Frank Hawkins (rugby union)

Last updated

Frank Hawkins
Birth nameFrank James Hawkins
Date of birth(1885-04-01)1 April 1885
Place of birth Wiveliscombe, England
Date of death3 September 1960(1960-09-03) (aged 75)
Place of death Treforest, Wales
Occupation(s)Police officer, Landlord
Rugby union career
Position(s) Flanker
Amateur team(s)
YearsTeamApps(Points)
1903–1905 Canton RFC ()
1905-? Pontypridd RFC ()
International career
YearsTeamApps(Points)
1912 Wales 2 (0)

Frank James Hawkins, MC (1 April 1885 – 3 September 1960) was an international rugby union forward who played international rugby for Wales and club rugby for Canton RFC and Pontypridd RFC.

Contents

Rugby career

Hawkins was born in Wiveliscombe in Somerset, England. He moved to Wales to join the Glamorgan Constabulary. Played for Canton RFC from 1903–05 and joined Pontypridd RFC in September 1905. Hawkins represented his home county of Somerset against South Africa in 1906. [1] In 1911 he was part of the Pontypridd team that won the Glamorgan Cup. Hawkins was club captain for the 1911–12 and 1912–13 seasons. [1]

Hawkins made both his appearances for Wales during the 1912 Five Nations Championship. His début was against Ireland in Belfast where Wales lost 12–5, and his second and final game was against France in Newport which Wales won 14–8. [2]

Military career

Hawkins was a member of the 14th Battalion of the Welsh Regiment during the First World War. On 10 July 1916 during the Battle of the Somme, Hawkins shot a German officer manning a machine gun that had fired upon the position his company had taken up. Hawkins suffered eight bullet wounds during the attack. Subsequently, he took part in a bayonet charge and sustained further injuries. He spent a night hidden in a shell crater in no man's land with eight other men from his company. Hawkins lost consciousness, and was taken to a Rouen hospital. He regained consciousness four days later. [3] For his actions during this event, Hawkins was awarded the Military Cross. His citation read: “For conspicuous gallantry in action. He attacked a hostile machine gun and killed the man working it. He showed great bravery until severely wounded.” [4] His decoration was awarded at Buckingham Palace in 1917 by King George V. [3]

Personal life

Hawkins married in 1908. After leaving the Glamorgan Constabulary, Hawkins took over the Tynewydd Hotel, Porth. He later became the landlord of several other establishments. [1]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Porth</span> Town in Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales

Porth is a town and a community in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, within the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan, Wales. Lying in the Rhondda Valley, it is regarded as the gateway connecting the Rhondda Fawr and Rhondda Fach valleys due to both valleys meeting at Porth. The Welsh word "porth" means "gate". Porth is a predominantly English-speaking community.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Celtic Warriors</span> Rugby team

The Celtic Warriors were a rugby union team from Wales, who played in the 2003–04 Celtic League and the 2003–04 Heineken Cup following the introduction of regional rugby union teams in Wales. They were effectively a temporary merger of Pontypridd RFC and Bridgend RFC. The Celtic Warriors played just one season before disbanding.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pontypridd RFC</span> Rugby team

Pontypridd Rugby Football Club is a rugby union team from Pontypridd, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. It won the Indigo Group Premiership for four consecutive seasons between 2012 and 2015, and the WRU National Cup on 6 different occasions, the most recent being in 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rhondda</span> Urban area and district in South Wales

Rhondda, or the Rhondda Valley, is a former coalmining area in South Wales, historically in the county of Glamorgan. It takes its name from the River Rhondda, and embraces two valleys – the larger Rhondda Fawr valley and the smaller Rhondda Fach valley – so that the singular "Rhondda Valley" and the plural are both commonly used. The area forms part of the South Wales Valleys. From 1897 until 1996 there was a local government district of Rhondda. The former district at its abolition comprised 16 communities. Since 1996 these 16 communities of the Rhondda have been part of Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough. The area of the former district is still used as the Rhondda Senedd constituency and Westminster constituency, having an estimated population in 2020 of 69,506. It is most noted for its historical coalmining industry, which peaked between 1840 and 1925. The valleys produced a strong Nonconformist movement manifest in the Baptist chapels that moulded Rhondda values in the 19th and early 20th centuries. It is also known for its male voice choirs and in sport and politics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tonypandy riots</span> Riot in 1910/11 in the Rhondda, Wales

The Miners Strike of 1910-11 was a violent attempt by coal miners to maintain wages and working conditions in parts of South Wales, where wages had been kept low by a cartel of mine owners.

Senghenydd Rugby Football Club are a Welsh rugby union club based in Senghenydd in South Wales. The club formed during the 1898/99 season built around the immigrant workers coming from port areas around Wales to find employment in the newly sunk Senghenydd coal mines.

Aberdare Rugby Football Club is a rugby union club based in the town of Aberdare, Wales. Aberdare RFC play in the Welsh Rugby Union Championship (East) Division and is a feeder club to Cardiff Rugby.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jack Bancroft</span> Welsh rugby union player and cricketer

Jack Bancroft, born John Bancroft, was a Welsh cricketer, and rugby union international. He was a right-handed batsman and a wicket-keeper who played for Glamorgan. Bancroft also played rugby for Swansea RFC. He was born and died in Swansea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Johnny Williams (rugby union, born 1882)</span> British Lions & Wales international rugby union footballer (1882–1916)

John Lewis Williams was a Welsh international wing who played club rugby for Cardiff Rugby Football Club. A three times Triple Crown winner, out of seventeen appearances for Wales he was on the losing side only twice.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dick Thomas (rugby union)</span> Welsh rugby union player (1880–1916)

Edward John Richard Thomas was a Welsh international rugby union back who played club rugby for Mountain Ash.

Thomas Emlyn Gwynne was a Welsh rugby union and professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1920s and 1930s. He played club level rugby union (RU) for Mountain Ash RFC and Swansea RFC, and representative level rugby league (RL) for both Great Britain, Wales and Glamorgan, and at club level for Hull FC, as a wing.

Jan "Jacky" Willem Hurter Morkel was a South African international rugby union player, who also played first class cricket. Morkel played at centre for Somerset West RFC and Western Province. He was selected for South Africa for the 1912–13 tour of the Home Nations and France. He played in 18 games on the tour, including all five test matches, and scored four tries, two of them against Ireland. His brother, Gerhard, and his cousins 'Boy' and Dougie, were also on the tour. Jacky Morkel also represented Transvaal in cricket.

Gerald "Tommy" W. Thompson was a South African rugby union player who played for Somerset West Rugby Club. He was selected for the provincial team of Western Province in 1912. He was selected to participate in the 1912–13 South Africa rugby tour to the British Isles and France, and was capped in three tests, against Scotland, Ireland and Wales, all in 1912. He played in a further 12 matches against club sides. He was considered one of the two best of an outstanding pack of South African forwards.

George Oliver was a Welsh dual-code international rugby union and professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1910s and 1920s. He played representative level rugby union (RU) for Wales, and at club level for Talywain RFC, Pill Harriers RFC and Pontypool RFC, as a lock, and representative level rugby league (RL) for Wales and Monmouthshire, and at club level for Hull FC and Pontypridd, as a prop or hooker.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frank Stephens (rugby)</span> Wales international rugby league & union footballer

Frank Stephens was an English-born Welsh rugby union and professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1920s and 1930s. He played invitational level rugby union (RU) for Crawshays RFC, and at club level for Bargoed RFC and Cardiff RFC, and representative level rugby league (RL) for Wales and Other Nationalities, and at club level for Wigan, Batley and Rochdale Hornets, as a prop or second-row. Frank Stephens played for Wigan against Dewsbury in the first rugby league Challenge Cup Final to be held at Wembley Stadium, London in 1929.

Sydney Hinam was a Welsh rugby union and professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1920s. He played representative level rugby union (RU) for Wales, and at club level for Cardiff RFC and Glamorgan Police RFC, as a flanker, and representative level rugby league (RL) for Glamorgan, and at club level for Rochdale Hornets, as a prop.

James Birch was an English-born international rugby union prop who played club rugby for Northampton and Neath was capped twice for Wales. Birch was selected for Wales in a tit for tat reprisal by the Welsh Rugby Union after the Rugby Football Union selected Welshman Stanley Williams for England.

Captain Francis Mansel Kitto was a Welsh-born flying ace credited with nine official aerial victories during World War I.

Robert Francis Williams was a Welsh international rugby union player. At club level he played for Canton RFC, Cardiff RFC and the Barbarians, and was selected on four occasions for Wales.

William Stuart Roy is a former international rugby union player who represented Wales, as well as played in the top division of Welsh club rugby for Cardiff RFC, Pontypridd RFC and Newport RFC. Roy was born in Ely, Cambridgeshire in England, but moved to Anglesey in Wales as a child.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Hawkins, Frank". Pontypridd RFC.
  2. ↑ "Player: Frank Hawkins". ESPN Scrum.
  3. 1 2 "Porth". The Rhondda Leader. No. 899. 3 March 1917. p. 1.
  4. ↑ "No. 29760". The London Gazette (Supplement). 22 September 1916. p. 9275.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.