Lennard Stokes
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Dr. Lennard Stokes 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 1875 to 1881. He also captained his country on five occasions, notably in the first ever match against
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 ...
. Like his brother Frederick Stokes, after captaining his country he went on to become the president of the Rugby Football Union.


Early life

Lennard Stokes was born on 12 February 1856 in
Greenwich Greenwich ( , ,) is a town in south-east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London. It is situated east-southeast of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich ...
, the son of Henry Graham Stokes, Proctor to the Admiralty and solicitor, and his wife Elizabeth Sewell. He was one of at least nine children (six brothers and three sisters). Unlike his brother Frederick, who attended
Rugby School Rugby School is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) in Rugby, Warwickshire, England. Founded in 1567 as a free grammar school for local boys, it is one of the oldest independent schools in Britain. ...
, he attended Sydney College in Bath.Steve Lewis, ''One Among Equals'', 2008, pp9-10 (Vertical Editions:London) He then studied medicine 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. ...
, becoming M.R.C.S. in 1881 and L.R.C.P. in 1882.


Rugby career

Lennard began to play for Blackheath Football Club when he was seventeen, following in the footsteps of his older brothers, notably the first England international captain and at the time captain of Blackheath, Frederick Stokes. Like his brother he became captain of Blackheath and under his captaincy the club grew in reputation. Lennard was responsible for Blackheath acquiring 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 Blackhe ...
, on which a number of international matches were played. During the five seasons from 1876 to 1881 that Lennard Stokes captained the club, Blackheath won 68 games and lost only 6 out of a total 83 played. He made his international debut as a 19-year-old on 15 February 1875 at
The Oval The Oval, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Kia Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, located in the borough of Lambeth, in south London. The Oval has been the home ground of Surrey County Cricket Club since ...
in the
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 ...
vs
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 ...
match. Of his 12 caps he was on the winning side eight times, and he captained his country on five occasions, including the first ever international against Wales on 19 February 1881 at Richardson's Field, Blackheath,Blackheath Rugby Official Site
when he played full back. Having changed at the Princess of Wales public house half a mile from the ground, England faced Wales for the first time and under Stokes' leadership won by 7 goals to nil, one dropped goal and six tries to nil. Stokes retired from international service at the end of the 1881 season. He played his final match for England on 19 March 1881 at
Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...
in the
Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...
vs
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 ...
match. His service to rugby continued, however, and he served as president of the Rugby Football Union for three years from 1886 to 1888 aged just 30 when he began his term. In his international career he played in both the last game of the 20 a-side era in 1876 against Scotland, and the first of the 15 a-side in 1877 against Ireland. Of his ability, Arthur Budd, president of the RFU from 1888 to 1889, said in 1892 that "I do not believe that there is a three-quarter back playing, who, if we could transplant him to the past, could cover the entire field as Lennard Stokes used to.", and Arthur Guillemard, president of the RFU from 1878 to 1882, said, also in 1892, "it is not too much to say that at this post his equal, either in science or play, has never been seen from the date of the foundation of the Union.".Arthur Guillemard writing in Marshall, Francis, ''Football; the Rugby union game'', p127, (1892) (London Paris Melbourne, Cassell and company, limited) Steve Lewis, author of numerous books on the history of rugby union, commented that "It was with much justification that he was hailed as the greatest player of his day."Steve Lewis, One Among Equals, 2008, pp10 (Vertical Editions:London)


Cricketing career

Stokes, again like his brother Frederick, played cricket for Blackheath Cricket Club and for
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 ...
from 1877 to 1880. He made his first-class debut for Kent on 4 June 1877 in the seven-wicket victory against
Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...
. He played two more matches during the 1877 season, but did not appear for Kent over the following two campaigns. He played for an R Page XI against Colchester Garrison in a one-day first-class match on 12 August 1879. Stokes made his final first-class appearance on 22 July 1880, scoring the winning runs in a 10-wicket win over Sussex.Carlaw D (2020) ''Kent County Cricketers A to Z. Part One: 1806–1914'' (revised edition), pp. 507–508.
Available online
at the
Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians The Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians (ACS) was founded in England in 1973 for the purpose of researching and collating information about the history and statistics of cricket. Originally called the Association of Cricket Statis ...
. Retrieved 2020-12-21.)


Career and later life

After qualification as a doctor he served as housesurgeon and resident
obstetrical Obstetrics is the field of study concentrated on pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period. As a medical specialty, obstetrics is combined with gynecology under the discipline known as obstetrics and gynecology (OB/GYN), which is a surg ...
officer at Guy's, and then began general practice at
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 ...
. For a number of years he was honorary surgeon to St. John's Hospital,
Lewisham Lewisham () is an area of southeast London, England, south of Charing Cross. It is the principal area of the London Borough of Lewisham, and was within the historic county of Kent until 1889. It is identified in the London Plan as one of ...
. Approaching sixty years of age, in 1921 he went to practise in Hampshire.British Medical Journal, v.1(3776); 20 May 1933, ''Lennard Stokes Obituary'' He died at Hurstbourne Tarrant, near
Andover, Hampshire Andover ( ) is a town in the English county of Hampshire. The town is on the River Anton, a major tributary of the Test, and is situated alongside the major A303 trunk road at the eastern end of Salisbury Plain, west of the town of Basi ...
, on 3 May 1933 having suffered with indifferent health for a number of months.


Further reading

*"Football – The Rugby Union Game" by Rev. F.Marshall, published in 1892.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stokes, Lennard 1856 births 1933 deaths English rugby union players England international rugby union players Rugby union three-quarters English cricketers Kent cricketers 19th-century English medical doctors Blackheath F.C. players 20th-century English medical doctors Rugby union players from Greenwich