LLP Vincent Henry Cartwright DSO (10 September 1882 – 25 November 1965) 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 ...

international who captained his country. He also played

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officia ...

for

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The trad ...

Personal history

Cartwright was born in 1882 in

Nottingham Nottingham ( , locally ) is a city and unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east of Sheffield and north-east of Birmingham. Nottingham has links to the legend of Robi ...

. He was educated

Rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

Marshall (1951), pg 246. before matriculating to Oxford University in 1901. After leaving university he became a solicitor in Nottingham, and later a Clerk to Nottingham City Magistrates. Cartwright served in the British Armed Forces during the First World War, joining the Royal Marines. He was made a Temporary Second Lieutenant in 1914, then Temporary Captain, before reaching the rank of Temporary Major in 1917. Serving on the Western Front, Cartwright was highly decorated, twice mentioned in dispatches, a DSO and Croix de Guerre.

Rugby career

Cartwright first came to note as a rugby player while at

, representing the school team. On entering

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

he was selected as a freshman to join the University rugby team. He played in four successive Varsity Matches from 1901 to 1904, all at forward, collecting his sporting 'Blues'. While still a university student, Cartwright was selected for the England national team during the 1903 Home Nations Championship; a miserable defeat on a boggy St. Helen's ground 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 ...

. Despite the loss, Cartwright was reselected for the remaining two games of the tournament; both loses. He continued his international career throughout his time at Oxford, with two caps in the

1904 Home Nations Championship The 1904 Home Nations Championship was the twenty-second series of the rugby union Home Nations Championship. Six matches were played between 9 January and 19 March. It was contested by England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Table Results ...

and all three of the 1905 Championship. After leaving Oxford in the latter half of 1905, he joined

, becoming the first player to be capped for England directly from the club. His first international cap while a Nottingham player saw him given the captaincy of the England team, in the 1905 encounter with

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. Cartwright continued his captaincy of England through all three matches of the 1906 Championship, which included the first England encounter with

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

, a win for the English team which saw Cartwright score his first international points with four conversions. In 1906 Cartwright lead out the East Midlands team to face the first touring South African team; the first game of the Springbok's tour, the South African's won by a comfortable 29-0 margin. This was followed by Cartwright's last international, leading England against the same touring South Africans. The game ended in a 3–3 draw. After retiring he became a referee and was President of the Rugby Football Union in 1928 and 1929.

Cricket career

Cartwright played his seven first-class cricket matches with Nottinghamshire between 1901 and 1904 as a right-handed batsman but could only manage 60 runs.

References

Bibliography

External links

Cricinfo: Vincent Cartwright
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cartwright, Vincent 1882 births 1965 deaths Military personnel from Nottingham Barbarian F.C. players Blackheath F.C. players Royal Marines personnel of World War I Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Cricketers from Nottingham England international rugby union players English cricketers English rugby union players English rugby union referees Nottingham R.F.C. players Nottinghamshire cricketers Oxford University RFC players People educated at Rugby School Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1914–1918 (France) Royal Marines officers Rugby union players from Nottingham