Douglas Marsden-Jones

Douglas Marsden-Jones CBE born Marsden Douglas Jones (1893 – 5 January 1955) was a Welsh international rugby union forward who played club rugby for Cardiff and London Welsh. Marsden-Jones was also a member of Ronald Cove-Smith's British Isles team that toured South Africa in 1924.

Douglas Marsden-Jones
Birth nameMarsden Douglas Jones
Date of birth1893
Place of birthSwansea, Wales
Date of death5 January 1955
Place of deathLondon, Wales
SchoolBishop Gore School
UniversityUniversity College Swansea
Spousemuriel winifred pank
Rugby union career
Position(s) Forward
Amateur team(s)
Years Team Apps (Points)
Cardiff RFC
London Welsh RFC
Blackheath F.C.
Barbarian F.C.
()
National team(s)
Years Team Apps (Points)
1921-1924
1924
Wales[1]
British Isles
2
2
(0)
(0)

Rugby career

Marsden-Jones was born in Swansea and played in his early life for University College, Swansea. He played just two games for Wales as a back row forward at No 8. The first was the opening game of the 1921 Five Nations Championship against England on 15 January. Marsden-Jones was one of seven new caps to play under the captaincy of Jack Wetter at Twickenham, and after a string of serious injuries, Wales lost the game 18-3. His second game would take over three years, when he was selected to face the touring New Zealand team in 1924. It was another heavy defeat for the Welsh side and Marsden-Jones was not selected again.

In 1924 Marsden-Jones was selected to tour South Africa with the British Isles team and played in two tests.

He continued his rugby career by captaining London Welsh for several seasons. He died in London in 1955.

International games played

Wales[2]

British Isles

Personal life

During the First World War he fought in the British Army, serving in the Glamorganshire Yeomanry (1297), 210th Coy, Machine Gun Corps (74727) and the Tank Corps. He later worked as manager of the labour relations division of the Ford Motor Company. In 1938 as Director of Factories he was seconded to mobilise a workforce of 30,000 to staff the Ordnance Factories throughout the country. In 1952 he was nominated for the CBE by Winston Churchill for this major contribution to the war effort, which was presented by the Queen in her New Years Honours list.

Bibliography

  • Smith, David; Williams, Gareth (1980). Fields of Praise: The Official History of The Welsh Rugby Union. Cardiff: University of Wales Press. ISBN 0-7083-0766-3.

References

  1. WRU player profile
  2. Smith (1980), pg 468.
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