Rugby union in Cornwall (before 1900) is a timeline of rugby union in Cornwall in the 19th century.
Richard Carew in his Survey of Cornwall (1602) gives some laws of a game which has similarities to rugby.
Before 1900, rugby union in Cornwall was referred to as football and what is known today as football was then called ″association″ or soccer. Before the formation of the Cornwall RFU in 1884, the press did not consistently record rugby matches so it is uncertain when it was first played in Cornwall. The first recorded rugby match in Penzance is from 1870, played in the grounds of Poltair House, Heamoor and organised by W Borlase of Marlborough School. The Penzance team was mostly public schoolboys, home on holiday, and their opponents, the Eastern Telegraph Company was based in Porthcurno.[1] In Penryn, before 1872 a team made up of workers from Freeman's granite yard played a team from Sara's Foundry in a field near the Cross Keys hotel. In the main, rugby was mainly confined to the western half of Cornwall, from Penzance in the west to Truro in the east.
Cornwall. Backs: Bernard F Edyvean, capt. (Bodmin), A Trounson (Penzance), Three-quarters: J W Everett (Redruth), E P P Tyacke (Helston), W H Willcocks (Tregony), Half-backs: G Eustice (Hayle), Luke Smith (Redruth), Forwards: G H Chilcott (Truro), N Harvey (Hayle), E H Ratcliffe (Helston), R C Jones (Pool), C Barrett (Hayle), W Rowe (Hayle), W Rowe (Redruth) and F Bond (Camborne).
Cornwall. Messrs E P P Tyacke, White (Tregony), G Kistler (Penzance), Luke (Truro) and J H Genn, captain (Falmouth) mentioned in the match report.[3]
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Cornwall. Fullback; J B Cornish capt. (Penzance), Three-quarters; Kistler, (Penzance), T Smith (Redruth), Thomas (Penryn), Half-backs; T J Peak (Penzance), T Edwards (Camborne), Forwards; Fitzgerald (Falmouth), Wolf (Redruth), J Henwood (Camborne), Vincent (Penryn), A S Grylls (Redruth), R Chappell (Camborne), Boskeen (Redruth), Chilcott (Truro).[5]
Cornwall. Fullback; Hall (Penryn), Three-quarters; Kistler, (Penzance), W Smith (Redruth), T Smith (Redruth), Half-backs; Peake (Penzance), Edwards (Camborne), Forwards; J Luke (Redruth), J Henwood (Camborne), Wolf (Redruth), Thomas (Redruth), Northey (Hayle), Sincock (Hayle), Pryor (Hayle), Vincent (Penryn), Jenkins (Camborne) [6]
Cornwall. Back: Blewett, Three-quarters: Kistler, W D Lawry (Penzance), H Carvolth (Redruth), Phillips, Halves: W Paull (Redruth), Gray (Redruth), Forwards: Grylls, W F Woolf (Redruth), N James (Redruth), Williams, J Nancarrow (Redruth), Thorne, Masters and Berry.[8]
| South-western group | P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||||
| 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | ||||
| 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | ||||
| Cornwall | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 11 | 47 | 0 |
The first season of the Cornish Rugby League consisted of five clubs, although one did not have any fixtures with the other competitors! Redruth became champions following their win at Camborne, in what was, the final league match of the season.[12]
| - bgcolor="gold" ! colspan=13 style="border-right:0px;"; | 1894–95 Cornish Rugby League | - bgcolor="#efefef" !width="20" | Pos !width="180" | Team !width="25" | P !width="25" | W !width="25" | D !width="25" | L !width="45" | Goals for !width="45" | Tries for !width="35" | Goals against !width="35" | Tries against !width="35" | Pts !width="110" | Notes | - align=center | 1 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 8 | - align=center | 2 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 6 | - align=center | 3 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 5 | - align=center | 4 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | - | ||||||||
Points are awarded as follows:
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The County Championship was reorganised with the fifteen teams divided into three groups. The first-placed teams of the South-eastern and South-western Divisions met in a play-off match, with the winners playing the first-placed team of the Northern Division in the final. Yorkshire won the competition for the seventh time defeating Surrey in the final. This was the third system of the County Championship.
Cornwall lost all three matches, and since their first match in 1892 have lost all eleven matches.
| South-western group | P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 43 | 8 | 6 | ||
| 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 28 | 6 | 4 | ||
| 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 18 | 41 | 2 | ||
| 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 37 | 0 |
[13] ----
Throughout the season The Cornishman published a league table of the first two matches between six clubs. Only Penzance and Camborne completed all their fixtures and Truro only played five matches. Penzance was in first place and Redruth in second place.[14]
| - bgcolor="gold" ! colspan=13 style="border-right:0px;"; | 1895–96 Cornish rugby table | - bgcolor="#efefef" !width="20" | Pos !width="180" | Team !width="25" | P !width="25" | W !width="25" | D !width="25" | L !width="45" | Goals for !width="45" | Tries for !width="35" | Goals against !width="35" | Tries against !width="35" | Pts !width="110" | Notes | - align=center | 1 | 10 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 15 | 1 | 3 | 15 | - align=center | 2 | 8 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 13 | - align=center | 3 | 10 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 10 | - align=center | 4 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 5 | - align=center | 5 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 6 | 3 | - align=center | 6 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 12 | 0 | - | ||||||||||||
Points are awarded as follows:
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At the end of the season a second table was published, of matches between the top four clubs with Redruth in first place and Penzance in second place. 'Impartial' the rugby reporter declared Redruth ″may fairly again claim the honour of being champions″.[14]
| - bgcolor="gold" ! colspan=13 style="border-right:0px;"; | 1895–96 Cornish rugby table | - bgcolor="#efefef" !width="20" | Pos !width="180" | Team !width="25" | P !width="25" | W !width="25" | D !width="25" | L !width="35" | Pts !width="110" | Notes | - align=center | 1 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 9 | - align=center | 2 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 7 | - align=center | 3 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 4 | - align=center | 4 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 2 | - | ||||||||
Points are awarded as follows:
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| - bgcolor="gold" ! colspan=13 style="border-right:0px;"; | 1896–97 Cornwall Rugby Championship | - bgcolor="#efefef" !width="20" | Pos !width="180" | Team !width="25" | P !width="25" | W !width="25" | D !width="25" | L !width="45" | Goals for !width="45" | Tries for !width="35" | Goals against !width="35" | Tries against !width="35" | Pts !width="110" | Notes | - align=center | 1 | Penzance | 8 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 9 | 4 | 3 | 12 | - align=center | 2 | School of Mines | 8 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 10 | align=left | - align=center | 3 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 8 | - align=center | 4 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 2 | 8 | 8 | - align=center | 5 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 10 | 17 | 2 | - | ||||||||
Points are awarded as follows:
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| - bgcolor="gold" ! colspan=13 style="border-right:0px;"; | 1897–98 Cornish Senior League[15] | - bgcolor="#efefef" !width="20" | Pos !width="180" | Team !width="25" | P !width="25" | W !width="25" | D !width="25" | L !width="45" | Goals for !width="45" | Tries for !width="35" | Goals against !width="35" | Tries against !width="35" | Pts !width="110" | Notes | - align=center | 1 | Penzance | 10 | 10 | 0 | 0 | x | x | 3 | 4 | 20 | align=left | - align=center | 2 | 10 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 14 | 10 | 5 | 6 | 10 | - align=center | 3 | 9 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 7 | 12 | 3 | 10 | 10 | - align=center | 4 | School of Mines | 9 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 7 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 6 | - align=center | 5 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 11 | 6 | - align=center | 6 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 5 | 16 | 10 | 4 | - | ||||||||||
Points are awarded as follows:
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| - bgcolor="gold" ! colspan=13 style="border-right:0px;"; | 1897–98 Cornish Junior League | - bgcolor="#efefef" !width="20" | Pos !width="180" | Team !width="25" | Played !width="25" | Won !width="25" | Draw !width="25" | Lost !width="45" | Goals for !width="45" | Tries for !width="35" | Goals against !width="35" | Tries against !width="35" | Pts !width="110" | Notes | - align=center | 1 | Redruth A | 12 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 13 | 24 | 1 | 9 | 23 | align=left | - align=center | 2 | Penzance A | 12 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 13 | 5 | 6 | 21 | align=left | - align=center | 3 | 11 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 13 | 3 | 9 | 15 | align=left | - align=center | 4 | Tuckingmill | 13 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 9 | 2 | 8 | 15 | - align=center | 5 | 12 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 13 | 15 | - align=center | 6 | Camborne A | 12 | 3 | 0 | 9 | 3 | 6 | 8 | 17 | 8 | - align=center | 7 | 11 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 2 | 8 | 6 | 9 | 5 | - align=center | 8 | Camborne Mining School A | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 14 | 0 | align=left | - | |||||||||||
Points are awarded as follows:
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| - bgcolor="gold" ! colspan=13 style="border-right:0px;"; | 1898–99 Cornish Senior Rugby Table[16] | - bgcolor="#efefef" !width="20" | Pos !width="180" | Team !width="25" | Played !width="25" | Won !width="25" | Draw !width="25" | Lost !width="45" | Points for !width="45" | Points against !width="35" | Pts !width="110" | Notes | - align=center | 1 | 8 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 35 | 15 | 16 | align=left | - align=center | 2 | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 50 | 2x | 10 | align=left | - align=center | 3 | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 68 | 6 | 11 | - align=center | 4 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 12 | 86 | 4 | - align=center | 5 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 17 | 35 | 1 | - | ||||||||||
Points are awarded as follows:
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| - bgcolor="gold" ! colspan=13 style="border-right:0px;"; | 1898–99 Cornish Junior Rugby Table | - bgcolor="#efefef" !width="20" | Pos !width="180" | Team !width="25" | Played !width="25" | Won !width="25" | Draw !width="25" | Lost !width="45" | Points for !width="45" | Points against !width="35" | Pts !width="110" | Notes | - align=center | 1 | Newlyn | 9 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 72 | 13 | 20 | align=left | - align=center | 2 | 9 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 56 | 21 | 17 | - align=center | 3 | 8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 54 | 23 | 11 | - align=center | 4 | 10 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 58 | 45 | 10 | - align=center | 5 | Tuckingmill | 8 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 12 | 33 | 4 | - align=center | 6 | Camborne A | 10 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 14 | 93 | 3 | - align=center | 7 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 6 | 55 | 2 | align=left | - | |||||||||||
Points are awarded as follows:
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