Cecil Boyle

Last updated

Cecil Boyle
Birth nameCecil William Boyle
Date of birth16 March 1853
Place of birth Westminster, London
Date of death5 April 1900(1900-04-05) (aged 47)
Place of deathnear Boshof,
Orange Free State
Rugby union career
Position(s) Half-back
International career
YearsTeamApps(Points)
1873 England 1 (0)

Cecil William Boyle (16 March 1853 – 5 April 1900) was an English sportsman who played international rugby union for England and first-class cricket. He was killed in action during the Second Boer War.

Educated at Clifton College [1] and University College, Oxford, [2] Boyle played both cricket and rugby union for the University of Oxford. In 1873, he became the first ever Oxford player to be capped for the England national rugby union team, appearing in a Test against Scotland in Glasgow. [3] He played five first-class cricket matches for Oxford University in the same year and once more in 1874. As a fast round-arm bowler, Boyle took 30 wickets during his short first-class career, at an average of 10.30. [4] On his debut, against the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), he took 7/40 in the first innings. [5] His match tally of nine wickets was bettered the next time Oxford University played the MCC, at Lord's, when he took 7/33 in the second innings after taking four in the first. [6] A maternal uncle of Test cricketer Lionel Tennyson, Boyle also took a first-class hat-trick for Oxford University, against Middlesex. [7]

Boyle was a captain in the Queen's Own Oxfordshire Hussars (Oxfordshire Yeomanry), when in February 1900 he was appointed a lieutenant in the Imperial Yeomanry [8] for service in the Second Boer War. He took 30 of his own horses with him to South Africa, where he served with the 10th Battalion. In April 1900, he fought against French volunteers at Boshof and became the first member of the Imperial Yeomanry to be killed in action. [9]

After being captured, Philip Botha had ordered the execution of Boyle after he was accused of ill treatment of Boer women and children in Dewetsdorp. [10] [11]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frank Mitchell (sportsman, born 1872)</span> England international rugby union player and cricketer

Frank Mitchell was an English international cricketer and rugby union player.

Colonel John Cabourn Hartley, known as Jock Hartley, was an English first-class cricketer and British Army officer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reggie Spooner</span> English rugby union footballer and cricketer

Reginald Herbert Spooner was a cricketer who played for Lancashire and England. He also played Rugby Union for England.

Christopher Heseltine was an English Test cricketer, cricket administrator, and British Army officer. Heseltine made his debut in first-class cricket for the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) in 1892, a club he would go on to have a long association with in both a playing and administrative capacity. He played his county cricket for Hampshire County Cricket Club between 1895 and 1914, developing late as a successful fast bowler in first-class cricket. A close acquaintance of Lord Hawke, he accompanied him on three tours abroad, including to South Africa in 1895–96, making two Test match appearances for England against South Africa, in which he took a five wicket haul on debut. During his first-class career he played in 79 matches and took 170 wickets. He was later a member of the MCC committee and had two spells as president of Hampshire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Teddy Wynyard</span> English sportsman and soldier (1861–1936)

Edward George Wynyard was an English sportsman and a career officer in the British Army. He was primarily known as a first-class cricketer who played at domestic level predominantly for Hampshire and the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), in addition to playing Test cricket for England on three occasions. He made over 150 appearances in first-class cricket between 1878 and 1912, as a batsman whom Wisden described as "a splendid forcing batsman". He scored over 8,300 runs and made thirteen centuries. He was an important figure in Hampshire's return to first-class status in 1894, and shortly after he was engaged as both captain and president of Hampshire. Wynyard would later serve on the committee of the MCC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bob Lambert (cricketer)</span> Irish cricketer

Robert James Hamilton Lambert was an Irish cricketer. A right-handed batsman and a right-arm off spin bowler, he played 51 times for the Ireland cricket team between 1893 and 1930, including 23 first-class matches, captaining them on 13 occasions. He also played first-class cricket for London County and Woodbrook Club and Ground. On his death, the Wisden Cricketer's Almanack described him as the best all-rounder produced by Ireland.

Andrew Marshall Porter was an Irish barrister who was killed in the Second Boer War while fighting for the Imperial Yeomanry. He was also a noted sportsman, representing Ireland at both cricket and field hockey.

Richard Edwardes More was an English cricketer. A right-handed batsman and right-arm medium pace bowler, he played first-class cricket for Oxford University and Middlesex, amongst others, and later played for the Egypt national cricket team while he was working for the Sudan Civil Service.

Major James Gowans, DSO was an English-born sportsman who played international rugby union as a wing for Scotland and as a cricketer represented Marylebone Cricket Club.

Henry Martyn was an English cricketer who made 97 first-class appearances for Oxford University and Somerset between 1899 and 1908. He is described in his Wisden obituary as "one of the finest wicket-keepers ever seen in first-class cricket". In his 1981 article, John Arlott selected Martyn as the best English wicket-keeper never to play for England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Foster Cunliffe</span> English cricketer and historian

Sir Foster Hugh Egerton Cunliffe, 6th Baronet was an English historian and first-class cricketer who played for Oxford University from 1895 to 1898, for Middlesex from 1897 to 1903 and for Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) from 1899 to 1903. He was killed serving in World War I.

Charles Cecil Stone was an English cricketer. Stone was a right-handed batsman who bowled right-arm medium pace. He was born at Knighton, Leicestershire.

Eric Frank Penn was an English soldier and a cricketer who played first-class cricket for Cambridge University and the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) between 1898 and 1903. He was born at Westminster, London and died in the fighting of the First World War near Loos, France.

Captain Dudley Henry Forbes played first-class cricket for Oxford University and the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). Born in Ireland and educated in England, he was an officer of the British Army during the Second Boer War, but died during the conflict.

Henry Hume Chisholm Baird was a Welsh cricketer and British Army officer. Entering into the East Kent Regiment from Sandhurst, Baird served in the Second Boer War with distinction, earning the Distinguished Service Order. He later played first-class cricket for the British Army cricket team, the Marylebone Cricket Club, and a combined Army and Navy cricket team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dermot Blundell</span> English cricketer and British Army officer (1874–1910)

Dermot Howard Blundell-Hollinshead-Blundell MVO was an English first-class cricketer and British Army officer. He served in the Second Boer War and played first-class cricket for the Marylebone Cricket Club.

Arthur Robertson Hoare was an English first-class cricketer and clergyman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gerald Ward (cricketer)</span> English cricketer and British Army officer

Gerald Ernest Francis Ward was an English first-class cricketer and British Army officer.

Meredith Magniac was an English first-class cricketer and British Army officer.

William Patrick Glyn McCormick was an English first-class cricketer, rugby union player and clergyman.

References

  1. "Clifton College Register" Muirhead, J.A.O. p12: Bristol; J.W Arrowsmith for Old Cliftonian Society; April, 1948
  2. Cecil Boyle  at CricketArchive (subscription required)
  3. "Scotland 0G – 0G England (FT)". ESPN Scrum.
  4. "Biography of Cecil Boyle". ESPNcricinfo .
  5. "Oxford University v Marylebone Cricket Club". CricketArchive.
  6. "Marylebone Cricket Club v Oxford University". CricketArchive.
  7. "Hat-Tricks for Oxford University". CricketArchive.
  8. "No. 27160". The London Gazette . 2 February 1900. p. 692.
  9. Dooner, Mildred G. The Last Post – Roll of Officers who fell in South Africa 1899–1902. Naval and Military Press.
  10. Smith, Robin W. (June 2016). "Military History Journal Vol 17 No 1 - June 2016. AMNESTY DENIED. Salmon van As, Barend Celliers and Josef Muller". samilitaryhistory.org. The South African Military History Society, Die Suid-Afrikaanse Krygshistoriese Vereniging. Retrieved 12 January 2023.
  11. de Bruin, Jaco; Wessel, Andrés (November 2011). "Historia vol.56 n.2 Durban Nov. 2011 ARTIKELS Militêre verhore in die Oranje-vrystaat tydens die Anglo-Boereoorlog, 1899-1902. Legal validity of military trials in the Orange free state during the Anglo-Boer war, 1899-1902". scielo.org.za (in Afrikaans). SciELO The Scientific Electronic Library Online (SciELO) SA (South Africa). Retrieved 12 January 2023.