John Argentine Campbell (20 October 1877 – 2 December 1917) was a sportsman who represented

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 ...

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 ...

and

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

. Born in Argentina to a Scottish father and educated in Scotland, he was also an accomplished

polo Polo is a ball game played on horseback, a traditional field sport and one of the world's oldest known team sports. The game is played by two opposing teams with the objective of scoring using a long-handled wooden mallet to hit a small hard ...

player. He was killed while serving with British forces in World War I.Bath, p109

Biography

Campbell was born on 20 October 1877 in

Flores Flores is one of the Lesser Sunda Islands, a group of islands in the eastern half of Indonesia. Including the Komodo Islands off its west coast (but excluding the Solor Archipelago to the east of Flores), the land area is 15,530.58 km2, and th ...

, then a rural area on the outskirts of

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

, Argentina. He was the third of four children of

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

-born rancher John Campbell and Maria del Rosario Robson, who had married in Buenos Aires in February 1873. He was sent to the United Kingdom to be educated, attending

Fettes College Fettes College () is a co-educational independent boarding and day school in Edinburgh, Scotland, with over two-thirds of its pupils in residence on campus. The school was originally a boarding school for boys only and became co-ed in 1983. In ...

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

from 1887 to 1897, where he was head boy and developed into a promising all-round sportsman. He then went on to

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by Henry VIII, King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge ...

, graduating with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree in 1900. After leaving university he returned to Scotland, and briefly taught at

Loretto School Loretto School, founded in 1827, is an independent boarding and day school for boys and girls aged 0 to 18. The campus occupies in Musselburgh, East Lothian, Scotland. History The school was founded by the Reverend Thomas Langhorne in 1827. L ...

near Edinburgh. In 1904 he returned permanently to Argentina, to farm with his father on the family estate at Estancia La Corona. He married Myra Gertrude Grant and had three children.

Rugby union

Campbell played in the Fettes school rugby XV for four years, captaining them in his final year. At university, he was a rugby

blue Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between violet and cyan on the spectrum of visible light. The eye perceives blue when obs ...

, representing

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

three times in

The Varsity Match The Varsity Match is an annual rugby union fixture played between the universities of Oxford University RFC, Oxford and Cambridge University R.U.F.C., Cambridge in England. The event began in 1872 with the first men's match, with interruptions ...

against

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 ...

and captaining them to a 22–0 win in the 1899 fixture. Every member of the Cambridge forward pack that year went on to play international rugby, and were described by Howard Marshall in his history of the matches between the two universities as, "perhaps the greatest ... Cambridge had ever had". His ancestry qualified Campbell to represent

. After a heavy defeat against

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 ...

in the

1900 Home Nations Championship The 1900 Home Nations Championship was the eighteenth series of the rugby union Home Nations Championship. Six matches were played between 6 January and 17 March. It was contested by England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Table Results ...

, the Scottish selectors made eight changes for the following match against

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, with Campbell one of four new forwards chosen. The match, at

Lansdowne Road Lansdowne Road Stadium ( ga, Bóthar Lansdún, ) was a stadium in Dublin owned by the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) that was primarily used for rugby union and association football matches. The stadium was demolished in 2007 to make way for ...

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

, ended in a 0–0 draw. Although the ''

Edinburgh Evening News The ''Edinburgh Evening News'' is a daily newspaper and website based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was founded by John Wilson (1844–1909) and first published in 1873. It is printed daily, except on Sundays. It is owned by JPIMedia, which also ...

'' reported that Campbell "did very well", blood poisoning sustained in Dublin caused him to miss the subsequent match against

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 ...

, and he never played international rugby again. Whilst teaching at Loretto, Campbell played club rugby for the

Fettesian-Lorettonian Club The Fettesian-Lorettonians Club is a Scotland, Scottish sporting club made up of former pupils of Fettes College and Loretto School. The club was founded in 1881 and has seen members of its club represent the Scotland national rugby union team. ...

, where he was captain, and for West of Scotland. In December 1901, he represented Glasgow District in the inter-district match against

. His rugby career ended when he returned to Argentina.

Cricket

Campbell also captained the cricket XI at Fettes. In 1901, he was selected for an East of Scotland XI that played against the touring South Africans in Edinburgh. He continued to play cricket in Buenos Aires, making his only first-class appearance in February 1912 when he was chosen to represent

against a

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 ...

(MCC) touring team captained by

Lord Hawke Martin Bladen Hawke, 7th Baron Hawke (16 August 1860 – 10 October 1938), generally known as Lord Hawke, was an English amateur cricketer active from 1881 to 1911 who played for Yorkshire and England. He was born in Willingham by Stow, near G ...

at the Hurlingham Club Ground. Campbell scored 0 and 4 as Argentina won by four wickets.

Polo

Campbell was one of the leading

players in Argentina, winning the

Campeonato Argentino Abierto de Polo The Campeonato Argentino Abierto de Polo (Spanish for Argentine Open Polo Championship) is an international polo championship at club level, organised every year since 1893 at the Campo Argentino de Polo of Palermo, Buenos Aires. It was known as t ...

with his Western Camps team in 1907 and 1909. His mount 'Old Boy' was voted the best pony in the 1909 River Plate Championship. A nine-goal handicap player, described as "always beautifully mounted", Campbell also visited Britain successfully with the ''El Bagual'' (Wild Boar) team in 1912.

Military career and death

Despite being in Argentina when World War I broke out in Europe, Campbell saw it as his patriotic duty to aid the British war effort. He immediately ceased his polo career, feeling it was inappropriate to play during wartime. He travelled to England in 1915 to volunteer, being commissioned into the

17th Lancers The 17th Lancers (Duke of Cambridge's Own) was a cavalry regiment of the British Army, raised in 1759 and notable for its participation in the Charge of the Light Brigade during the Crimean War. The regiment was amalgamated with the 21st Lanc ...

and subsequently the

6th (Inniskilling) Dragoons The 6th (Inniskilling) Dragoons was a cavalry regiment in the British Army, first raised in 1689 as Sir Albert Cunningham's Regiment of Dragoons. One of the regiment's most notable battles was the Battle of the Boyne in July 1690. It became th ...

as a lieutenant. He went to France on active service in February 1916. The following year, following his father's death, Campbell was given leave to travel to Argentina to sort out his affairs. Returning by sea to rejoin his regiment, he and his wife survived a shipwreck off the Welsh coast when the SS ''Drina'' struck a German mine. On 1 December 1917, during the Battle of Cambrai, Campbell was taking part in a mounted cavalry charge near

Villers-Guislain Villers-Guislain () is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. The graveyard a Gauche Woodcontains the casualties who died during the Battle of Épehy when British troops were deployed between Gouzeaucourt and Villers-Guislain. Her ...

when he was mortally wounded and captured. He died the following day in a German field hospital and was buried at the British military cemetery in Honnechy, France.

Legacy

Campbell's son, J. D. "Tony" Campbell, also won a Cambridge rugby blue, playing in the 1927 Varsity Match. The 2017 match marked the centenary of the deaths on service of two former captains, Campbell and Oxford's Cecil Baker, who were jointly named as the first Varsity Match Icons. Representatives of the Campbell family and Fettes College were in attendance. , the family estate in Argentina was still run by Campbell's grandson, also named John Argentine Campbell.

References

* Bath, Richard (ed.) ''The Scotland Rugby Miscellany'' (Vision Sports Publishing Ltd, 2007 ) {{DEFAULTSORT:Campbell, John Argentine 1877 births 1917 deaths Scottish rugby union players Scotland international rugby union players British military personnel killed in World War I 6th (Inniskilling) Dragoons officers Argentine cricketers Scottish cricketers Argentine people of Scottish descent West of Scotland FC players Argentine polo players Cricketers from Buenos Aires Rugby union players from Buenos Aires People educated at Fettes College Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Fettesian-Lorretonian rugby union players Glasgow District (rugby union) players Cambridge University R.U.F.C. players British Army personnel of World War I 17th Lancers officers British World War I prisoners of war World War I prisoners of war held by Germany Rugby union forwards