# Benjamin Burns > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Benjamin_Burns > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Benjamin_Burns.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Burns > Source revision: 1311648851 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{short description|England international rugby union player}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2016}} {{Use British English|date=October 2016}} {{Infobox rugby biography | name = Benjamin Burns | image = BenjaminBurns.png | birth_name = Benjamin Henry Burns | birth_date = {{birth date|1848|05|28|df=y}} | birth_place = [Perth, Scotland](/source/Perth%2C_Scotland) | death_date = {{death date and age|1932|06|3|1848|05|28|df=y}} | death_place = [Christchurch](/source/Christchurch) | height = | weight = | nickname = | occupation = [Bank](/source/Bank)er | school = [Edinburgh Academy](/source/Edinburgh_Academy) | spouse = | children = | relatives = | ru_position = [Forward](/source/Rugby_union_positions) | amatyears1 = | amatteam1 = [Blackheath F.C.](/source/Blackheath_F.C.) | repyears1 = 1871 | repteam1 = England | repcaps1 = 1 | reppoints1 = 0 | website = [http://www.espnscrum.com/england/rugby/player/236.html ESPNscrum profile of Benjamin Burns] }} '''Benjamin Henry Burns''' (28 May 1848 – 3 June 1932) was a Scottish [rugby union](/source/rugby_union) footballer who represented [England](/source/England_national_rugby_union_team) in the [first international match](/source/1870%E2%80%9371_Home_Nations_rugby_union_matches) against [Scotland](/source/Scotland_national_rugby_union_team) in 1871. ==Sports career== Burns was a member of [Blackheath F.C.](/source/Blackheath_F.C.) during his early twenties, and in late 1870, along with Edwin Ash, he published a letter in ''[The Times](/source/The_Times)'' calling for "those who play the rugby-type game should meet to form a code of practice as various clubs play to rules which differ from others, which makes the game difficult to play." Such a meeting took place the following month, leading to the formation of the [Rugby Football Union](/source/Rugby_Football_Union).{{cite web |url=http://www.espnscrum.com/england/rugby/player/236.html |title=Player Profile: Benjamin Burns |publisher=ESPNscrum |accessdate=2011-02-20 |archive-date=21 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121021185538/http://www.espnscrum.com/england/rugby/player/236.html |url-status=live }} While he was serving as club secretary of Blackheath, the leading clubs in Scotland wrote a letter to the club issuing a challenge for a match between Scotland and England. Burns replied, agreeing to the contest.{{cite web |url=http://www.edinburghaccies.com/Downloads/The_Calcutta_Cup1.pdf |title=The Calcutta Cup: the legacy of a club that died |publisher=[Edinburgh Academical Football Club](/source/Edinburgh_Academical_Football_Club) |accessdate=2011-02-20 |archive-date=10 July 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110710170752/http://www.edinburghaccies.com/Downloads/The_Calcutta_Cup1.pdf |url-status=live }} He was initially not meant to be among the 20-man England side, but the withdrawal of [Francis Isherwood](/source/Francis_Isherwood) (who played in the second match) saw Burns take his place in the team. England lost the game, which was the first international rugby match, by one goal to nil on 27 March 1871.{{cite web |url=http://www.espnscrum.com/england/rugby/match/18901.html |title=Scotland v England at Edinburgh, Mar 27, 1871 |publisher=ESPNscrum |accessdate=2011-02-20 |archive-date=21 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121021185553/http://www.espnscrum.com/england/rugby/match/18901.html |url-status=live }}{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/sportscotland/asportingnation/article/0007/index.shtml |title=The first international rugby match |publisher=[BBC](/source/BBC) |access-date=2011-02-22 |archive-date=29 June 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629132006/http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/sportscotland/asportingnation/article/0007/index.shtml |url-status=live }} ESPNscrum lists him as playing as a [forward](/source/Rugby_union_positions) in the match, but his obituary in ''[The Evening Post](/source/The_Evening_Post_(New_Zealand))'' suggests that he was a [half-back](/source/Rugby_union_positions).{{cite web |url=http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&d=EP19320606.2.111&l=mi&e=-------10--1----0-- |title=Obituary: Mr. B. H. Burns |work=[The Evening Post](/source/The_Evening_Post_(New_Zealand)) |page=9 |date=1932-06-06 |accessdate=2011-02-20 |archive-date=24 July 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110724200703/http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&d=EP19320606.2.111&l=mi&e=-------10--1----0-- |url-status=live }} When he worked in India, Burns appeared for the Calcutta Football Club. In addition to rugby, Burns was also an avid [golf](/source/golf)er, and while working in [Christchurch](/source/Christchurch), he was one of four promoters to establish a golf club at [Hagley Park](/source/Hagley_Park%2C_Christchurch) in the city. He won the Christchurch championship on two occasions, and became captain, and later life-member of the club. ==Life and business career== Burns was born on 28 May 1848, to Archibald Burns who was general manager of the [Bank of Scotland](/source/Bank_of_Scotland) in [Perthshire](/source/Perthshire). He started his working life as a clerk for the [Oriental Bank Corporation](/source/Oriental_Bank_Corporation). He moved to India during his work with the bank, but due to health issues, he moved to [Christchurch](/source/Christchurch), New Zealand, taking the position of manager of the [Colonial Bank of New Zealand](/source/Colonial_Bank_of_New_Zealand). Upon the merger with the [Bank of New Zealand](/source/Bank_of_New_Zealand), he became assistant-manager of the Christchurch branch. He then went into partnership with Mr Henderson, and upon his death he ran Henderson and Burns, a [share broker](/source/brokerage_firm). By the time of his death in 1932, Burns was a director of [Whitcombe & Tombs Ltd.](/source/Whitcoulls) a national chain of book stores. He married Alice May Gower, and the couple had a son, Archibald, who committed suicide during the First World War, while serving as part of the [Canterbury Infantry Battalion](/source/New_Zealand_Expeditionary_Force).{{cite web |url=https://www.aucklandmuseum.com/war-memorial/online-cenotaph/record/C35962 |title=Auckland War Memorial Museum - Burns-Archibald-Gower-World-War-I,-1914-1918 |publisher=[Auckland War Memorial Museum](/source/Auckland_War_Memorial_Museum) |accessdate=2011-02-20 |archive-date=7 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220307095731/https://www.aucklandmuseum.com/war-memorial/online-cenotaph/record/C35962 |url-status=live }} ==References== {{reflist}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Burns, Benjamin}} Category:1848 births Category:1932 deaths Category:Blackheath F.C. players Category:English rugby union players Category:England international rugby union players Category:Rugby union forwards Category:Rugby union players from Perth, Scotland --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Benjamin Burns](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Burns) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Burns?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.