Frederick John Vanderbyl Hopley (27 August 1883 – 16 August 1951) was a South African sportsman who was an amateur

boxer Boxer most commonly refers to: * Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing *Boxer (dog), a breed of dog Boxer or boxers may also refer to: Animal kingdom * Boxer crab * Boxer shrimp, a small group of decapod crustaceans * Boxer snipe ee ...

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officiall ...

er and international

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 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 ...

Early life

Hopley was born in South Africa, the elder son of Judge William Musgrave Hopley and his wife Annie (née van der Byl). He completed his schooling in

, at

Harrow School (The Faithful Dispensation of the Gifts of God) , established = (Royal Charter) , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent schoolBoarding school , religion = Church of E ...

, before going up to

Pembroke College, Cambridge Pembroke College (officially "The Master, Fellows and Scholars of the College or Hall of Valence-Mary") is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college is the third-oldest college of the university and has over 700 ...

Boxing

Hopley was the British public schools' Heavyweight Boxing Champion in 1901 and 1902. He boxed 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 was regarded as one of the best

heavyweight Heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports and professional wrestling. Boxing Professional Boxers who weigh over are considered heavyweights by 3 of the 4 major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Federation, the Wo ...

boxers in the

British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts esta ...

. Most of his fights were won by

knock out A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, muay thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, a ...

and tragically, in a 1912 bout, he threw a punch which resulted in a prolonged coma for his opponent, Cloyce Seagram. Although the blow was not fatal Hopley never fought again competitively.

Rugby

A flanker, Hopley played three Tests for England. The first was in a win over France in 1907, a warm up match for that year's Home Nations Championship, in which he would feature once, against Wales in Swansea. His other Test came against Ireland in the

1908 Home Nations Championship The 1908 Home Nations Championship was the twenty-sixth series of the rugby union Home Nations Championship. Six matches were played between 18 January and 21 March. It was contested by England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Although not officia ...

. He played his 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 also had the distinction of representing the

Barbarians A barbarian (or savage) is someone who is perceived to be either uncivilized or primitive. The designation is usually applied as a generalization based on a popular stereotype; barbarians can be members of any nation judged by some to be less c ...

Cricket

Hopley was a

fast bowler Fast bowling (also referred to as pace bowling) is one of two main approaches to bowling in the sport of cricket, the other being spin bowling. Practitioners of pace bowling are usually known as ''fast'' bowlers, ''quicks'', or ''pacemen''. T ...

and capable lower order batsman. He took 45 wickets for Cambridge University and also played three first-class matches for the

H. D. G. Leveson Gower Sir Henry Dudley Gresham Leveson Gower ( ; 8 May 1873 – 1 February 1954) was an English cricketer from the Leveson-Gower family. He played first-class cricket for Oxford University and Surrey and captained England in Test cricket. His school n ...

's XI and another two with the

Marylebone Cricket Club Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London. The club was formerly the governing body of cricket retaining considerable global influence ...

. His fourth and final first-class team was South Africa's

Western Province Western Province or West Province may refer to: *Western Province, Cameroon *Western Province, Rwanda *Western Province (Kenya) *Western Province (Papua New Guinea) *Western Province (Solomon Islands) *Western Province, Sri Lanka *Western Provinc ...

, which he played one match for in 1909. He put in the best performance of his career in Cambridge's win over London County in 1904. He took 6/37 off just 9.3 overs in the first innings, which included the wicket of

W. G. Grace William Gilbert Grace (18 July 1848 – 23 October 1915) was an English Amateur status in first-class cricket, amateur cricketer who was important in the development of the sport and is widely considered one of its greatest players. He played ...

. In the second innings he took another four wickets to finish with match figures of 10/132.

First World War

Hopley served with the

Grenadier Guards "Shamed be whoever thinks ill of it." , colors = , colors_label = , march = Slow: " Scipio" , mascot = , equipment = , equipment ...

Special Reserve, which was attached to the 3rd Battalion. He survived the war and received a DSO "for conspicuous gallantry in action" at

Beaumont-Hamel Beaumont-Hamel () is a commune in the Somme department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. During the First World War, Beaumont-Hamel was close to the front line, near many attacks, especially during the Battle of the Somme, one of the larg ...

in 1916. His younger brother,

Geoffrey Hopley Geoffrey William Vanderbyl Hopley (9 September 1891 – 12 May 1915) was an English cricketer who played first-class cricket for Cambridge University and Free Foresters. Hopley was born in Cape Colony, the younger son of Judge William Musgrave Ho ...

, also a Cambridge cricketer, wouldn't be as fortunate and was killed in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

Later life

Hopley had returned to southern Africa in 1908, establishing a farm at

Marandellas Marondera (known as Marandellas until 1982) is a city in Mashonaland East, Zimbabwe, located about 72 km east of Harare. History It was first known as Marandella's Kraal, corrupted from Marondera, chief of the ruling VaRozvi people who ...

near

Salisbury Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of Wil ...

Rhodesia Rhodesia (, ), officially from 1970 the Republic of Rhodesia, was an unrecognised state in Southern Africa from 1965 to 1979, equivalent in territory to modern Zimbabwe. Rhodesia was the ''de facto'' successor state to the British colony of S ...

in 1910. He married Joyce Pitout in 1915. They had two daughters. The John Hopley Memorial Trophy is awarded each year to the Zimbabwean Sportsman of the Year from 1956.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hopley, John 1883 births People educated at Harrow School Alumni of Pembroke College, Cambridge South African rugby union players England international rugby union players South African cricketers Barbarian F.C. players Blackheath F.C. players Cambridge University cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Western Province cricketers British Army personnel of World War I Companions of the Distinguished Service Order 1951 deaths South African male boxers Sportspeople from Makhanda, Eastern Cape Boxers from the Eastern Cape H. D. G. Leveson Gower's XI cricketers Expatriates from the Cape Colony in the United Kingdom