Lancelot Andrew Noel Slocock (25 December 1886 – 9 August 1916) 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 1907 to 1908.Andrew Slocock Profile on scrum.com
/ref> He also captained his country.

Early life

Lancelot Andrew Noel Slocock was born on

Christmas Day Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year, ...

1886 in Wootton Wawen,

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon an ...

, the third son of the Reverend F H Slocock and his wife Judith. He was educated at

Marlborough College Marlborough College is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Independent school (United Kingdom), independent boarding school) for pupils aged 13 to 18 in Marlborough, Wiltshire, England. Founded in 1843 for the sons of Church ...

and at school made a name as an all-round athlete playing in the rugby fifteen as well as the cricket and hockey elevens.The Rugby History Society – Lancelot Slocock
/ref>

Rugby union career

Slocock joined one of the oldest Rugby clubs in England,

Liverpool FC Liverpool Football Club is a professional football club based in Liverpool, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Founded in 1892, the club joined the Football League the following year and has p ...

and made a name for himself as a lineout jumper. He was selected for the North in the North v South match, and this being one of the main England trials at the time, was selected to play for England against the touring South Africans in December 1906. However, due to a clerical error Slocock was omitted from the side and his position was taken instead by Arnold Alcock, a medical student at

Guy's Hospital Guy's Hospital is an NHS hospital in the borough of Southwark in central London. It is part of Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust and one of the institutions that comprise the King's Health Partners, an academic health science centre. ...

. Slocock did face South Africa in their next match, against

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

, a county for whom Slocock would eventually win fourteen caps. Slocock scored a try in this match, although the tourists won. Slocock made his international debut on 5 January 1907 at the Athletic Ground, Richmond in the

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

match. Slocock again crossed the line to score in a match England won by forty one points to thirteen. He was selected for the rest of England 's 1907 international season and was one of the only outstanding England players in the Wales match at Swansea on 12 January where England lost 22-nil. The Times recorded "the English forwards had periods of relative success, and the efforts of some of them, notably L.A.N. Slocock…. deserved a better fate." Slocock again scored in the next match in Dublin, but was on the losing side with Ireland winning 17–9. England 's final match of the season was held at Blackheath against Scotland, which the visitors won by three points to eight, claiming the championship and retaining the Calcutta Cup. Slocock played in all matches in the 1908 season, beginning with a win on 1 January over France at

Colombes Colombes () is a commune in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. In 2019, Colombes was the 53rd largest city in France. Name The name Colombes comes from Latin ''columna'' (Old French ''colombe'') ...

. England's next match was at Ashton Gate in Bristol to meet with Wales and Slocock was part of the pack regarded as the strongest pack England had fielded for some time. The loss to Wales was 18 points to 28, and Wales would go on to win the grand slam that year. Ireland then defeated England at Richmond. The final match of the international season was against Scotland at Inverleith on 21 March and this proved to be Slocock's last game for England. As well as playing for England he had been secretary of the Liverpool club for the 1907–8 seasons. Slocock captained the side and scored a try, though this was not enough to wrest the Calcutta Cup from the Scots.

Life outside sport

Slocock had a seemingly premature international retirement, but this was due to his career in the cotton trade, requiring frequent trips abroad, most commonly to the United States. As amateurs, business took priority over sport. He married in 1912 Lena (Elinor) Cook, and they had one son, Anthony, born in 1914. The family moved to

Savannah A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the Canopy (forest), canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to rea ...

, Georgia, United States. However, Lancelot returned to England to fight in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. He was commissioned as a

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in the 1/10th Battalion of the King's Regiment (Liverpool), a Territorial Battalion, more commonly known as Liverpool Scottish. He arrived in France in January 1916, joining his battalion, the 1/10th, as part of the 55th division. He was then to take part in the

Somme offensive The Battle of the Somme (French language, French: Bataille de la Somme), also known as the Somme offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and French Third Republic against the German Empire. I ...

, and was involved in the push to capture the village of

Guillemont Guillemont () is a commune approximately east of Albert in the Somme department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. It, like much of the surrounding area, is primarily an agricultural community, but is known for its large Commonwealth War ...

. The first attacks in this area on 8 August had failed and were followed by further attacks on the 9th, two of them made by the 1/10th Battalion of the King's Regiment. Second Lieutenant Lancelot Slocock whilst leading his men in one of these attacks was killed in action. Another former international, Lance Corporal John Abbott King, also serving with the 1/10th Battalion, died in the offensive. They were two of the eighty two thousand casualties incurred in this part of the campaign, resulting in a total advance of one thousand yards.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Slocock, Lancelot 1886 births 1916 deaths British military personnel killed in the Battle of the Somme England international rugby union players English rugby union players Lancashire County RFU players People educated at Marlborough College Rugby union forwards People from Stratford-upon-Avon Rugby union players from Stratford-upon-Avon Military personnel from Warwickshire Liverpool Scottish officers Territorial Force officers Liverpool St Helens F.C. players British Army personnel of World War I