imported>JJMC89 bot III: Merging :Category:Rugby union players from Greenwich to :Category:People from Greenwich and :Category:Rugby union players from the Royal Borough of Greenwich per Wikipedia:Categories for discussion/Log/2024 February 5#Category:Sportspeople from London by locality

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Merging Category:Rugby union players from Greenwich to Category:People from Greenwich and Category:Rugby union players from the Royal Borough of Greenwich per Wikipedia:Categories for discussion/Log/2024 February 5#Category:Sportspeople from London by locality

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{{short description|England international rugby union player & cricketer}}
{{EngvarB|date=August 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2024|cs1-dates=ly formats}}
{{Infobox rugby biography
| name = Frederick Stokes
| image = Frederick Stokes.jpg
| birth_name = Frederick Stokes
| nickname =
| birth_date = {{birth date|1850|7|12|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Greenwich, London]]<ref name="Scrum">[http://www.espnscrum.com/england/rugby/player/266.html Profile on scrum.com]</ref>
| death_date = {{dda|1929|2|7|1850|7|12|df=y}}
| death_place = Inhurst House, [[Baughurst]], [[Hampshire]]<ref name="Scrum"/>
| height =
| weight =
| ru_position = Forward
| repteam1 = [[England national rugby union team|England]]
| repcaps1 = 3
| reppoints1 = 0
| ru_ntupdate =
| repyears1 = 1871–1873
| years1 =
| ru_clubupdate =
| apps1 =
| points1 =
| clubs1 = [[Blackheath FC|Blackheath]]
| occupation = Solicitor<ref name="one"/>
| school = [[Rugby School]]
| university =
}}

'''Frederick Stokes''' (12 July 1850 – 7 February 1929) was the first captain of the [[England national rugby union team]], who played for and captained the team in the first three rugby internationals, all between [[England]] and [[Scotland]]. He was also the youngest president of the [[Rugby Football Union]].

==Early life==
Frederick Stokes was born on 12 July 1850 in [[Greenwich]], the son of Henry Graham Stokes, Proctor to the Admiralty<ref>The Gentleman's Magazine, Published by F. Jefferies, 1866, p681</ref> and solicitor, and his wife Elizabeth Sewell. He was one of at least nine children (six brothers and three sisters)<ref>Stokes's brothers included Henry (older), Russell, Lennard, Graham and Reginald (all younger); sisters included Mary (older), Elizabeth and Emily (younger)</ref><ref>Class: RG10; Piece: 760; Folio: 35; Page: 20; GSU roll: 824727, Census Returns of England and Wales, 1871. Kew, Surrey, England: The National Archives of the UK (TNA): Public Record Office (PRO), 1871</ref> and attended [[Rugby School]].<ref name="one">Steve Lewis, ''One Among Equals'', 2008, pp9-10 (Vertical Editions:London)</ref>

==Rugby football==
Stokes played for [[Blackheath F.C.]] and was for a time captain of that side. His five brothers also played for Blackheath. [[File:England 1871 first.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Frederick Stokes and the first England Team, 1871, prior to the 1st international, v Scotland in Edinburgh.]] On 26 January 1871, when Stokes was 20 years old he, along with [[Benjamin Burns]], represented Blackheath at a meeting of twenty-one rugby teams at the [[Pall Mall Restaurant]].<ref name="one"/> The outcome of the meeting was the founding of the [[Rugby Football Union]] whose Laws were to be drafted by three [[Old Rugbeians]], [[Algernon Rutter]], [[E.C.Holmes]] and [[L.J. Maton]]. Less than two months later, Stokes, himself an [[Old Rugbeian]], accepted a challenge from Scotland to raise a 20-man side to take to [[Edinburgh]] to play in what was to be the first international. Burns was also in the England side and of the 20 men, 10 were former pupils of [[Rugby School]]. Stokes was chosen to captain this side, which played Scotland at [[Raeburn Place]] in Edinburgh on 27 March 1871.<ref name="Scrum"/> The laws of rugby were still far from clearly defined at the time and the Scottish and English teams used different interpretations of them, which led to what has been described as "a sometimes chaotic affair".<ref name="one"/> Scotland won this first international by one goal and one try to one try.

Stokes was chosen to captain the return match in 1872 when Scotland visited the [[Kennington Oval]] on 5 February 1872.<ref name="Scrum"/> England won this match by one goal, one drop goal and two tries, to one drop goal. The teams played for a third time the following year on 3 March 1873<ref name="Scrum"/> in [[Glasgow]] which ended scoreless. Once again, Stokes was the captain and was one of only three England players to have appeared in every match. This was Stokes's last international and he effectively retired from international rugby when he was 22. However, his involvement continued and in 1874 he became the second president of the fledgling RFU and remains the youngest man to have held the position.<ref name="one"/>

He was described as a "brilliant forward, being always on the ball, and often making excellent runs …can also play at capital form at half-back, is a sure tackle and a first-rate drop or place-kick".<ref name="Scrum"/>

==Other sports==
{{Infobox cricketer
| image = 
| batting = Right-handed
| bowling = Right-arm fast (roundarm)
| role =
| family =
| club1 = [[Kent County Cricket Club|Kent]]
| year1 = 1871–1875
| columns = 1
| column1 = [[First-class cricket|First-class]]
| matches1 = 8
| runs1 = 167
| bat avg1 = 15.18
| 100s/50s1 = 0/1
| top score1 = 65
| deliveries1 = 817
| wickets1 = 13
| bowl avg1 = 25.76
| fivefor1 = 0
| tenfor1 = 0
| best bowling1 = 3/36
| catches/stumpings1 = 3/–
| date = 9 March
| year = 2009
| source = http://content.cricinfo.com/england/content/player/21054.html Cricinfo
}}
A good golfer, he also played [[first-class cricket]] for [[Kent County Cricket Club]], as did two of his brothers, [[Graham Stokes (cricketer)|Graham]] and [[Lennard Stokes|Lennard]].<ref name="Scrum"/><ref name=carlaw>Carlaw D (2020) ''Kent County Cricketers A to Z. Part One: 1806–1914'' (revised edition), pp. 505–506. ([https://archive.acscricket.com/books/Kent_Cricketers_A_to_Z_Part_One_Revised_Expanded.pdf Available online] at the [[Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians]]. Retrieved 2020-12-21.)</ref>

==Life outside of rugby and family==
Frederick followed his father into the legal profession becoming a [[solicitor]].<ref name="one"/> Frederick married Isabella Penn in 1877, the daughter of the famous [[Marine engineering|marine engineer]], [[John Penn (engineer)|John Penn]]. This was in the same year that his fellow rugby international and Old Rugbeian, [[Joseph Fletcher Green]], married Isabella's sister Ellen. Thus, he and Joseph were brothers-in-law. They had a number of children including: Frederic Frank Stokes (1880), Alick (1882), Ellen Muriel Stokes (1888), Ellen Sybil Stokes (1891), Ellen Zoe Stokes (1898). Frederick Stokes died on 7 February 1929, at Inhurst House, [[Baughurst]], Berkshire aged 78. Notably, all five of Frederick's brothers were keen sportsmen and all played rugby.<ref name="one"/> One of his brothers, [[Lennard Stokes]], also captained the [[England national rugby union team]].<ref name="one"/>

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-sports}}
{{s-bef|before=none}}
{{s-ttl|title=English National Rugby Union Captain|years=1871–1873}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Alfred Hamersley]]}}
{{s-bef|before=Algernon Rutter}}
{{s-ttl|title=Rugby Football Union President|years=1875–76}}
{{s-aft|after=L J Maton}}
{{end}}

{{English national rugby union team captains}}
{{Rugby Football Union Presidents}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stokes, Frederick}}
[[Category:1850 births]]
[[Category:1929 deaths]]
[[Category:English rugby union players]]
[[Category:England international rugby union players]]
[[Category:Blackheath F.C. players]]
[[Category:Rugby union forwards]]
[[Category:English cricketers]]
[[Category:Kent cricketers]]
[[Category:People educated at Rugby School]]
[[Category:English solicitors]]
[[Category:Gentlemen of the South cricketers]]
[[Category:Gentlemen cricketers]]
[[Category:People from Greenwich]]
[[Category:Rugby union players from the Royal Borough of Greenwich]]

Frederick Stokes (rugby union) - Revision history

imported>JJMC89 bot III: Merging :Category:Rugby union players from Greenwich to :Category:People from Greenwich and :Category:Rugby union players from the Royal Borough of Greenwich per Wikipedia:Categories for discussion/Log/2024 February 5#Category:Sportspeople from London by locality