John Griffith "Jumbo" Milton (1 May 1885 – 15 June 1915) was an 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 it ...

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 ...

. Milton, who was born in

Cape Colony The Cape Colony ( nl, Kaapkolonie), also known as the Cape of Good Hope, was a British colony in present-day South Africa named after the Cape of Good Hope, which existed from 1795 to 1802, and again from 1806 to 1910, when it united with t ...

, was the son of sportsman and politician

William Henry Milton Sir William Henry Milton (3 December 1854 – 6 March 1930) was the third Administrator of Mashonaland, played rugby for England and was South Africa's second Test cricket captain. Born in Little Marlow, Buckinghamshire, and educated at Marlbo ...

, originally an Englishman. After spending his early childhood in Cape Colony, he lived in Mashonaland briefly and was then sent to

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population of the Bedford built-up area (including Biddenham and Kempston) was 106,940, making it the second-largest settlement in Bedfordshire, behind Luton, whilst ...

, to complete his schooling. He played both

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 str ...

and rugby union for Bedford School, the two sports his father had excelled in. While still a schoolboy, Milton was called into the England team for the

1904 Home Nations Championship The 1904 Home Nations Championship was the twenty-second series of the rugby union Home Nations Championship. Six matches were played between 9 January and 19 March. It was contested by England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Table Results ...

, aged just 18. He played in all three Tests, against Wales, Ireland and Scotland. Milton made another appearance

Home Nations Home Nations is a collective term with one of two meanings depending on context. Politically it means the nations of the constituent countries of the United Kingdom (England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales). In sport, if a sport is g ...

, now representing the Camborne School of Mines, the following year against Scotland. His older brother Cecil was awarded a single cap against Ireland in 1906, in a match that Jumbo did not play in. Jumbo played his fifth and final Test at Dublin in the 1907 series. He also played for invitational tourists the Barbarians during his time in Britain. as well as being capped by Cornwall 18 times he was a member of the County Championship winning side of 1908. Having returned to South Africa, Milton was selected in PW Sherwell's XI, which played a

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 officia ...

match against Transvaal in 1913/14. He opened the bowling for his team and from 17 overs finished with 0/78. It was not until his second and final appearance, during the same summer, that he took a first-class wicket. On this occasion he was playing for a Transvaal XI, against 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 only wicket was that of England Test batsman Jack Hearne, who missed a century when Milton bowled him for 96.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Milton, Jumbo 1885 births South African rugby union players England international rugby union players Barbarian F.C. players South African cricketers People educated at Bedford School Bedford Blues players 1915 deaths Rugby union players from the Western Cape Rugby union forwards Expatriates from Cape Colony in the United Kingdom