Cumbrian Heroes

06/11/2026

105 years ago today, a match report from a match which took place 105 years ago yesterday

From the Sunday Sun (Newcastle), Sunday 6 November 1921 - depicting the key moments in the Northumberland v Cumberland fixture at the County Ground, Gosforth on Saturday 5 November. The home team came out victorious, 6pts to 3pts.

The Cumberland team included two County debutantes: Frederick "Fred" CARRADUS of Kendal and William Fulton PENNINGTON of Holme Wanderers. Fred was described as "a sound and energetic forward" and was noted for being instrumental, along with fellow Kendalian, Harry MILLS, in rebuilding the Kendal club after the Great War. William PENNINGTON would later become an alderman and mayor of Kendal, whilst his occupation was a quarry owner, of which Penningtons Quarry Ltd is still a family business today.

It's likely Carradus was related to J Carradus playing in 1895/96.

But we don't have any photos of these Kendal Rugby Club players?
Can anyone help put faces to names?


Kendal Museum

05/11/2026

First Australia tour to the British Isles

During the Wallabies first ever tour of the British Isles, a combined team of Cumberland and Northumberland players competed against them in a match played at St. James’s Park, Newcastle, on Wednesday 4 November 1908, in front of a crowd of approximately 8,000 spectators.

The eight Cumberland players selected were as follows:

Luke SEYMOUR (full-back) of Carlisle (late of Northumberland)
J.C. CHAMBERS (three-quarter-back) of Aspatria and Blackheath
Henry Clarke OGLETHORPE (half-back) of St. Bees School
Victor Arnold ELLIOTT (forward) of Carlisle Grammar School
William BLACKLOCK (forward) of Aspatria
William Slater HUCK (forward) of Kendal
Harold EWBANK (forward) of Wigton
Tom WILSON (forward) of Carlisle and Clydesdale

Final score:
Australians: 18 pts (3 goals, 1 try)
Cumberland and Northumberland: 6 pts (2 tries)

Once again we're on the hunt for photos to complete our records - does anyone have a picture of JC Chambers or Tom Wilson?

Wallabies
Northumberland RFU
St Bees School
The St Beghian Society - OSB
Wigton Rugby Club
Kendal Rugby Club
Carlisle Rugby Club

05/11/2026

Robert BLAND of the Aspatria club, played his first match for the County on Saturday 1 November 1913 in a friendly versus South of Scotland at Warwick Road, Carlisle.

Robert was born in Torpenhow near Aspatria in 1893, and lived with his parents at Brayton Road, Aspatria. He became a school teacher and attended City of Leeds Training College (c.1912-1914) where he also played for the college rugby team - this photo is from that team.

Sadly, he was killed in WW1 in 1916, and although his body was not recovered Robert BLAND is commemorated on the Thiepval Monument and on the City of Leeds Training College War Memorial .
https://www.leedsbeckett.ac.uk/blogs/library/2016/07/remembering-the-somme/

He died on the very first day of the Battle of the Somme (1st July 1916) - along with an estimated 20,000 others - "the 141-day battle is one of the most shocking chapters in British military history.
Its first day, July 1, brought catastrophic losses. Nearly 20,000 men lost their lives.":

https://www.whitehavennews.co.uk/news/17118039.remembered-cumbrias-dead-from-the-first-day-of-the-battle-of-the-somme/

He had an older brother, Daniel, and when Daniel's son was born in 1917, he named him Robert.

04/11/2026

104 years ago today.

In the opening County Championship fixture of the 1922-23 season, in which Cumberland made it all the way to the final, Cumberland faced Northumberland at Warwick Road, Carlisle. The match, played on Saturday 4 November 1922, included seven players from the Workington club and two sets of brothers:

William Havelock POSTGATE
Tom FLETCHER
William BURROWS
Tom LITTLE
Joe LITTLE
Richard Gordon LAWSON
Thomas Mattocks LAWSON

The Workington contingent would dominate selection that year, and in the 1922-23 County Championship final against Leicestershire, held at Leicester on Saturday 24 March 1923, six out these seven Workington players featured. Thomas Mattocks LAWSON did not play. However, another Workington player, H. PARKINSON, was in the Cumberland side that day. The match was won by Leicestershire, 17 pts to 6 pts.

In the 1920s, Workington was one of the best clubs in the north of England and won the Cumberland Cup five times. The two LAWSON brothers became England internationals. They were educated at St Bees School and were employed as engineers in the family business at Ogden and Lawson's Brass Foundry in Workington.

CAN ANYONE HELP US FIND A PICTURE OF H PARKINSON?

Workington Zebras RFC
St Bees School
The St Beghian Society - OSB
England Rugby
Northumberland RFU

02/11/2026

We're looking for photos of capped Egremont RUFC players to add to our player directory!

So far we can put faces to names for:

JT Morgan (capped 1913 14)
W Cavanagh (capped 1920 21)
H Cook (capped 1947 48)
JW Smith (capped 1951 52)
R Fisher (capped 1956 57)
J Edgar (capped 1972 73)
J Purdham (capped 1972 73)

Can you help us by sharing photos ?

02/11/2026

For the collectors out there!

We're grateful to museum team at Twickenham who have already helped us in our Cumbrian Heroes research.

The World Rugby Museum is holding a one-off duplicate sale this November.

Any proceeds received from the sale will be used either to develop the museum's collection in accordance with its collecting criteria or share more of the collection with visitors via special exhibition programmes.

Find out more 👉 https://bit.ly/4sqaiLz

29/10/2026

29/10/2026

On 5 September 1925 the inaugural fixture was played at the new Ellis Sports Ground in Workington, the new home of Workington Rugby Club.

The establishment of the new ground was funded by Mr. J.V. Ellis, who also kicked off the match. The fixture, a friendly between Cumberland (the "T.E. Holliday XV") and Yorkshire (the "R.F. Oakes XV"), attracted over 6,000 spectators.

The following had represented Cumberland:

Bob HANVEY (Blennerhasset & Aspatria) - first County cap on 25 Oct 1919 (1st fixture after World War 1)

Tom FLETCHER (Workington) - also 25 Oct 1919

Tom "Bumley" LITTLE (Workington) - 4 Nov 1922

Arthur YOUNG (Workington) - 5 Sep 1925


Workington Zebras RFC Yorkshire Rugby Football Union

26/10/2026

One for Cockermouth Rufc

Any familiar names in this match?

23/10/2026

In a season in which Cumberland made it all the way to the County Championship final, they inflicted a heavy defeat on Durham away at Hartlepool on Saturday 6 January 1923.

A cartoon in one of the North East newspapers captures the carpet sweepers and vacuum cleaners of Cumberland, including H. PARKINSON (Workington) and Tosh HOLLIDAY (Aspatria)

Durham County Rugby Football Union
Workington Zebras RFC
England Rugby