Richard Cattell (1871–1948) was a rugby union 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 ...

from 1895 to 1900,Richard Cattell Profile on scrum.com
/ref> and also captained his country. He was also a priest in the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...

Early life

Richard Cattell was born on 23 March 1871 in

Erdington Erdington is a suburb and ward of Birmingham in the West Midlands County, England. Historically part of Warwickshire and located northeast of central Birmingham, bordering Sutton Coldfield. It was also a council constituency, managed by its o ...

. He was educated at Trinity College, Stratford-upon-Avon and

Exeter College, Oxford (Let Exeter Flourish) , old_names = ''Stapeldon Hall'' , named_for = Walter de Stapledon, Bishop of Exeter , established = , sister_college = Emmanuel College, Cambridge , rector = Sir Richard Trainor ...

. He was a rugby blue in 1893.

Rugby union career

Cattell played two games for Leicester Tigers on their Easter tour to Wales in 1890. He played against

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

and Newport on Monday 7 April 1890 and Tuesday 8 April 1890 respectively. Along with Abel Ashworth he became the first future England international to play for Leicester. Cattell made his international debut on 5 January 1895 at St Helen's, Swansea in the

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

match. Of the 7 matches he played for his national side he was on the winning side on 3 occasions. He played his final match for England on 6 January 1900 at Kingsholm, Gloucester in the

match.

Ordination

He was ordained an Anglican clergyman in 1897 before becoming the vicar of St Michael,

Berkhamsted 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 ...

. During World War I, from 1915, he served as a

chaplain to the forces The Royal Army Chaplains' Department (RAChD) is an all-officer department that provides ordained clergy to minister to the British Army. History The Army Chaplains' Department (AChD) was formed by Royal Warrant of 23 September 1796; until the ...

(4th class). From 1923 to 1928 he was

rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

of Watlington, Norfolk, and from 1928 served as rector of

Warham, Norfolk Warham is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. It is situated about inland from the north Norfolk coast, south-east of the town of Wells-next-the-Sea and north-west of the city of Norwich.Ordnance Survey (2002). ''OS Ex ...

, until his death.

References

1871 births 1948 deaths 20th-century English Anglican priests Alumni of Exeter College, Oxford England international rugby union players English rugby union players Leicester Tigers players Rugby union fly-halves Rugby union players from Birmingham, West Midlands World War I chaplains {{England-rugbyunion-bio-stub