The England team that played Australia in 1909. Australia won the match by 9 pts (3 tries) to 3 pts (1 try).
George Lyon
100 YEARS AGO REPRODUCED FROM THE DOLPHIN 2009 f modern-day sporting Brutonians are seeking some extra inspiration, they need look no further than the example of George Lyon, a young boy who attended King’s in the 1890s, and who went on to captain the England rugby team. On 9th January 1909, he led the England rugby team onto the Rectory Field, Blackheath, to play an international match against Australia. George Hamilton D’Oyly Lyon was born in 1883 at Bankipore, India, where his father worked in the Bengal Civil Service, and in September 1892 he arrived at King’s, where his uncle, James Lyon (O.B. 1873-77), was about to become a Governor. George threw himself enthusiastically into everything the School had to offer; he sang treble solos in School concerts (not always in tune, apparently), and acted on numerous occasions. For example, at Corpus Christi in 1895, when he was still only 11 years old, he played the part of Edward, Prince of Wales in a scene from Richard III, as well as Brutus in a scene from Julius Caesar. But George was undoubtedly happiest when he was playing sport where he showed a precocious talent. His limitations, such as they were, were down to his youth and small stature. In the 1896 cricket side, George, although only 12, was considered the team’s ‘most promising batsman, with sound
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defence and excellent technique’, but ‘lacking hitting power and with limited reach’, and a slow bowler of real potential. In the following term’s football team he was described as ‘a neat forward’ who needs ‘to shoot harder’. The School had yet to start playing hockey in the Easter Term, but the boys were kept well occupied playing fives and having weekly paper chases in the countryside around Bruton. George’s ambition was to join the Royal Navy and as soon as he was 14 he left King’s and joined H.M.S. Britannia as a cadet. His subsequent naval career inevitably limited his sporting activities somewhat but he continued to play cricket (as a batsman, and medium pace bowler) for the Navy and Hampshire, and he represented the Navy, Surrey and England at rugby (at full back). He also excelled at tennis and golf. George Lyon served with distinction in both World Wars; in the First, he was gunnery officer on the battleship Monarch, and by the Second, he was Commander-in-Chief on the Africa Station. He was knighted in October, 1940, and shortly afterwards he was appointed Commander-inChief at the Nore. He was promoted to Admiral in 1942. He died in 1947.
George Lyon, aged 12, in the School’s 1896 cricket XI
THE OLD BRUTONIAN 2010