Oswald Wreford-Brown

Oswald Wreford-Brown
Wreford-Brown while with Old Carthusians in 1903
Personal information
Full name Oswald Eric Wreford-Brown[1]
Date of birth 21 July 1877
Place of birth Clifton, England
Date of death 7 July 1916(1916-07-07) (aged 38)[2]
Place of death Corbie, France
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
Old Carthusians
Free Foresters
Corinthian
Old Salopians
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Oswald Eric Wreford-Brown (21 July 1877 – 7 July 1916) was an English cricketer and footballer.

Sporting career

Cricket

Wreford-Brown was a right-handed batsman who, after captaining Charterhouse School's cricket team, later played for Gloucestershire.[3] He made a single first-class appearance for the team, during the 1900 season, against Middlesex.[4] From the tailend, he scored five runs in the only innings in which he batted.[4]

Football

Wreford-Brown played football for Charterhouse School and later as a senior player for amateur clubs Old Carthusians, Free Foresters, Corinthian and Old Salopians.[3] He won the 1898–99 London Senior Cup with Old Carthusians and the 1902–03 Arthur Dunn Challenge Cup with Old Salopians.[3]

Personal life

Wreford-Brown's older brother, Charles and nephew, Anthony, both played first-class cricket.[5] He was educated at a number of schools, before joining Charterhouse School in 1891.[3] He later spent time in Canada and in 1902, became a member of the Stock Exchange and a partner in a law firm.[3]

First World War

In November 1914, during the early months of the First World War, Wreford-Brown was commissioned into the Northumberland Fusiliers as a temporary lieutenant.[1] His regiment arrived on the Western Front in July 1915,[6] two months after his brother Claude had been killed in West Flanders.[7] Wreford-Brown was promoted to temporary captain on 8 September 1915.[3] On 5 July 1916, during the Battle of the Somme, Wreford-Brown's promotion to full captain was confirmed, but he was mortally wounded in the leg by a shell near Fricourt and died two days later at 5th Casualty Clearing Station in Corbie.[8] He was buried in Corbie Communal Cemetery.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b "WREFORD-BROWN, Oswald Eric | School Name". charterhousewarmemorial.org.uk. Retrieved 17 May 2018.
  2. ^ a b "Casualty". www.cwgc.org. Retrieved 17 May 2018.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Project, North East War Memorials. "North East War Memorials Project – Every Name A Story Content". www.newmp.org.uk. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
  4. ^ a b "Oswald Wreford-Brown". Cricinfo. Retrieved 17 May 2018.
  5. ^ "England Players – Charlie Wreford-Brown". www.englandfootballonline.com. Retrieved 17 May 2018.
  6. ^ "Remembering Captain Oswald Eric Wreford-Brown | News | Gloucestershire Cricket". Gloucestershire Cricket. Retrieved 17 May 2018.
  7. ^ "Casualty". www.cwgc.org. Retrieved 17 May 2018.
  8. ^ "Cricketers who died in World War 1 — Part 5 of 5". Cricket Country. Retrieved 28 November 2018.