Fred Bonsor - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Fred Bonsor was a rugby union international who represented England

England national rugby union team

The England national rugby union team represents England in rugby union. They compete in the annual Six Nations Championship with France, Ireland, Scotland, Italy, and Wales. They have won this championship on 26 occasions, 12 times winning the Grand Slam, making them the most successful team in...

from 1886 to 1889, he also captained his country. At club level he played for Bradford FC

Bradford Park Avenue A.F.C.

Bradford Association Football Club, previously also known as Bradford and since its reformation in the 1970s now referred to as Bradford Park Avenue, is a football club based in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England...

Early life

Fernand Bonsor was born in 1862 in France, the son of Robert and Louise Bonsor. His father was a dye manufacturer. Fernand, his elder brother Robert, younger brother Morris, and both parents, were born in France, though British subjects. The family moved to Shipley

Shipley, West Yorkshire

Shipley is a town in West Yorkshire, England, by the River Aire and the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, north of Bradford and north-west of Leeds....

sometime after 1871 and Fernand soon became known as Fred. In his latter teens he studied for the Civil Service examination although his profession by his late twenties seemed to follow his father into industry, being a wholesale bottler and agent. During July→September 1885 he married Fannie Milnes of Halifax in Bradford district.

Rugby union career

Bonsor made his international debut on 2 January 1886 at the Rectory Field, Blackheath in the England

England national rugby union team

vs Wales

Wales national rugby union team

The Wales national rugby union team represent Wales in international rugby union tournaments. They compete annually in the Six Nations Championship with England, France, Ireland, Italy and Scotland. Wales have won the Six Nations and its predecessors 24 times outright, second only to England with...

match.
Of the 6 matches he played for his national side he was on the winning side on 3 occasions.
He played his final match for England on Feb 16, 1889 at Rectory Field, Blackheath in the England

England national rugby union team

vs New Zealand Natives match.

Change of Code

When Bradford converted from the rugby union

Rugby union

Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...

code to the rugby league

Rugby league

Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...

code on the 29th August 1895, Fred Bonsor would have been approximately 33 years of age. Consequently, he may have been both a rugby union and rugby league footballer for Bradford.

External links

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