John Maxwell Batten (28 February 1853 – 15 October 1917)
Scrum.com was a

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 ...

fullback who played club rugby for

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

and international rugby 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 ...

Personal life

Batten was born in 1848, in

Almora Almora ( Kumaoni: ''Almāḍ'') is a municipal board and a cantonment town in the state of Uttarakhand, India. It is the administrative headquarters of Almora district. Almora is located on a ridge at the southern edge of the Kumaon Hills of the ...

, India, the second son of John Hallet Batten a member of the Indian Civil Service. Batten was educated at

Haileybury School Haileybury is a Public school (UK), public school (English Independent school (United Kingdom), independent Day school, day and boarding school) near Hertford in England. It is a member of the Rugby Group and, though originally a major boys' ...

, before matriculating to

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch Lady Margaret Beaufort. In constitutional terms, the college is a charitable corpo ...

in 1871. He received his BA (1st class) in 1875, becoming an Assistant Master at his old Secondary School, Haileybury. He left his post at Haileybury in 1877 and took up a similar role at

Kelly College Kelly College was a coeducational independent school in the English public school tradition situated in the outskirts of Tavistock, Devon, with around 350 students ranging from ages 3 to 18. There was an associated preparatory school for pri ...

in Tavistock, Devon from 1877 to 1882; and then at

Newton Abbott Newton Abbot is a market town and civil parish on the River Teign in the Teignbridge District of Devon, England. Its 2011 population of 24,029 was estimated to reach 26,655 in 2019. It grew rapidly in the Victorian era as the home of the Sou ...

, 1883-1884. In 1884 he became the headmaster of

Plymouth College Plymouth College is a co-educational independent school in Plymouth, Devon. History The school was established in 1877. In 1896 Plymouth College bought Mannamead School (founded in 1854), and was temporarily known as Plymouth and Mannamead Co ...

, a position he held until 1889.

Rugby career

Batten first came to note as a rugby player when he represented

while at St John's College. He won four sporting 'Blues' for rugby, and his first was in the very first

Varsity Match A varsity match is a fixture (especially of a sporting event or team) between two university teams, particularly Oxford and Cambridge. The Scottish Varsity rugby match between the University of St Andrews and the University of Edinburgh at Murray ...

between Cambridge and

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

in 1872.Marshall (1951), pg 19. Cambridge lost the first match, but Batten played in the next year's encounter and scored one of three tries in Cambridge's first Varsity Match victory.Marshall (1951), pg 20. Batten played in both the 1874 and the 1875 matches, and was given the captaincy of the Cambridge team, both games ended in draws. Batten won his first and only international cap for England in

1874 Events January–March * January 1 – New York City annexes The Bronx. * January 2 – Ignacio María González becomes head of state of the Dominican Republic for the first time. * January 3 – Third Carlist War &ndas ...

. The game was played against

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

in the third encounter between the two teams, and only the third international rugby union game to be played. Batten was positioned in his usual role as fullback, and although England won narrowly, he was replaced for the next season's match by A.W. Pearson.

References

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Batten, John 1853 births 1917 deaths English rugby union players England international rugby union players Cambridge University R.U.F.C. players Rugby union fullbacks People educated at Haileybury and Imperial Service College Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge People from Almora British people in colonial India