John Marshall Dugdale 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 it ...

international who represented

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 ...

in the first international rugby match in 1871.

Early life

John Marshall Dugdale was born at Irwell Bank, Eccles, Lancashire on 15 October 1851 and baptised at Eccles on 1 January 1852.Howard, Joseph Jackson and Crisp, Frederick Arthur, ''Visitation of England and Wales (1893)''; (College of Arms (Great Britain)), Volume 2 He was the son of John Dugdale, Esq. of 9,

Hyde Park Gardens Hyde Park Gardens, also known as Hyde Park Terrace consists of two roads running adjacent to the north western corner of Hyde Park, Westminster, Greater London. Number 1 Hyde Park Gardens runs up to Number 23 with a large private communal garde ...

, London and Llwyn,

Llanfyllin Llanfyllin ( – ) is a market town, community and electoral ward in a sparsely populated area in Montgomeryshire, Powys, Wales. Llanfyllin's community population in 2011 was 1,532, of whom 34.1% could speak Welsh. Llanfyllin means ''church or ...

, County Montgomery. He attended

Rugby School Rugby School is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) in Rugby, Warwickshire, England. Founded in 1567 as a free grammar school for local boys, it is one of the oldest independent schools in Britain. ...

and Brasenose College, Oxford where he received his B.A.

Rugby union career

Dugdale, having played rugby at school, went on to play for Ravenscourt Park FC, a stronghold of Old Rugbeians. He, along with nine other former pupils of Rugby School, was selected to play in the first international match in 1871. The match was played on 27 March 1871 at

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

against

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

, and the hosts won.

Career

Following his education, he moved to London, giving him the opportunity to play for Ravenscourt Park. In London he trained as a barrister, was a student of the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional associations for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and ...

from 18 January 1871 and subsequently called to the bar on 26 January 1875. He was a member of the

Oxford and Cambridge Club The Oxford and Cambridge Club is a traditional London club. Membership is largely restricted to those who are members of the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, including men and women who have a degree from or who are current undergraduates ...

.Foster, Joseph, ''Men-at-the-bar : a biographical hand-list of the members of the various Inns of Court, including Her Majesty's judges, etc.'' (1885), (London : Printed for the author by Hazell, Watson, and Viney) He then moved to Montgomeryshire and became a member of the Northern circuit as a Justice of the Peace. He became extremely active in political, military and administrative circles of Montgomeryshire. In 1872 he became the Cornet (Supernumerary) of the Yeomanry Cavalry of Montgomeryshire and later Major of the Yeomanry from 1889 to 1892.Brasenose College register, 1509–1909 (Volume 1) In February 1893, he became the Deputy Lieutenant of Montgomeryshire. and served as Mayor of Llanfyllin from 1893 to 1899. In 1896 his political career in Montgomeryshire continued to progress when he became the

High Sheriff of Montgomeryshire The office of High Sheriff of Montgomeryshire was established in 1541 since then a High Sheriff was appointed annually until 1974 when the office was transformed into that of High Sheriff of Powys as part of the creation of Powys from the amalgama ...

. In 1910 he was elected Mayor of Llanfyllin. In addition, he was on the Board of Bangor University College. He later authored a book about his chosen home, ''A History of the Parish of Llanfyllin from 1861 to 1915.''

Private life

He married Isabella Hargreaves, the only daughter of John Hargreaves of Spring Bank, Lancaster, on 20 July 1876 at

Tarporley Tarporley is a large village and civil parish in Cheshire, England. The civil parish also contains the village of Rhuddall Heath. Tarporley is bypassed by the A49 and A51 roads. At the 2011 census, the population was 2,614. History Tarporle ...

, Cheshire. They had a number of children including John Percy, who attended Rugby and New College, Oxford, October from 1898 but died in 1900 in his early twenties; Maj. William Marshall Dugdale (13 January 1881 – 13 November 1952), who after being in the Learning Land Agency, 1899–1901, served in the South African War of 1901–02, in the Imperial Yeomanry, leaving as a captain in 1902; and Gerald. All three sons attended

. Dugdale died on 30 October 1918 aged 67, at

and was buried there 2 November 1918.Howard, Joseph Jackson, and Crisp, Frederick Arthur, ''Visitation of England and Wales'', College of Arms (Great Britain) Volume: 20 His widow died on 28 August 1922.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dugdale, John Marshall 1851 births 1918 deaths English rugby union players England international rugby union players Rugby union forwards People educated at Rugby School High Sheriffs of Montgomeryshire Directors of the Cambrian Railways Montgomeryshire Yeomanry officers Rugby union players from Salford