William Donne (cricketer)

Olympic medal record
Representing United Kingdom
Men's Cricket

William Stephens Donne (2 April 1875 in Wincanton, Somerset – 24 March 1934 in Castle Cary, Somerset) was an English cricket player, and former president of the Rugby Football Union, and was a member of the cricket team that won a gold medal at the 1900 Summer Olympics.^[1]^[2]

Cricket career

Donne was one of the founding members of the Devon and Somerset Wanderers Cricket Club, and part of the team on their first tour in 1894 of the Isle of Wight. He was also one of five players from the Castle Cary Cricket Club who represented Great Britain in cricket at the 1900 Summer Olympics. They won the gold medal in the only match against France, Donne scoring six runs before being run out in the first innings and not batting in the second innings.^[3] The Castle Cary Cricket Club marked their 175th anniversary in 2012 with a celebration of the Castle Cary players that played in 1900.

Outside cricket

Donne attended King's School, Bruton, and joined the family business of rope and twine manufacturers which was founded in Castle Cary in 1797. He became an Alderman for Somerset County Council and a governor for his former school. He served as a captain in the Somerset Light Infantry during the First World War.^[3]

He was honorary secretary of the Somerset Rugby Football Union between 1897 and 1905 before becoming president from 1905 to 1934,^[4] and was the Rugby Football Union president in 1924-25.^[1]

He died at South Court, Castle Cary on 24 March 1934.^[5]

References

^ ^a ^b "William Donne". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 11 June 2017.
^ "William Donne". Olympedia. Retrieved 24 December 2020.
^ ^a ^b "THE VICTORIOUS 'TEAM OF 12'" (PDF). castlecarycricketclub.org.uk. Retrieved 11 June 2017.
^ "Past Officers of the Union" (PDF). somersetrfu.co.uk. Retrieved 11 June 2017.
^ "Death of Somerset Sportsman - Capt. William Stephens Donne". Wells Journal. Vol. LXXXIII, no. 13. 30 March 1934. p. 1. Retrieved 14 August 2019 – via British Newspaper Archive.

Buchanan, Ian British Olympians. Guinness Publishing (1991) ISBN 0-85112-952-8

External links

[Bio-1] "William Donne". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 11 June 2017.

[2] "William Donne". Olympedia. Retrieved 24 December 2020.

[team-3] "THE VICTORIOUS 'TEAM OF 12'" (PDF). castlecarycricketclub.org.uk. Retrieved 11 June 2017.

[4] "Past Officers of the Union" (PDF). somersetrfu.co.uk. Retrieved 11 June 2017.

[5] "Death of Somerset Sportsman - Capt. William Stephens Donne". Wells Journal. Vol. LXXXIII, no. 13. 30 March 1934. p. 1. Retrieved 14 August 2019 – via British Newspaper Archive.

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v t e Rugby Football Union Presidents
To 1900	1871-74: A Rutter 1874-75: F Stokes 1875-76: L J Maton 1876-77, 1877-78: C D Heatley 1878-82: A. G. Guillemard 1882-84: J Maclaren 1884-86: Frederick Currey 1886-88: L Stokes 1888-89: A Budd 1889-90: Harry Garnett 1890-92: E T Gurdon 1892-94: W Cail 1894-96: Roger Walker 1896-98: R W Whalley 1898-1900: J W H Thorp
To the First World War	1900-02: Francis Hugh Fox 1902-04: M Newsome 1904-07: G R Hill 1907-09: C A Crane 1909-11: T C Pring 1911-13: A M Crook 1913-14: A Hartley
To the Second World War	1919-20: A Hartley 1920-22: E Prescott 1922-23: R Henzell 1923-24: M F Waters 1924-25: W S Donne 1925-26: H E Ferens 1926-27: J Baxter 1927-28: P Royds 1928-29: V H Cartwright 1929-30, 1930-31, 1931-32: W T Pearce 1932-33: A D Stoop 1933-34: R F Oakes 1934-35: J Milnes 1935-37: J E Greenwood 1937-39: B A Hill 1939-40: G C Robinson
To the Professional Era	1945-47: J Daniell 1947-48: B C Hartley 1948-49: L G Brown 1949-50: E Watts 1950-51: W Wakefield 1951-52: H Cleaver 1952-53: P Holman 1953-54: J Brunton 1954-55: W C Ramsay 1955: L Clifford 1955-56: W B Gibbs 1956-57: L B "Ginger" Osborne 1957-58: A Marshall 1958-59: J Lawson 1959-60: J A Tallent 1960-61: A T Voyce 1961-62: R G S Hobbs 1962-63: C H Gadney 1963-64: A G Butler 1964-65: L Edwards 1965-66: A Walker 1966-67: D H Harrison 1967-68: J R Locker 1968-69: J T W Berry 1969-70: D T Kemp 1970-71: W Ramsay 1971-72: T A Kemp 1972-73: R. M. A. Kingswell 1973-74: M R Steele-Bodger 1974-75: K H Chapman 1975-76: G Tarn 1976-77: R E G Jeeps 1977-78: A Wharton 1978-79: S R Couchman 1979-80: A W Ramsay 1980-81: J MACG Kendall-Carpenter 1981-82: D K Brooks 1982-83: J V Smith 1983-84: C R Jacobs 1984-85: A E Agar 1985-86: D W Shuttleworth 1986-87: A A Grimsdell 1987-88: John Burgess 1988-89: J R Simpson 1989-90: D L Sanders 1990-91: M A Pearey 1991-92: P G Yarranton 1992-93: D D Serfontein 1993-94: I D S Beer 1994-95: D H Easby
To the Present Day	1995-96: W J Bishop 1996-97: J T Richardson 1997-98: P G Brook 1998-99: P C Trunkfield 1999-2000: J H Addison 2000-01: D P Rogers 2001-02: R S Manock 2002-03: W G D Morgan 2003-04: R W Horner 2004-05: M S Phillips 2005-06: L C K Angel 2006-07: R A G Rogers 2007-08: B Taylor 2008-09: Brian Williams 2009-10: John Owen 2010-11: Richard Appleby 2011-12: Willie Wildash 2012-13: Paul Murphy 2015-16: Jason Leonard 2016-17: Peter Baines 2017-18: John Spencer 2018-19: Chris Kelly 2019-20: Peter Wheeler 2020-22: Jeff Blackett 2022-23: Nigel Gillingham 2023-24: Rob Briers