in Briscobel, Streatham in England.Starmer-Smith (1977), pg 13 ...

, a fellow Blackheath player, form the invitational touring team, the Barbarians; and Marshall was asked to join the club on their first tour. On the first tour Marshall had the distinction of scoring the first ever points in Wales by a Barbarian player, when he 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 ...

against

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

. Marshall later became a committee member for the Barbarians. In 1891 Marshall was selected for another rugby first, when he was chosen to represent the British Isles team on their first official overseas tour. Played in

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

, the British Isles team faced 17 regional and invitational teams, and three international Tests against South Africa national team. Marshall played in two international games, paired with Edward Bromet in the Second Test at Kimberley and then with

Arthur Rotherham Arthur Rotherham (27 May 1869 – 3 March 1946) was an English rugby union scrum-half who was a member of the first official British Isles tour and was later capped for the England team. Personal history Rotherham was born in Coventry in 1869 t ...

in the third and final Test, at Cape Town. In 1893 Marshall played his one and only England international tour when he was selected to face

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 ...

as part of the Home Nations Championship. The game became famous after the pitch was prevented from freezing over when hundreds of braziers were left burning on the pitch over night; leaving multiple black circles on the pitch during the match. Marshall had an incredible debut, scoring a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

of tries, but incredibly finished on the losing side after a great Welsh come back.Elements leave their mark in Cardiff
Scrum.com Despite his high try scoring debut, this was his only international cap for England.

Bibliography

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marshall, Howard 1870 births 1929 deaths 20th-century English medical doctors Alumni of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge Barbarian F.C. players Blackheath F.C. players British & Irish Lions rugby union players from England England international rugby union players English rugby union players Officers of the Order of the British Empire People educated at Barnard Castle School Richmond F.C. players Rugby union players from Sunderland Rugby union halfbacks