Wakefield, William Wavell Wakefield, Baron

▪ British athlete

also called  (1944–63) Sir Wavell Wakefield  

born March 10, 1898, Beckenham, Kent, Eng.

died Aug. 12, 1983, Kendal, Cumbria, Eng.

      one of England's finest rugby union players, known for his quickness and skillful dribbling as a forward. He led the English national team in its glory days of the 1920s.

      Wakefield, affectionately known as “Wakers,” was educated at Sedbergh School and the University of Cambridge, where he captained the rugby team in 1922–23. He played 31 Test (international) matches between 1920 and 1927 as a flanker, captaining England 13 times. He was an instrumental figure in the establishment of the Middlesex Sevens rugby tournament for charity in 1926 and played for the London-based Harlequins, who won the inaugural tournament. A talented all-around sportsman, he played cricket for the Marylebone Cricket Club, was an accomplished skier (becoming president of the Ski Club of Great Britain), and was the Royal Air Force 440-yard-dash champion.

      Wakefield served in the Royal Naval Air Service and Royal Air Force from 1916 to 1921. After leaving the air force, he worked as a pharmaceutical chemist. Following his playing career, Wakefield was active in rugby administration, becoming president of the Rugby Football Union in 1950–51. He was also a long-serving member of the International Rugby Board and one of the most noted writers on rugby. Wakefield served on the national committees of the Young Men's Christian Association and the National Playing Fields Association.

      Wakefield was a Conservative Party member of Parliament for Swindon from 1935 to 1945. In 1942 he was director of the Air Training Corps. He was knighted in 1944 and later, in 1963, was elevated to the peerage as Baron Wakefield of Kendal.

John Nauright

 

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