Ronald Poulton

Ronald Poulton

Poulton in 1911
Birth name	Ronald William Poulton
Date of birth	(1889-09-12)12 September 1889
Place of birth	Oxford, England
Date of death	4 May 1915(1915-05-04) (aged 25)
Place of death	Ploegsteert Wood, Belgium
Cause of death	Killed in action
Height	5 ft 11 in (180 cm)[1]
School	Oxford Preparatory School Rugby School
University	Balliol College, Oxford
Notable relative(s)	Edward Bagnall Poulton, father George William Palmer, uncle
Rugby union career
Position(s) Centre or wing Senior career Years Team Apps (Points) 1908–1911 Oxford University RFC () 1908–1914 Harlequins () 1912–1914 Liverpool () International career Years Team Apps (Points) 1909–1914 England 17 (28)
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Military career
Buried	Hyde Park Corner (Royal Berks) Cemetery
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service / branch	British Army
Years of service	1912–1915
Rank	Lieutenant
Unit	1/4 Royal Berkshire Regiment
Battles / wars	First World War Western Front Second Battle of Ypres  †

Ronald 'Ronnie' William Poulton (later sometimes Poulton-Palmer) (12 September 1889 – 5 May 1915) was an English rugby union footballer, who captained England. He was killed in the First World War during the Second Battle of Ypres.

Born in north Oxford, he was the son of Emily Palmer and her husband, the zoologist Sir Edward Bagnall Poulton. He was educated at the Dragon School, Rugby School, and Balliol College, Oxford.

Poulton played for Balliol College, Oxford University RFC, Harlequins and Liverpool F.C. Poulton is one of three men to score a hat-trick of tries in The Varsity Match – he scored five, still the individual record for the fixture, in 1909. He captained England during the 1913–14 unbeaten season (now what would be called a 'Grand Slam'), scoring four tries against France in 1914, in the last test match prior to the outbreak of World War I. Poulton was renowned for his elusiveness and glamorous style of play – "the very mention of swerving sends one's thoughts to the late Ronald Poulton, the swerver par excellence ... swerving and Poulton are almost synonymous terms".^[2]