Beschreibung:

A CIRCA 1906-1909 NEWPORT RFC CAPTAIN'S JERSEY MATCH-WORN BY CHARLES MEYRICK PRITCHARD (1882-1916)Hooped black and amber jersey with white collar, two buttons and interior label for A Simmonds, Newport, label to collar inscribed ‘C M PRITCHARD – CAPTAIN’.Preserved with other important jerseys, caps and photographs by Charles Meyrick Pritchard (1882 – 1916) which form a collection entered to this auction by Charlie Pritchard’s great-grandson. In recent years the collection has been archived and exhibited at the World Rugby Museum at Twickenham Stadium.The Newport club was an important source for fine Wales internationals before the First World War, Wales's first golden era. The club was substantial in stature and reputation thus the start of the 20th century saw touring sides from the southern hemisphere as regular visitors to Rodney Parade. In 1912, Newport became the first ever club side to beat Bill Millar's South African team. This was the era of Walter Martin J. E. C. Partridge, Reg Plummer, Reg Skrimshire, Tom Smythe, Tommy Vile etc. Skrimshire was Newport's first ever British Lion in 1903 and since that time they have provided a total of 31 players on overseas Lions tours. In 1910, Dr. Tom Smythe was selected to captain the Lions to South Africa along with 6 fellow Newport players. But it was Charlie Pritchard who stood most prominently in the first decade of the new century.Newport RFC was for Charlie Pritchard a family affair. His father was a founding member of the club. And at the age of eighteen in 1902, Pritchard enjoyed his debut match for Newport in a 6-3 victory away against Swansea, with his cousin Cliff Pritchard scoring a try.Between 1901 and 1911, Pritchard went on to make 217 appearances for Newport and score 63 points. He was described as 'the most enduring of influences upon the fortunes of the club' and elected captain for 1906/1907 season, during which 27 matches were played, 13 won, 7 lost and 7 drawn. In ‘Newport Rugby Football Club, 1875-1960’ (published by Newport Athletics Club, 1960), author Jack Davis remarked that ‘…Pritchard as a captain was not at the highest level but he was a great forward, and he was the most lovable of all the Newport captains I have known. On the field he was a lion; off the field he was one of the tenderest and sweetest of men. There was a quality of gentleness in his manner, a note of affection in his voice, and great a player as he was, one thinks of him as a good comrade, a genial companion’.Captain Charles Meyrick Pritchard, 12th Battalion (3rd Gwent), the South Wales Borderers, died at Chocques in France from wounds received two days earlier during the fighting at Loos. He was one of thirteen Wales international players to be killed during the Great War. In May of 1915 he joined the South Wales Borderers, and after six months had been promoted to captain. His battalion arrived on the Western Front in June of 1916. On the night of the 12th of August, Captain Pritchard led a raiding party near Loos. Although the raid was successful, he was wounded at the outset but carried on only to be more seriously wounded later. He was taken to No. 1 Casualty Clearing Station, a few miles behind the front lines, but could not be saved. The 12th South Wales Borderers War Diary recorded: “The Battalion thus loses a very gallant officer and a chivalrous, generous and large-minded gentleman.” He was mentioned in despatches, and had he survived he would have been recommended for the Distinguished Service Order for his bravery – at that time the D.S.O. was not awarded posthumously.On hearing of Captain Pritchard’s death, the journalist W.J. Townsend Collins wrote: “The war has swept away many a great and famous Rugby player who was also a good fellow; but among them all was none with a stouter or kinder heart, more beloved, more lamented than Charlie Pritchard.” He is buried in the Chocques Military Cemetery, three miles north-west of Béthune.Charles Meyrick Pritchard, former Welsh int