Robert Hemphill
| Date of birth | 26 August 1888 | ||||||||||||||||
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| Place of birth | South Dublin, Ireland | ||||||||||||||||
| Date of death | 21 April 1935 (aged 46) | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of death | Cornwall, England | ||||||||||||||||
| School | Royal School, Armagh | ||||||||||||||||
| University | Trinity College Dublin | ||||||||||||||||
| Notable relative(s) | Samuel Hemphill (father) | ||||||||||||||||
| Occupation(s) | Medical doctor | ||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||
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Robert Hemphill (26 August 1888 — 21 April 1935) was an Irish international rugby union player.
Biography
[edit]Hemphill was the son of Anglican priest Samuel Hemphill, who served as the Archdeacon of Down. He attended The Royal School, Armagh, and Trinity College Dublin, where he studied medicine.[1]
A forward, Hemphill played four years of varsity rugby with Dublin University FC and was capped four times for Ireland, with all of his appearances coming in the 1912 Five Nations Championship.[2]
Hemphill received a commission to the Royal Army Medical Corps as a lieutenant in 1913, following the completion of his studies, then was promoted to captain during World War I. He served in France and in 1918 received the Distinguished Service Order. After the war, Hemphill became a major and was medical officer at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich.[3]
In 1935, Hemphill took his wife and children on a holiday to Cornwall and was killed when he fell off a 70 foot high cliff, having been attempting to take a photograph of a buzzard's nest. His wife, in attempting to rescue him, also fell and died of her injuries later in hospital.[4]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "Cornish Tragedy". Belfast Telegraph. 25 April 1935.
- ^ "Former International". Liverpool Echo. 22 April 1935.
- ^ "Deaths In The Services". British Medical Journal: 960. 4 May 1935.
- ^ "Tragedy On Photographic Excursion". Staffordshire Sentinel. 22 April 1935.
External links
[edit]- Robert Hemphill at ESPNscrum
- 1888 births
- 1935 deaths
- Irish rugby union players
- Ireland international rugby union players
- Rugby union players from Dublin (city)
- Rugby union forwards
- Dublin University Football Club players
- Alumni of Trinity College Dublin
- People educated at The Royal School, Armagh
- Royal Army Medical Corps officers
- British Army personnel of World War I
- Companions of the Distinguished Service Order
- Accidental deaths in England
- Accidental deaths from falls