Osbert Mackie
Encyclopedia
Osbert Gadesden Mackie was an English
rugby union
centre and Anglican
priest. Mackie played club rugby for Wakefield Trinity
and Cambridge University
and county rugby for Yorkshire. Mackie played international rugby for the British Isles XV
on their 1896 tour of South Africa
and on the return from Africa he was awarded two caps for the English team
.
in 1869 to Colonel E. A. B. Mackie of Kirkthorpe and was educated at Haileybury School
before entering Clare College, Cambridge
in 1895 receiving his BA
in 1898.
Before entering Cambridge, Mackie set up a business in Hamburg
and in 1891 he had businesses in Hull
and Wakefield
, relinquishing them in 1895 to become an undergraduate student. In 1899 he was ordained a deacon at Ripon Cathedral
and in 1901 was ordained a priest
. Mackie was a Curate
of Leeds in 1901 and from 1899 to 1913 he became the Vicar
of St Paul's in Middlesbrough
. After leaving Middlesbrough he was the Rector
of Guisborough
, a post he held from 1922 until his death in 1927.
before resigning the captaincy after the schism in rugby that saw the formation of the Northern Union and the move of Wakefield Trinity, who had been the principal rugby club in the city, to the new code of Rugby League
.
He subsequently became a member of the Cambridge University team. He won three sporting Blues when he played in the Varsity rugby match against Oxford University
between 1895 and 1897 and was awarded the honour of captaining the team.
While still at Cambridge, Mackie was selected to represent Johnny Hammonds's
1896 British Isles team on their tour of South Africa
. It was a successful tour for the British team and Mackie: the team won the series 3-1, while Mackie was selected for all four tests. The tourists stuck with the same four threequarters until the final match, with Mackie being joined by Lawrence Bulger
, J. F. Byrne
and Robert Johnston. Mackie scored in two of the tests, a dropped goal in the second test, played in Johannesburg and a try
in the third test, which was played in Kimberley; both were tourist victories.
On Mackie's return from South Africa he was selected for the England squad, playing in two internationals, the final game of the 1897 Home Nations Championship
against Scotland
and the opening game of the 1898 Championship
. In 1898 Mackie was chosen to represent invitational touring side the Barbarians
,.
In 1901 he became a vice-president of the newly formed Wakefield rugby union team
.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
rugby union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
centre and Anglican
Anglicanism
Anglicanism is a tradition within Christianity comprising churches with historical connections to the Church of England or similar beliefs, worship and church structures. The word Anglican originates in ecclesia anglicana, a medieval Latin phrase dating to at least 1246 that means the English...
priest. Mackie played club rugby for Wakefield Trinity
Wakefield Trinity Wildcats
Wakefield Trinity Wildcats are a professional rugby league club that plays in the European Super League and is based in Wakefield. They achieved promotion in 1999 and have remained in the League since. They are known to their fans as Wakey, Trinity, Wildcats, or historically The Dreadnoughts...
and Cambridge University
Cambridge University R.U.F.C.
The Cambridge University Rugby Union Football Club, or CURUFC, is the rugby union club of Cambridge University, and plays Oxford University in the annual Varsity Match at Twickenham stadium every December. CURUFC players wear light blue and white hooped jerseys with a red lion crest...
and county rugby for Yorkshire. Mackie played international rugby for the British Isles XV
British and Irish Lions
The British and Irish Lions is a rugby union team made up of players from England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales...
on their 1896 tour of South Africa
1896 British Lions tour to South Africa
1896 British Isles tour to South Africa was a rugby union tour undertaken by the British Isles, one of the first British and Irish Lions tours. The team toured South Africa for the second time in 1896. Between July 11 and September 5, they played 21 games, including four tests against South Africa...
and on the return from Africa he was awarded two caps for the English team
England national rugby union team
The England national rugby union team represents England in rugby union. They compete in the annual Six Nations Championship with France, Ireland, Scotland, Italy, and Wales. They have won this championship on 26 occasions, 12 times winning the Grand Slam, making them the most successful team in...
.
Personal history
Mackie was born in WakefieldWakefield
Wakefield is the main settlement and administrative centre of the City of Wakefield, a metropolitan district of West Yorkshire, England. Located by the River Calder on the eastern edge of the Pennines, the urban area is and had a population of 76,886 in 2001....
in 1869 to Colonel E. A. B. Mackie of Kirkthorpe and was educated at Haileybury School
Haileybury and Imperial Service College
Haileybury and Imperial Service College, , is a prestigious British independent school founded in 1862. The school is located at Hertford Heath, near Hertford, from central London, on of parkland occupied until 1858 by the East India College...
before entering Clare College, Cambridge
Clare College, Cambridge
Clare College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England.The college was founded in 1326, making it the second-oldest surviving college of the University after Peterhouse. Clare is famous for its chapel choir and for its gardens on "the Backs"...
in 1895 receiving his BA
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
in 1898.
Before entering Cambridge, Mackie set up a business in Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
and in 1891 he had businesses in Hull
Kingston upon Hull
Kingston upon Hull , usually referred to as Hull, is a city and unitary authority area in the ceremonial county of the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It stands on the River Hull at its junction with the Humber estuary, 25 miles inland from the North Sea. Hull has a resident population of...
and Wakefield
Wakefield
Wakefield is the main settlement and administrative centre of the City of Wakefield, a metropolitan district of West Yorkshire, England. Located by the River Calder on the eastern edge of the Pennines, the urban area is and had a population of 76,886 in 2001....
, relinquishing them in 1895 to become an undergraduate student. In 1899 he was ordained a deacon at Ripon Cathedral
Ripon Cathedral
Ripon Cathedral is the seat of the Bishop of Ripon and Leeds and the mother church of the Diocese of Ripon and Leeds, situated in the small North Yorkshire city of Ripon, England.-Background:...
and in 1901 was ordained a priest
Priest
A priest is a person authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities...
. Mackie was a Curate
Curate
A curate is a person who is invested with the care or cure of souls of a parish. In this sense "curate" correctly means a parish priest but in English-speaking countries a curate is an assistant to the parish priest...
of Leeds in 1901 and from 1899 to 1913 he became the Vicar
Vicar
In the broadest sense, a vicar is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior . In this sense, the title is comparable to lieutenant...
of St Paul's in Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough is a large town situated on the south bank of the River Tees in north east England, that sits within the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire...
. After leaving Middlesbrough he was the Rector
Rector
The word rector has a number of different meanings; it is widely used to refer to an academic, religious or political administrator...
of Guisborough
Guisborough
Guisborough is a market town and civil parish within the unitary authority of Redcar and Cleveland and the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire, England....
, a post he held from 1922 until his death in 1927.
Rugby career
He first played for Wakefield TrinityWakefield Trinity Wildcats
Wakefield Trinity Wildcats are a professional rugby league club that plays in the European Super League and is based in Wakefield. They achieved promotion in 1999 and have remained in the League since. They are known to their fans as Wakey, Trinity, Wildcats, or historically The Dreadnoughts...
before resigning the captaincy after the schism in rugby that saw the formation of the Northern Union and the move of Wakefield Trinity, who had been the principal rugby club in the city, to the new code of Rugby League
Rugby league
Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...
.
He subsequently became a member of the Cambridge University team. He won three sporting Blues when he played in the Varsity rugby match against Oxford University
Oxford University RFC
The Oxford University Rugby Football Club is the rugby union club of the University of Oxford. The club contests The Varsity Match every year against Cambridge University at Twickenham.-History:...
between 1895 and 1897 and was awarded the honour of captaining the team.
While still at Cambridge, Mackie was selected to represent Johnny Hammonds's
Johnny Hammond (rugby player)
John "Johnny" Hammond was an English rugby union forward who, although not capped for England, was part of three British Lions tours, all to South Africa. He gained three caps during the 1891 tour to South Africa and captained the 1896 tour, winning another two test caps...
1896 British Isles team on their tour of South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
. It was a successful tour for the British team and Mackie: the team won the series 3-1, while Mackie was selected for all four tests. The tourists stuck with the same four threequarters until the final match, with Mackie being joined by Lawrence Bulger
Lawrence Bulger
Lawrence 'Larry' Quinlivan Bulger was an Irish rugby union player, athlete and doctor. Bulger played international rugby for Ireland and in 1896 was chosen to represent a British Isles XV in their tour of South Africa...
, J. F. Byrne
J. F. Byrne
James Frederick Byrne was English sportsman who captained Warwickshire at first-class cricket and was capped in rugby for both England and the British and Irish Lions.-Cricket career:...
and Robert Johnston. Mackie scored in two of the tests, a dropped goal in the second test, played in Johannesburg and a try
Try
A try is the major way of scoring points in rugby league and rugby union football. A try is scored by grounding the ball in the opposition's in-goal area...
in the third test, which was played in Kimberley; both were tourist victories.
On Mackie's return from South Africa he was selected for the England squad, playing in two internationals, the final game of the 1897 Home Nations Championship
1897 Home Nations Championship
The 1897 Home Nations Championship was the fifteenth series of the rugby union Home Nations Championship. Four matches were played between 9 January and 13 March. It was contested by England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales...
against Scotland
Scotland national rugby union team
The Scotland national rugby union team represent Scotland in international rugby union. Rugby union in Scotland is administered by the Scottish Rugby Union. The Scotland rugby union team is currently ranked eighth in the IRB World Rankings as of 19 September 2011...
and the opening game of the 1898 Championship
1898 Home Nations Championship
The 1898 Home Nations Championship was the sixteenth series of the rugby union Home Nations Championship. Five matches were played between 5 February and 2 April. It was contested by England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales....
. In 1898 Mackie was chosen to represent invitational touring side the Barbarians
Barbarian F.C.
The Barbarian Football Club, usually referred to as the Barbarians and nicknamed the "Baa-Baas", is an invitational rugby union team based in Britain...
,.
In 1901 he became a vice-president of the newly formed Wakefield rugby union team
Wakefield RFC
Wakefield RFC was an English rugby union club, founded in 1901, and which dropped out of the English leagues in 2004 as a result of the effects of professionalism...
.