Rupert Inglis
Encyclopedia
Rupert Edward Inglis was an England international rugby
Rugby football
Rugby football is a style of football named after Rugby School in the United Kingdom. It is seen most prominently in two current sports, rugby league and rugby union.-History:...

 player who later became a Church of England
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...

 rector. During the First World War, Inglis was a chaplain
Military chaplain
A military chaplain is a chaplain who ministers to soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines and other members of the military. In many countries, chaplains also minister to the family members of military personnel, to civilian noncombatants working for military organizations and to civilians within the...

 to the British Army and was killed during the Battle of the Somme.

Early life and education

Inglis was born in the Hanover Square
Hanover Square, London
Hanover Square, London, is a square in Mayfair, London W1, England, situated to the south west of Oxford Circus, the major junction where Oxford Street meets Regent Street....

 area of London. He was the youngest son of Sir John Eardley Wilmot Inglis (1814–1862) (who died 8 months before Rupert was born) and Julia Selina Thesiger (1833–1904); his father commanded the British forces during the Siege of Lucknow
Siege of Lucknow
The Siege of Lucknow was the prolonged defense of the Residency within the city of Lucknow during the Indian Rebellion of 1857. After two successive relief attempts had reached the city, the defenders and civilians were evacuated from the Residency, which was abandoned.Lucknow was the capital of...

 in 1857. His mother, who was the daughter of Frederic Thesiger
Frederic Thesiger, 1st Baron Chelmsford
Frederic Thesiger, 1st Baron Chelmsford PC KC FRS was a British jurist and Conservative politician. He was twice Lord Chancellor of Great Britain.-Early life:...

, the first Baron Chelmsford, Lord Chancellor
Lord Chancellor
The Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, or Lord Chancellor, is a senior and important functionary in the government of the United Kingdom. He is the second highest ranking of the Great Officers of State, ranking only after the Lord High Steward. The Lord Chancellor is appointed by the Sovereign...

, later wrote of her experiences during the siege including extracts from her diary.

He was educated at Rugby School
Rugby School
Rugby School is a co-educational day and boarding school located in the town of Rugby, Warwickshire, England. It is one of the oldest independent schools in Britain.-History:...

 from 1877 before going up to University College, Oxford
University College, Oxford
.University College , is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. As of 2009 the college had an estimated financial endowment of £110m...

 in 1881 to read history. On leaving Oxford in 1885, he attended Ely Theological College and was ordained deacon in 1889.

Family

Inglis was the youngest of seven children. His siblings were:
  • John Frederic Inglis (b. 1852, died an infant)
  • John Frederic Inglis (1853–1923), who played cricket for Kent
    Kent County Cricket Club
    Kent County Cricket Club is one of the 18 first class county county cricket clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the county of Kent...

     and football for Wanderers
    Wanderers F.C.
    Wanderers Football Club is an English amateur football club, based in London, that plays in the Surrey South Eastern Combination. Founded as Forest Football Club in 1859, the club changed its name to Wanderers in 1864....

     and Scotland
    England v Scotland representative matches (1870–1872)
    Between 1870 and 1872, the Football Association organised five representative association football matches between teams from England and Scotland, all held in London. The first of these matches was held at The Oval on 5 March 1870, and the fifth was on 21 February 1872. The matches, which were...

  • Charles George Inglis (1855–1923), who became a tea planter on the Agra Kandy Estate in Ceylon.
  • Alfred Markham Inglis
    Alfred Inglis
    Alfred Markham Inglis was an amateur cricketer who played for the M.C.C. and Kent in the 1870s. By profession, he was a banker.-Early life:...

     (1856–1919), who played cricket for Kent
    Kent County Cricket Club
    Kent County Cricket Club is one of the 18 first class county county cricket clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the county of Kent...

  • Victoria Alexandrina Inglis (1859–1929), married Hubert Ashton, mother of cricketers Hubert
    Hubert Ashton
    Sir Hubert Ashton KBE MC was an English cricketer and politician...

    , Gilbert
    Gilbert Ashton
    Gilbert Ashton MC was an English cricketer who played 62 first-class matches between the wars, mostly for Cambridge University and Worcestershire...

    , Percy
    Percy Ashton
    Percy Ashton was an Indian-born English cricketer. He was a right-arm medium-fast bowler who played for Essex...

     and Claude
    Claude Ashton
    Claude Thesiger Ashton was an English amateur footballer and cricketer. As an amateur, he played football for the Corinthians in several different positions including goalkeeper and centre forward, although his preferred position was wing-half. He made one appearance for the England national team...

  • Julia Mathilda Inglis (1861–1929), married to Sir George Herman Collier of the India Office


On 11 June 1900, he married Helen Mary Gilchrist. They had three children:
  • Joan Clara Thesiger Inglis (1901–1967)
  • John Gilchrist Thesiger Inglis
    John Gilchrist Inglis
    Vice Admiral Sir John Gilchrist Thesiger "Tommy" Inglis KBE, CB was a British Royal Navy officer who became Head of Naval Intelligence. In this capacity, he attempted to cover-up the "Buster Crabb affair" in 1956....

     (1906–1972) who was knighted and rose to the rank of Vice-Admiral.
  • Margaret Cohcrane Inglis (1911–1994)

Sporting career

At Rugby School, Inglis was a member of the school cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...

 and rugby teams.
He played cricket for M.C.C.
Marylebone Cricket Club
Marylebone Cricket Club is a cricket club in London founded in 1787. Its influence and longevity now witness it as a private members' club dedicated to the development of cricket. It owns, and is based at, Lord's Cricket Ground in St John's Wood, London NW8. MCC was formerly the governing body of...

 against the school in June 1879, aged 16. He also played against Marlborough College
Marlborough College
Marlborough College is a British co-educational independent school for day and boarding pupils, located in Marlborough, Wiltshire.Founded in 1843 for the education of the sons of Church of England clergy, the school now accepts both boys and girls of all beliefs. Currently there are just over 800...

 in July 1881 when he was the top-scorer in the first innings, helping Rugby win the match by two wickets.

He was a member of the school rugby XV in 1879 and 1880 and also of the rugby XVs at Oxford University in 1883 and 1884, winning his Blue. Inglis became a member of the Blackheath rugby
Rugby football
Rugby football is a style of football named after Rugby School in the United Kingdom. It is seen most prominently in two current sports, rugby league and rugby union.-History:...

 club and made three appearances for the England national rugby union team
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...

. His debut came against 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...

 at Rectory Field
Rectory Field
Rectory Field is a playing field in Blackheath, London. It was developed in the 1880s by Blackheath Cricket, Football and Lawn Tennis Company and became the home of Kent County Cricket Club and rugby union team Blackheath F.C....

, Blackheath
Blackheath
Blackheath is the name of a number of places:*Blackheath, London, England**Blackheath, Kent *Blackheath, Surrey, England**Blackheath, Surrey *Blackheath, West Midlands, England*Blackheath, New South Wales, Australia...

 on 2 January 1886 in a match which England won on tries scored. This was followed by a victory over Ireland
Ireland national rugby union team
The Ireland national rugby union team represents the island of Ireland in rugby union. The team competes annually in the Six Nations Championship and every four years in the Rugby World Cup, where they reached the quarter-final stage in all but two competitions The Ireland national rugby union...

 in February and a draw with Scotland
Scotland national rugby union team
The Scotland national rugby union team represent Scotland in international rugby union. Rugby union in Scotland is administered by the Scottish Rugby Union. The Scotland rugby union team is currently ranked eighth in the IRB World Rankings as of 19 September 2011...

 in March. As a result, England shared the 1886 Home Nations Championship
1886 Home Nations Championship
The 1886 Home Nations Championship was the fourth series of the rugby union Home Nations Championship. Five matches were played between 2 January and 13 March 1886. It was contested by England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales...

 with Scotland.

Clerical career

Inglis was ordained deacon in 1889 by the Bishop of Beverley
Bishop of Beverley
The Bishop of Beverley is a Church of England suffragan bishop. The title takes its name after the town of Beverley in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England....

. He became curate
Curate
A curate is a person who is invested with the care or cure of souls of a parish. In this sense "curate" correctly means a parish priest but in English-speaking countries a curate is an assistant to the parish priest...

 at Helmsley
Helmsley
Helmsley is a market town and civil parish in the Ryedale district of North Yorkshire, England. The town is located at the point where the valleys of Bilsdale and Ryedale leave the higher moorland and join the flat Vale of Pickering. It is situated on the River Rye and lies on the A170 road, east...

 from 1889 to 1890 and then at Basingstoke
Basingstoke
Basingstoke is a town in northeast Hampshire, in south central England. It lies across a valley at the source of the River Loddon. It is southwest of London, northeast of Southampton, southwest of Reading and northeast of the county town, Winchester. In 2008 it had an estimated population of...

 from 1892 to 1899 (being ordained priest by the Bishop of Winchester
Bishop of Winchester
The Bishop of Winchester is the head of the Church of England diocese of Winchester, with his cathedra at Winchester Cathedral in Hampshire.The bishop is one of five Church of England bishops to be among the Lords Spiritual regardless of their length of service. His diocese is one of the oldest and...

 in 1894), before being appointed Rector
Rector
The word rector has a number of different meanings; it is widely used to refer to an academic, religious or political administrator...

 of Frittenden
Frittenden
Frittenden is a village and civil parish in the Tunbridge Wells District of Kent, England. The parish is located on the flood plain of one of the tributaries of the River Medway, 15 miles to the east of Tunbridge Wells: the village is three miles south of Headcorn. It is in a very rural...

, Kent in 1900.

On 13 April 1905, he read the committal part of the service during the funeral of his uncle, General Frederic Thesiger, Lord Chelmsford
Frederic Thesiger, 2nd Baron Chelmsford
General Frederic Augustus Thesiger, 2nd Baron Chelmsford GCB, GCVO, was a British general, best known for his commanding role during the Anglo-Zulu war. The centre column of his forces was defeated at the Battle of Isandlwana, a crushing victory for the Zulus and the British army's worst ever...

.

First World War

In 1915, Inglis decided that, if he was to encourage the young men of his village to sign up for the army, he would also have to volunteer. At the age of 51, therefore, he was commissioned as a Chaplain
Military chaplain
A military chaplain is a chaplain who ministers to soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines and other members of the military. In many countries, chaplains also minister to the family members of military personnel, to civilian noncombatants working for military organizations and to civilians within the...

 to the Forces, 4th Class on 5 July 1915; he was attached to 1st Battalion, Shropshire Light Infantry, arriving in France later in July 1915. For a short while he did duty at No. 23 General Hospital, Etaples
Étaples
Étaples or Étaples-sur-Mer is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in northern France. It is a fishing and leisure port on the Canche river.There is a separate commune named Staple, Nord.-History:...

, and then joined No. 21 Casualty Clearing Station
Casualty Clearing Station
A Casualty Clearing Station is the name used by the British Army and the armies of other Commonwealth nations to describe a medical facility behind the front lines that is used to treat wounded soldiers. A CCS would usually be located just outside of the range of enemy artillery and often near...

 at Corbie
Corbie
Corbie is a commune of the Somme department in Picardie in northern France.-Geography:The small town is situated up river from Amiens, in the département of Somme and is the main town of the canton of Corbie. It lies in the valley of the River Somme, at the confluence of the River Ancre. The town...

, near Albert
Albert, Somme
Albert is a commune in the Somme department in Picardie in northern France.It is located about halfway between Amiens and Bapaume.-History:Albert was founded as a Roman outpost called Encre, in about 54 BC...

. In December 1915, he was attached to the 16th Infantry Brigade, 6th Division, in the Ypres
Ypres
Ypres is a Belgian municipality located in the Flemish province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the city of Ypres and the villages of Boezinge, Brielen, Dikkebus, Elverdinge, Hollebeke, Sint-Jan, Vlamertinge, Voormezele, Zillebeke, and Zuidschote...

 Salient.

Throughout his time at the front, he wrote home regularly either to his parishioners or to his wife. After the war, his widow edited the letters and privately published a volume as a record for their children and others. His explanatory letter to his parishioners opens the volume:
At first, his letters home are optimistic and bright but the tone changes as he spends more time close to the front. He arrived at Etaples on 5 July and spent his time there acting as a censor of soldier's letters home as well as giving spiritual guidance to the wounded and conducting Sunday worship. He also helped the soldiers write letters home to their wives and families.

On 20 September 1915, he was transferred to the casualty clearing station at Corbie, located in a former bicycle factory. As well as his spiritual work, he helped feed and dress the wounded patients. His first period of leave since enlisting came in November, when he spent a week home, before returning to the front. On his return passage, he was shipped from Southampton
Southampton
Southampton is the largest city in the county of Hampshire on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest...

 on a crowded troop ship.

Within a few weeks of returning to the front, he was again on the move; he was attached to the 16th Infantry Brigade, 6th Division, consisting of the 1st King’s Shropshire Light Infantry, the 1st Buffs, the 2nd York and Lancasters
2nd Battalion, York and Lancaster Regiment
The 2nd Battalion, York and Lancaster Regiment was formed by the redesignation of the 84th Regiment of Foot in 1881.-History:...

 and the 8th Bedfords. By 18 December, he was camped in a wood near Vlamertinghe where he met a fellow chaplain, Neville Talbot
Neville Stuart Talbot
Neville Stuart Talbot was born at Keble College, Oxford on 21 August 1879 and died on 3 April 1943. He was a bishop in the Church of England.-Family:He was the third child and second son of his parents...

, son of the Bishop of Winchester, who had helped found the Toc H
Toc H
Toc H is an international Christian movement. The name is an abbreviation for Talbot House, 'Toc' signifying the letter T in the signals spelling alphabet used by the British Army in World War I. A soldiers' rest and recreation centre named Talbot House was founded in December 1915 at Poperinghe,...

 movement, and nursed him through a bout of flu
Influenza
Influenza, commonly referred to as the flu, is an infectious disease caused by RNA viruses of the family Orthomyxoviridae , that affects birds and mammals...

.

By Christmas, Talbot had returned home on leave and Inglis was senior chaplain. On Christmas Day, he had church services in the morning and then was entertained with a band concert in the evening. There was no truce: "The firing was not heavy but there was some going on all day. . ."

By this time, his letters home regularly complained about the conditions, both in the field hospital ("You would love to see this hut - the untidiness of it beats anything I have ever seen", "It's awfully difficult to get coal here - our allowance is 1 ½ lbs. per head per day. It isn’t much, to keep this and the kitchen fire going") and in the battlefield generally ("[the] mud . . . beggars description, and is getting worse", "the trenches are in an awful state; it is of course, quite impossible to drain them, as everything is flat").

He was able to return home on leave at the end of January 1916, but was soon "back in my little wooden hut'" again. He continued to spend his time ministering to the needs of the injured soldiers and helping them write letters home. He also assisted the surgeon in operations in the field hospital
Field hospital
A field hospital is a large mobile medical unit that temporarily takes care of casualties on-site before they can be safely transported to more permanent hospital facilities...

; in a letter to his daughter Joan in February he relates an anecdote about his work in the hospital:
After a brief spell at Calais
Calais
Calais is a town in Northern France in the department of Pas-de-Calais, of which it is a sub-prefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's capital is its third-largest city of Arras....

 in March, Inglis returned to the Ypres Salient
Ypres Salient
The Ypres Salient is the area around Ypres in Belgium which was the scene of some of the biggest battles in World War I.In military terms, a salient is a battlefield feature that projects into enemy territory. Therefore, the salient is surrounded by the enemy on three sides, making the troops...

 where the brigade came under heavy bombardment, resulting in many casualties including the death of the Colonel, Edward Bourryau Luard (1870–1916) (son of General Richard Luard
Richard Luard
Lieutenant-General Richard George Amherst Luard, CB was a British Army officer who became General Officer Commanding the Militia of Canada.-Military career:...

). Over the next few months, he was regularly on the move with the brigade, spending much of his time, when not involved with funerals and other church services, organising a shop to supply the soldiers and later acting as "Mess President", organising the canteen.

By mid September, he was at Ginchy
Ginchy
Ginchy is a commune in the Somme department in Picardie in northern France.-Geography:Ginchy is situated on the D20 road, some northeast of Amiens.-Population:-External links:*...

; two days after the Battle of Ginchy
Battle of Ginchy
The Battle of Ginchy took place on 9 September 1916 during the Battle of the Somme when the United Kingdom 16th Division captured the German-held village of Ginchy. However the Irish Royal Munster Fusiliers suffered heavy casualties in the process...

, when the village was re-taken from the enemy, he describes walking across the battlefield: "Then I walked across country with them — a wonderful country, all shell holes and trenches — trenches which till recently were German." His final letter home was dated 17 September 1916 in which he describes his work with the stretcher bearers, bringing the wounded soldiers to the dressing station. His letter closes:
The following day, 18 September, he joined a party of stretcher-bearers, in order to help bring in the wounded. While doing this, he was struck by a fragment of shell and while his wound was being dressed a second shell killed him instantly. In his letter of condolence to Mrs. Inglis, Rev. Neville Talbot praised Inglis' bravery and gallantry:

He was buried close to the battlefield at Ginchy; his body was not recovered after the end of the war.

Tributes

Apart from the letter from Neville Talbot, several other fellow officers sent tributes to Mrs. Inglis:

Memorials

Inglis' name is among the 72,000 dead with no known grave commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial. There is also a memorial to him at All Saints Church, Basingstoke where he had served as a curate.

At Frittenden, he is commemorated on the War Memorial while the lychgate
Lychgate
A lychgate, also spelled lichgate, lycugate, or as two separate words lych gate, is a gateway covered with a roof found at the entrance to a traditional English or English-style churchyard.-Name:...

 at St. Mary's church is dedicated to him; there is also a tablet to his memory in the chancel
Chancel
In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar in the sanctuary at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building...

 of the church. On Remembrance Sunday
Remembrance Sunday
In the United Kingdom, 'Remembrance Sunday' is held on the second Sunday in November, which is the Sunday nearest to 11 November Armistice Day. It is the anniversary of the end of hostilities in the First World War at 11 a.m...

 2009, Inglis' nephew, Hubert Ashton, preached at St. Mary's church, Frittenden. Parishioners also visited Ginchy
Ginchy
Ginchy is a commune in the Somme department in Picardie in northern France.-Geography:Ginchy is situated on the D20 road, some northeast of Amiens.-Population:-External links:*...

 where a memorial service was held in honour of the First World War dead. A memorial to the students of the Ely Theological College is now at King's School, Ely.

External links

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