William Wavell Wakefield, 1st Baron Wakefield of Kendal (10 March 1898 – 12 August 1983), known as Sir Wavell Wakefield between 1944 and 1963, 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 it ...

player for Harlequins,

Leicester Tigers Leicester Tigers (officially Leicester Football Club) are a professional rugby union club based in Leicester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded in 1880 and since 1892 plays its hom ...

and

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 ...

, President of the

Rugby Football Union The Rugby Football Union (RFU) is the national governing body for rugby union in England. It was founded in 1871, and was the sport's international governing body prior to the formation of what is now known as World Rugby (WR) in 1886. It pro ...

and

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

politician.

Background and education

Wakefield was born in

Beckenham Beckenham () is a town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley, in Greater London. Until 1965 it was part of the historic county of Kent. It is located south-east of Charing Cross, situated north of Elmers End and E ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

, the son of Roger William Wakefield. He was the brother of

Sir Edward Wakefield, 1st Baronet Sir Edward Birkbeck Wakefield, 1st Baronet, (24 July 1903 – 14 January 1969) was a British civil servant and Conservative Party politician. Wakefield was born 24 July 1903 in Kendal the son of Roger William Wakefield. He was educated at Hail ...

, also a Conservative politician. His youngest brother, Roger Cuthbert Wakefield, was an early British & Irish Lion, touring on the

1927 British Lions tour to Argentina Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number), the natural number following 18 and preceding 20 * one of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (film), a 1987 science fiction film Music ...

. He attended

Sedbergh School Sedbergh School is a public school (English independent day and boarding school) in the town of Sedbergh in Cumbria, in North West England. It comprises a junior school for children aged 4 to 13 and the main school for 13 to 18 year olds. ...

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. ...

, leaving during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

to join the

Royal Naval Air Service The Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) was the air arm of the Royal Navy, under the direction of the Admiralty's Air Department, and existed formally from 1 July 1914 to 1 April 1918, when it was merged with the British Army's Royal Flying Corps t ...

at the Admiralty testing station at Hill of Oaks on

Windermere Windermere (sometimes tautologically called Windermere Lake to distinguish it from the nearby town of Windermere) is the largest natural lake in England. More than 11 miles (18 km) in length, and almost 1 mile (1.5 km) at its wides ...

. After returning from the war he took a degree in mechanical sciences (engineering) from

Pembroke College, Cambridge Pembroke College (officially "The Master, Fellows and Scholars of the College or Hall of Valence-Mary") is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college is the third-oldest college of the university and has over 700 ...

, graduating in 1923.

Rugby career

After the war Wakefield became the captain of the

RAF The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

rugby team and joined Harlequins. On 11 October 1919, he made his debut for Harlequins against

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, Californi ...

and he continued to play for the club for the next ten years. He occasionally played for other teams during this time, but Harlequins was always his main club. During his career with Harlequins, he appeared a total of 136 times, including 82 as captain, and he made his final appearance on 25 January 1930 against

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 ...

. He scored 51 tries for the club, along with one penalty and 14 conversions. He was club captain in the seasons 1920/21, 1924/25 and 1927/28 to 1929/30. Wakefield played for

between 1921 and 1924 playing 29 games and scoring 10 tries. He was captain in all but one game he played for the club. In 1920, Wakefield made his England debut against Wales. He captained the Cambridge University team in 1922. In total, he appeared for England 31 times and was captain on 13 occasions. He led England to back-to-back Grand Slams. His final appearance for England was against France in April 1927. Through his career, Wakefield's influence on the game was pronounced. As an excellent all-round athlete he helped revolutionise the role of the back row forward. Prior to Wakefield their role was mainly static—pushing in the set scrum and winning the ball in loose scrums (or rucks, as they later became). Wakefield's athleticism enabled him to play a more dynamic role: pressuring the opposition half backs in defence and supporting the attacks of the three quarters, and these remain the prime responsibilities of the modern open side flank forward. Rugby historian Barry Bowker described Wakefield thus; "A complete footballer, he had all the attributes – strength, weight and speed – of a great forward. He was a master of the art of dribbling with pace, was up with his backs to share in an attack and took and gave passes well". He remained involved in rugby and was the RFU president in 1950. From 1950 to 1980 he was president of Harlequins. An all-round sportsman, Wakefield also became the president of the Ski Club of Great Britain, the

British Sub-Aqua Club The British Sub-Aqua Club or BSAC has been recognised since 1954 by UK Sport as the national governing body of recreational diving in the United Kingdom. The club was founded in 1953 and at its peak in the mid-1990s had over 50,000 members d ...

and the British Water Ski Federation. In 1999 Wakefield was inducted as the first English member of the

International Rugby Hall of Fame The International Rugby Hall of Fame (IRHOF) was a hall of fame for rugby union. It was created in 1997 in New Zealand and is run as a charitable trust with an address at Chiswick in London. Most of the trustees are also inductees. IRHOF acc ...

Business and political career

In 1931, Wakefield joined the

Rediffusion Rediffusion was a business that distributed radio and TV signals through wired relay networks. The business gave rise to a number of other companies, including Associated-Rediffusion, later known as Rediffusion London, the first ITV ( commer ...

radio company. In 1935, he moved into politics, becoming

Member of Parliament (MP) for

Swindon Swindon () is a town and unitary authority with borough status in Wiltshire, England. As of the 2021 Census, the population of Swindon was 201,669, making it the largest town in the county. The Swindon unitary authority area had a population ...

. At the 1945 general election, he moved to

St Marylebone Marylebone (usually , also , ) is a district in the West End of London, in the City of Westminster. Oxford Street, Europe's busiest shopping street, forms its southern boundary. An ancient parish and latterly a metropolitan borough, it merge ...

. He was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the G ...

in 1944 and in 1963, upon retiring from Parliament, was raised to the peerage as Baron Wakefield of Kendal, of Kendal in the County of

Westmorland Westmorland (, formerly also spelt ''Westmoreland'';R. Wilkinson The British Isles, Sheet The British IslesVision of Britain/ref> is a historic county in North West England spanning the southern Lake District and the northern Dales. It had an ...

. For many years he was an active member of the

Conservative Monday Club The Conservative Monday Club (usually known as the Monday Club) is a British political pressure group, aligned with the Conservative Party, though no longer endorsed by it. It also has links to the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and Ulster Unioni ...

. Apart from his sporting and political careers Wakefield was instrumental in the preservation of the Ullswater 'Steamers' and the

Ravenglass & Eskdale Railway The Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway is a minimum gauge heritage railway in Cumbria, England. The line runs from Ravenglass to Dalegarth Station near Boot in the valley of Eskdale, in the Lake District. At Ravenglass the line ends at Rave ...

, through his Lake District Estates company. In 1954, Wakefield bought a controlling shareholding in Ullswater 'Steamers', saving the company from bankruptcy. In 1960, along with Midlands stockbroker Colin Gilbert, he purchased the Ravenglass & Eskdale Railway from the Keswick Granite Company in order to prevent its closure. After Colin Gilbert's death in 1968, he became the sole owner. Upon Wakefield's death, his daughter, the Hon. Joan Raynsford OBE, took over as the head director of the railway company. His other two daughters, Sheila Hensman OBE and Ruth Adorian OBE, also became active directors.

Personal life

Lord Wakefield of Kendal died in August 1983, aged 85, when the barony became extinct.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wakefield, Wavell 1898 births 1983 deaths Alumni of Pembroke College, Cambridge British sportsperson-politicians Cambridge University R.U.F.C. players Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies England international rugby union players English rugby union players Harlequin F.C. players Knights Bachelor Leicester Tigers players Middlesex County RFU players Hereditary barons created by Elizabeth II People educated at Sedbergh School Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway Royal Air Force officers Royal Air Force personnel of World War I Royal Air Force rugby union players Royal Naval Air Service personnel of World War I Royal Navy officers of World War I Rugby players and officials awarded knighthoods Rugby union players from Beckenham UK MPs 1935–1945 UK MPs 1945–1950 UK MPs 1950–1951 UK MPs 1951–1955 UK MPs 1955–1959 UK MPs 1959–1964 UK MPs who were granted peerages World Rugby Hall of Fame inductees Rugby union flankers Wavell