William Moberly
William Moberly | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | William Octavius Moberly 14 November 1850 Shoreham-by-Sea, Sussex | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 2 February 1914 (aged 63) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Education | Rugby School | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Alma mater | Balliol College, Oxford | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Occupations |
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| Employer | Clifton College | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Spouse |
Emma Florence Taylor
(m. 1884) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Relatives |
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| Cricket career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cricket information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Batting | Right-handed | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Role | Batsman, Wicket-keeper | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Domestic team information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1876–1887 | Gloucestershire | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career statistics | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source: CricketArchive, 22 April 2023 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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William Octavius Moberly (14 November 1850 – 2 February 1914)[1] was an English sportsman who played first-class cricket for Gloucestershire and represented the England national rugby union team.
Early life and education
[edit]Moberly was born on 14 November 1850 to Rev. Charles Edward Moberly and his wife, and Catherine (née Temple). His father was an assistant master at Rugby School and composer of the school's anthem.[1] His mother was a daughter of Octavius Temple, the Lieutenant Governor of Sierra Leone, and granddaughter of the cleric and essayist William Johnson Temple.[2]
Moberly had two younger sisters: Mary, 2 years his junior, who went on to become a headmistress of girls' schools in Gateshead and Newcastle, and the youngest, Frances, 4 years his junior.[1][3]
Moberly was educated at Rugby School between 1862 and 1869. He matriculated at Balliol College, Oxford in 1969 as an Exhibitioner.[4] He won a blue for rugby in 1872 and until 1874 played for the university. This included the first ever Varsity Match against Cambridge in 1872, with Moberly captaining Oxford to victory. He also played two first-class cricket matches for Oxford, against the Gentlemen of England in 1870 and 1872.[3] He was captain of Oxford University Rugby Football Club from 1870 to 1872.[5]: 267, 270
Having achieved Second Class in Classical Moderations and Literae humaniores, Moberly graduated from Oxford with a BA in 1873 and received his MA Oxon in 1877.[6][7][4]
Rugby career
[edit]As a wing-three-quarter, Moberly took part in the second ever rugby international between England and Scotland, in 1872. The match, which took place at The Oval, was won by England.[8] Although at club level he always played three-quarter, he was picked as a fullback for England. He was described by Frank Marshall as a clever runner, who could "drop with either foot, and was a good shot at goal."[5]: 488 At club level, Moberly turned out for the Ravenscourt Park Football Club.[9][5]: 146
He was appointed as an assistant master at Clifton College in 1874 and began playing for the Clifton Rugby Football Club two years later.[10][3]
Cricket career
[edit]Although his duties at Clifton restricted his appearances in first-class cricket, Moberly began playing with Gloucestershire in 1876 was a member of the teams which were the Champion County that year as well as the next. He was used as a top order batsman but would also fill in as wicket-keeper whenever fellow rugby union international and Clifton teammate James Bush was injured or unavailable.
In a match against Yorkshire in Cheltenham 1876, Moberly scored 103 and his captain W. G. Grace an unbeaten 318 when they put on 261 runs for the fifth wicket.[11] It remained a Gloucestershire fifth-wicket partnership record, the longest surviving English county record, until May 2024 when a stand of 277 by James Bracey and Graeme van Buuren against Derbyshire beat it.[12] Moberly finished the 1876 season with 245 runs at 40.83, his best year in terms of average but he had his most prolific summer in 1883 when he amassed 351 runs at 29.25.[13] The latter tally included his highest first-class score of 121, which he scored in a win over Somerset at Taunton.[14]
Life off the pitch
[edit]Moberly was an assistant master at Clifton College from 1874 to 1913. He married his wife Emma Florence Taylor in 1884; she was a sister of his Clifton Rugby and Gloucestershire Cricket teammate Edmund Junkin Taylor.[3] The Moberlys had no children.[1]
He died suddenly in Mullion, Cornwall in February 1914; his obituary appeared in The Times.[9] In 1993, a new boarding house at Clifton College was named after him.[15]
References
[edit]- 1 2 3 4 "Moberly". Burke's Landed Gentry. Vol. 3 (18th ed.). Burke's Peerage. 1972. p. 660.
- ↑ "Temple of Dale House". Burke's Landed Gentry (17th ed.). Burke's Peerage. 1952. p. 2482.
- 1 2 3 4 "Clifton Rugby Football Club History: William Octavius Moberly". cliftonrfchistory.co.uk. Clifton Rugby.
- 1 2 Michell, Arthur Tompson (1901). Rugby School register. Vol. II. Rugby School. p. 214.
- 1 2 3 Marshall, Francis (1892). Football: The Rugby union game. London, Paris, and Melbourne: Cassell and Company.
- ↑ Elliott, Ivo (ed.). "Moberly, William Octavius". The Balliol College Register (2nd ed.). p. 62.
- ↑ Foster, Joseph (1891). "Moberly, William Octavius". Alumni Oxonienses. Vol. III. Oxford: James Parker & Co. p. 965.
- ↑ "Scotland tour – The Oval, 5 February 1872". espnscrum.com. Archived from the original on 22 October 2012.
- 1 2 "Mr. W. O. Moberly". The Times. No. 40437. 3 February 1914. p. 9. Full access available to users of The Wikipedia Library.
- ↑ "Brief profile of W.O.Moberly". CricketArchive. Archived from the original on 23 January 2025.
- ↑ "Gloucestershire v Yorkshire 1876". CricketArchive. Archived from the original on 8 October 2025.
- ↑ "Highest Partnership for Each Wicket for Gloucestershire". CricketArchive. Archived from the original on 23 January 2025.
- ↑ "First-class Batting and Fielding in Each Season by William Moberly". CricketArchive. Archived from the original on 23 January 2025.
- ↑ "Somerset v Gloucestershire". CricketArchive. Archived from the original on 21 December 2024.
- ↑ Clifton College (2014). "Moberlys House Booklet" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 December 2014 – via Internet Archive.
External links
[edit]- William Moberly at Cricinfo
- William Moberly at ESPNscrum (archived)
- 1850 births
- 1914 deaths
- Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford
- England international rugby union players
- English cricketers
- English rugby union players
- Gloucestershire County RFU players
- Gloucestershire cricketers
- Oxford University cricketers
- Oxford University RFC players
- People educated at Rugby School
- Rugby union players from West Sussex
- Schoolteachers from Sussex
- Wicket-keepers
- Rugby union three-quarters
- 19th-century English sportsmen