Louis Birkett
Birth nameLouis Birkett
Date of birthJanuary 1, 1853
Place of birthSouthwark, London
Date of deathApril 11, 1943
Place of deathBarnstaple
Occupation(s)Wool Broker Manager
Rugby union career
Position(s) Fullback
Senior career
Years Team Apps (Points)
Clapham Rovers[1] ()
International career
Years Team Apps (Points)
1875-1877 England 3

Louis Birkett (1 January 1853 – 11 April 1943(1943-04-11) (aged 90)) was an English rugby union player who played for Clapham Rovers and was also selected to play for England. He was the younger brother of Reg Birkett and uncle of John Birkett.[2]

Early life

Louis Birkett was born in Southwark, London on 1 January 1853 and baptised at St Saviour, Southwark.[3] His parents were John Birkett (born 1816, Hackney, London) a surgeon, and Lucy Matilda Janson (born 1823 in Tottenham, London). He had a number of brothers and sisters including Reginald (born 1849), Percival (born 1851), Evelyn (born 1864), and Arthur (born 1861).[4] His older brother Reginald was the famed dual code international who scored England's first international try.

Rugby union career

Louis followed his brother into playing for Clapham Rovers.[1] At that club he played both association football and by the rugby code. He was selected in March 1875 to play for England in the Scotland vs England match in Edinburgh[5] and was singled out as a "capital full-back and first-rate drop".[1] His selection meant that he and his brother, Reg, had become the first pair of brothers to have both played for England in the same match. Later that year, the Bryden brothers, Henry and Charles, became the second set of brothers to have played for England (albeit in separate matches) when Charles made his debut - both sets of brothers having come from Clapham Rovers. Louis played twice more for England two seasons later in the Ireland and Scotland encounters of the 1876–77 Home Nations rugby union matches.[1]

Career and later life

Louis was working as a commercial clerk in 1881 and was based at his parental home.[6] He married Agnes Wreford on 26 April 1881 in Otford, Kent[7] and they went on to have three daughters and two sons. The family moved to Chislehurst, Kent and Louis became a Wool Broker's Clerk[8] and later a Manager of the same firm.[9] On 15 July 1930, Louis received the Freedom of the City of London in the Worshipful Company of Ironmongers.[10]

He and his wife Agnes later retired to Barnstaple, Devon where he died on 11 April 1943 [11] having been married to Agnes for over 62 years.[12]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Marshall, Francis, Football; the Rugby union game, p152, (1892) (London Paris Melbourne, Cassell and company, limited)
  2. ↑ "Louis Birkett".
  3. ↑ London Metropolitan Archives; London, England; London Church of England Parish Registers; Reference Number: P92/SAV/3018
  4. ↑ Census Returns of England and Wales, 1861. Class: Rg 9; Piece: 42; Folio: 25; Page: 16; GSU roll: 542562.
  5. ↑ ESPN profile of Louis Birkett
  6. ↑ 1881 England census, Class: RG11; Piece: 93; Folio: 11; Page: 15; GSU roll: 1341021
  7. ↑ Kent Archives Office; Maidstone, Kent, England; England, Kent, Parish Registers, 1538-1911
  8. ↑ Census Returns of England and Wales, 1891; Class: RG12; Piece: 632; Folio: 26; Page: 1; GSU roll: 6095742
  9. ↑ 1901 England census, Class: RG13; Piece: 693; Folio: 7; Page: 5
  10. ↑ London, England, Freedom of the City Admission Papers, 1681-1930, London Metropolitan Archive; Reference Number: COL/CHD/FR/02/2775
  11. ↑ England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1995
  12. ↑ England, Andrews Newspaper Index Cards, 1790-1976
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