Joseph A.S. Davidson (5 October 1878

Aspatria Aspatria is a town and civil parish in the non-metropolitan district of Allerdale, and is currently embraced in the Parliamentary constituency of Workington, Cumbria, England. Historically within Cumberland the town rests on the north side of t ...

- ,

Wigton Wigton is a market town in the Allerdale borough of Cumbria, England. Historically in Cumberland, it lies just outside the Lake District in the borough of Allerdale. Wigton is at the centre of the Solway Plain, between the Caldbeck Fells ...

) was an English sportsman.Goodwin, p109Player profile
on scrum.com, retrieved 26 February 2010

Biography

Originally from

, in

Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is a historic county in the far North West England. It covers part of the Lake District as well as the north Pennines and Solway Firth coast. Cumberland had an administrative function from the 12th century until 1974. From 19 ...

, Davidson was a stonemason and a builder by trade.

He died in an accident in a sand quarry.

Sports career

Joseph Davidson or ‘Joe’ as he was more affectionately known was born at

, on 5 October 1878. Although basically a forward he could play in any position. A regular

Aspatria RUFC Aspatria Rugby Union Football Club is based in Aspatria, Cumbria (formerly Cumberland) in north west England, not far from the Scottish Border. They are nicknamed the "Black Reds", and have a red cockerel as their logo. They currently play i ...

first team player from an early age, he gained a

County A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

cap before his nineteenth birthday. He gained two international caps, 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 ...

and

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

1899 Home Nations Championship The 1899 Home Nations Championship was the seventeenth series of the rugby union Home Nations Championship. Six matches were played between 5 January and 18 March. It was contested by England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. The 1899 Championship w ...

. In the

Calcutta Cup The Calcutta Cup is the trophy awarded to the winner of the rugby match between England and Scotland played annually in the Six Nations Championship. Like the match itself (England–Scotland), the Calcutta Cup is the oldest trophy contested be ...

game he had the distinction of being the youngest player on the field, while his brother James Davidson was the eldest. He played three times for the North and forty-three times for the County. Joe was member of the Cumberland Cup winning side in 1899 and again ten years later. Joe was an outstanding sportsman who also excelled at

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 ...

boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermined ...

and

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competiti ...

. He met an untimely death on 8 October 1910, when along with his brother George was buried alive in the family sand quarry. George was rescued and continued to play for the Aspatria club winning two County Cup winners medals and four County caps.West Cumberland Times 12 October 1910

References

* Goodwin, Terry ''The Complete Who's Who of International Rugby'' (Blandford Press, England, 1987, ) 1878 births 1910 deaths English rugby union players England international rugby union players English male boxers Rugby union players from Aspatria Rugby union players from Workington {{England-boxing-bio-stub