John A'Bear (16 July 1913 – 3 October 1979)Profile of John A'Bear at Gloucester Rugby Heritage
/ref> was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

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 ...

player. He played club rugby for

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east ...

and was their youngest captain. Although he never won a cap 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 ...

, he did tour Argentina with the British Isles team in 1936.

Early life

John Gordon A’Bear was born in

Cheltenham Cheltenham (), also known as Cheltenham Spa, is a spa town and borough on the edge of the Cotswolds in the county of Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort, following the discovery of mineral s ...

on 16 July 1913, the son of James Horace A'Bear (1879–1945), an ironmonger, and his wife, Nellie (née Winstone) (1885–1958). He had an older sister, Lottie, (born 1912) and two younger siblings, Charles (b. 1916) and Nellie (b. 1921). He was educated at

The Crypt School The Crypt School is a grammar school with academy status for boys and girls located in the city of Gloucester. Founded in the 16th century, it was originally an all-boys school, but it made its sixth form co-educational in the 1980s, and moved ...

, Gloucester.

Rugby career

John played for Gloucester from 1933 until 1939 and was also selected to represent his county, Gloucestershire, from 1935 to 1939. He was a part of the

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 ...

winning side of 1936–37. At the age of 24, A'Bear became Gloucester's youngest Captain and continued his captaincy the following season. His record in his first year of captaincy was 29 wins from 36 matches. As a second row, he formed a solid and famous partnership with Digger Morris and was best man at Digger Morris's wedding. They were also known for their rendition of "The Pig Song" as after-match entertainment. John was never capped for

, but was an international due to his selection for the tour Argentina with the British Isles team in 1936. In 1936, he was a reserve for an England trial at Bristol. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, he played a number of matches for Gloucester and for representative sides but, due to business commitments, retired in 1946.

Family and later life

John married his first cousin, May A'Bear (born 1914, Montreal) in

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

, Canada. She was the daughter of Alfred A'Bear and Edith Stirling. They had two children, both born in Gloucester, Suzanne (born 1942) and Judith (born 1944). John died in 1979.A'Bear family history generation 16
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abear, John 1913 births 1979 deaths British & Irish Lions rugby union players from England English rugby union players Gloucester Rugby players Gloucestershire County RFU players People educated at The Crypt School, Gloucester Rugby union locks Rugby union players from Cheltenham