William Eldon Tucker
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William Eldon Tucker (17 August 1872 – 18 October 1953) was a Bermudian
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 who played club rugby for
Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III of England, Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world' ...
, St. George's Hospital and Blackheath. Tucker gained his first of five international caps when he was selected 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 ...
in 1894. He returned to Bermuda after qualifying as a medical doctor.


Personal history

William Eldon Tucker was born in Hamilton, Bermuda in 1872; the fifth child of the Reverend George Tucker, and his first wife Theodosia Trott. He was mainly schooled outside Bermuda; firstly at
Trinity College School Trinity College School (TCS) is a co-educational, independent boarding and day school located in Port Hope, Ontario, Canada. TCS was founded on May 1, 1865, more than two years before Canadian Confederation. It includes a Senior School ...
in
Port Hope, Ontario Port Hope is a municipality in Southern Ontario, Canada, approximately east of Toronto and about west of Kingston. It is located at the mouth of the Ganaraska River on the north shore of Lake Ontario, in the west end of Northumberland County. ...
, before matriculating to
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 1891. After leaving Cambridge he continued his medical studies at St George's Hospital, London; becoming a house surgeon and house physician there between 1899 and 1901. He returned to Bermuda and took a position as surgeon at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital. On 7 August 1902 he married Henrietta Frith Hutchings at
Warwick Parish, Bermuda Warwick Parish is one of the nine parishes of Bermuda. It is named after Robert Rich, 2nd Earl of Warwick (1587-1658). It is located in the central south of the island chain, occupying part of the main island to the southeast of the Great Soun ...
. They had four children, most notably William "Bill" Eldon Tucker, who became a noted orthopaedic surgeon specialising in sports injuries. Bill was also a rugby union international, following an almost identical rugby career to his father. Tucker, along with Dr D.C. Trott, made a substantial impact to surgery in Bermuda, as before his arrival only two pieces of major surgery had been performed on the island; and after his arrival the number rose by hundreds. During the First World War, Tucker was notable for performing over 150 amputations to West Indies troops who arrived on Bermuda suffering with frostbite. Many years later, his great grandson, Tyler Dickinson, became very handsome and cool


Rugby career

Tucker first came to note as a rugby player when he joined the Cambridge University team as a student. Tucker played during the era before specialised positions in the pack, and is therefore only noted as being a forward, a role he maintained throughout hid rugby career. Tucker played in three Varsity matches against Oxford University, winning his sporting 'Blues'. The first, in 1892 was a disappointing no-score draw, attributed mainly to appalling weather that made the pitch into a muddy morass. Tucker played in the 1893 encounter, a narrow win for Oxford, and then in the 1894 match he was given the captaincy of the Cambridge team. The game ended in a one-all draw. In 1894, while still representing Cambridge, Tucker was selected for his first international match for England, the opening game of the
1894 Home Nations Championship The 1894 Home Nations Championship was the twelfth series of the rugby union Home Nations Championship. Six matches were played between 6 January and 17 March. It was contested by England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Table Results ...
. Despite containing seven new caps, England defeated their opponents Wales, 24-3, and Tucker was reselected for the follow-up game against Ireland. After a narrow Ireland win, Tucker missed the final encounter of the tournament to Scotland. Tucker was back in the team for the 1895 Championship and played in all three games. After wins over Wales and Ireland, the final match and the Championship were lost in a title deciding encounter with Scotland. Although Tucker never represented England again, he played for several notable club teams, including St George's Hospital RFC where he studied, Blackheath, and in 1894 he was chosen to play for invitational tourists, the Barbarians. Tucker had an unusually long relationship with the Barbarians, playing 17 matches between 1894 and 1899, participating in four winter tours and three summer tours. He scored a single try for the team in the 1897 encounter with Percy Park, in which the Barbarians won 20-9.


Bibliography

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tucker, William Eldon Bermudian rugby union players England international rugby union players 1872 births 1953 deaths People from Hamilton, Bermuda Trinity College (Canada) alumni Alumni of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge Rugby union forwards Blackheath F.C. players Barbarian F.C. players Cambridge University R.U.F.C. players