Randolph Littleton Aston (6 September 1869 – 3 November 1930) was an English

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 ...

centre who played 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

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 a member of the first official

British Isles The British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isles, ...

tour in 1891.

Personal history

Aston was born in 1869 in South Kensington, London, to John Astbury Aston, a clerk. Aston was educated at a succession of notable schools including

Cheltenham Cheltenham (), also known as Cheltenham Spa, is a spa town and borough on the edge of the Cotswolds in the county of Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort, following the discovery of mineral s ...

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Bu ...

and

Berkhamstead Berkhamsted ( ) is a historic market town in Hertfordshire, England, in the Bulbourne valley, north-west of London. The town is a civil parish with a town council within the borough of Dacorum which is based in the neighbouring large new town ...

, but finally and mainly at

Tonbridge Tonbridge ( ) is a market town in Kent, England, on the River Medway, north of Royal Tunbridge Wells, south west of Maidstone and south east of London. In the administrative borough of Tonbridge and Malling, it had an estimated population ...

, before being admitted to

Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge Gonville and Caius College, often referred to simply as Caius ( ), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1348, it is the fourth-oldest of the University of Cambridge's 31 colleges and one of th ...

in 1888. He graduated in 1891 and from 1891 to 1892 was an Assistant Master at Blairlodge School in

Polmont Polmont ( gd, Poll-Mhonadh) is a village in the Falkirk council area of Central Scotland. It lies towards the east of the town of Falkirk, north of the Union Canal, which runs adjacent to the village. Due to its situation in Central Scotland, m ...

, Scotland, then at

Tonbridge School (God Giveth the Increase) , established = , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent day and boarding , religion = , president = , head_label ...

from 1892 to 1923.

Rugby career

Aston's rugby career began in earnest while he was at Cambridge. He was selected for the Cambridge University team, and won two Blues in the 1889 and 1890 Varsity Matches. In 1890 he was selected to represent the

England national rugby union team The England national rugby union team represents England in men's international rugby union. They compete in the annual Six Nations Championship with France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. England have won the championship on 29 occasion ...

, and was awarded two caps both in the

1890 Home Nations Championship The 1890 Home Nations Championship was the eighth series of the rugby union Home Nations Championship. Six matches were played between 1 February and 15 March. It was contested by England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Table Results ...

. The first was an away win over

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 ...

and the other a home victory over

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 ...

played at the

Rectory Field Rectory Field is a sports ground in Blackheath in the Royal Borough of Greenwich in south-east London. It was developed in the 1880s by Blackheath Cricket, Football and Lawn Tennis Company and became the home ground of rugby union team Blackheath ...

in Blackheath. Barbarians FC April 1891

In 1890, and now playing for

Blackheath F.C. Blackheath Football Club is a rugby union club based in Well Hall, Eltham in south-east London. The club was founded in Blackheath, London, Blackheath in 1858, and is the fourth-oldest rugby club in continuous existence in the world, after Du ...

outside university months, was selected to join Percy Carpmael's newly formed invitational team, the Barbarians. Aston became an original member of the team, and toured the South of England in 1891.Starmer-Smith, Nigel ''The Barbarians'' Macdonald & Jane's Publishers (1977) pg. 28 Although Aston's international career with England was now behind him, he would play his part in a representative British Isles team, when he was selected to become part of

Bill Maclagan William Edward Maclagan (5 April 1858 – 10 October 1926) was a Scottish international rugby union forward who played club rugby for London Scottish F.C. Maclagan was one of the longest-serving international rugby players during the early dev ...

's British Isles team on their 1891 tour of South Africa. On the hard grounds of South Africa, Aston was a revelation, possessing not only a massive frame, recorded as 15 stone, but also impressive speed.Griffiths (1987), 9:3. Aston played in all twenty games of the tour including the three Tests, amassing an incredible 30 tries in total. He scored a try in two of the Test matches, the first in Port Elizabeth and the final Test in Cape Town. If it wasn't for the peculiar scoring system of the time, he would have ended the tour as the top Test points scorer, but his two tries were surpassed by two conversions by

Arthur Rotherham Arthur Rotherham (27 May 1869 – 3 March 1946) was an English rugby union scrum-half who was a member of the first official British Isles tour and was later capped for the England team. Personal history Rotherham was born in Coventry in 1869 t ...

Bibliography

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aston, Randolph 1869 births 1930 deaths Alumni of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge Barbarian F.C. players Blackheath F.C. players British & Irish Lions rugby union players from England Cambridge University R.U.F.C. players England international rugby union players English rugby union players People educated at Berkhamsted School People educated at Cheltenham College People educated at Tonbridge School People educated at Westminster School, London Rugby union centres Rugby union players from the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Sportspeople from Kensington