Jack Clowes 1866-1927

The idea of being ‘on furlough’ (effectively being paid not to work) was uncommon before the coronavirus pandemic of 2020 brought it to prominence. One individual who would have immediately recognised the experience, if not the term itself, was J.P Clowes, the non-playing member of the squad selected for the first British rugby tour of Australia and New Zealand in 1888. He was prevented for fulfilling his role in the team having fallen foul of the game’s administrator’s distaste for what they saw as ‘professionalism’. He could only follow the team round for most of the tour, but there were opportunities for him to come ‘off furlough’ when the conditions were right.

At first glance the payment of a £15 clothing allowance might seem innocent enough. The things people find comfortable to wear in Halifax and Brisbane are likely to be different. Nevertheless it was this payment that raised an apparent whiff of professionalism and led to the eventual ban on his taking part in any rugby matches during the 8-month tour.

John William Preston Clowes was born on 31 July 1866 in Philadelphia and was the eldest son of Stephen Clowes, from Shearsby and Mary Preston from Kilby. His parents married in 1865 and then left for America. In 1871, John William Preston Clowes was born on 31 July 1866 in Philadelphia and was the eldest son of Stephen Clowes, from Shearsby and Mary Preston from Kilby. His parents married in 1865 and then left for America. In 1871, though, he was back living with his Shearsby grandparents, moving to stay (or visit) with the Kilby grandparents in time for the 1881 census. By the following year he had caught up again with his mother, who had moved on to Halifax in Yorkshire. While there he worked as a factory hand and took up playing rugby.

In the build up to the tour the Otago Witness alerted its readers to his growing reputation as one of the best rising players of the North of England. He was a “very fast forward, good tackler and an expert dribbler”. He was then 21 years old, five foot eight and a half inches tall and weighing 11 stones and 7 pounds. Though only taking up rugby at 16 he had moved from a local junior team, the Halifax Free Wanderers to the team that had won the prestigious Yorkshire Challenge Sup in 1886. In the previous season he had been the highest scorer for his club.

Unfortunately for him and the Australian audience hoping to see him on the Unfortunately for him and the Australian audience hoping to see him on the field, Clowes had been caught up in the ongoing dispute about professionalism in the English rugby game. Regulations restricting the payment of players had been made in 1886, but it was March 1888 when they began to make themselves felt in Lancashire and Yorkshire. Fifteen northern players (and a further six from the south) had been selected to take part in a tour of Australia and New Zealand, playing both the Rugby and Victorian (Australian) rules games. The tour was organised by a pair of Cricket professionals, Alfred Shaw and Arthur Shrewsbury, who were open about their hope of making money from the tour.

All would have gone well but for the rivalry between the West Yorkshire All would have gone well but for the local rivalry between Dewsbury and Halifax teams, which dated back to at least 1883. The president of the Dewsbury team had withdrawn two players, known to be selected for the proposed tour, from the team to play Halifax in the second round of the Yorkshire Cup. When his team lost, he appealed against the result on the grounds that Halifax, in Clowes, had fielded a professional in what was supposed to be a purely amateur match.

A hearing was held and Clowes offered to pay back his £15, but by the time the Yorkshire committee declared him to be a professional, he had already set sail for Australia. He found that he had been banned from playing rugby, A hearing was held and Clowes offered to pay back his £15, but by the time the Yorkshire committee declared him to be a professional, he had already set sail for Australia. He found that he had been banned from playing rugby, even in Australia, only when it was too late to turn back. He was by no means the only player to receive payment and others received far more for their services while escaping the immediate attention of the rugby authorities. For the tour organisers Clowes was an economic burden: “he won’t be able to play a single game and we shall have all his expenses to pay”. But overall the amateur regulations suited tour organisers like Shaw and Shrewsbury perfectly. As Shrewsbury admitted before the tour “if the Rugby Union can get players to come out without paying them anything, all the better for us”.

Not that the tour organisers did get away without paying their players anything. The drinks bill for the voyage over set them back £68. The players too had been promised expenses (up to £90 for the 30 week tour for one player) or bound to take part by a £50 advance. If all the returning players were to be treated in the same way as J.P. Clowes, then English rugby teams the length and breadth of the whole country risked losing their best players.

The tour captain, Robert Seddon, was interviewed about Clowes while the team were in New Zealand. “We cannot play Clowes at all. I think the Rugby Union have dealt harshly with him. Had he known that he would become a professional for accepting a comparatively small sum of money for his outfit he would not have taken it. he wanted to give the money back through the secretary of the Union. The Yorkshire County have been trying to get the disqualification removed without success.” (Evening Star, 4 July 1888). Seddon added that if he were to be asked about any such payments he would ignore the matter all together as ‘they must prove me to be a professional”.

The Pan-Britannic Rugby Tour to Australasia

As Clowes followed the tour round he would have had the opportunity to compare the English and Australian rules games. The tour arranged 19 matAs Clowes followed the tour round he would have had the opportunity to compare the English and Australian rules games. The tour arranged 19 matches of Australian Rules games, of which the tourists, surprisingly, won nine and 15 rugby matches where they were more dominant, winning 13 and drawing the other two.

While the tour organisers were reluctant to jeopardise the careers of their players by including Clowes in the team for their rugby games, the ban did not seem to apply games with the local Australian Rules. In Maitland, New South Wales the tourists played what the local paper described as “one of the most interesting football matches ever played in the Northern district under Australian rules”. The game was played on 14 August 1888 at the Albion Ground in Maitland before a crowd of 1200. Two of the tour members were feeling ‘a bit off colour’ and their places were taken by locals, but among the rest of the players to take the field was the J. P. Clowes.

At first the match looked unequal, as the Northern team were ‘a weedy lot, compared to their opponents’, however there was a local advantage for the Australians who had more experience of the game and its rules. The Sports Reporter of the Maitland Mercury reviewed the match; “As to the contest itself it can at once be set down as a bad one, as the Englishmen did not know enough about the little points of the game to be a fair match for the Northerners…”.

The day ended with the majority of the players visiting Maitland’s Adelphi Skating Rink. The following day had no matches arranged, so the captain, Robert Seddon, took himself off skulling for a day on the Hunter River. Tragically the 27-year-old he got into difficulties there and was drowned.

‘There the matter ended’

On their return in November 1888 there was still confusion about whether the playing tourists would be considered as professional or not. The Yorkshire Rugby Union conferred with the national RFU, who surprised everyone by lifting the ban on Clowes and calling on the other players to declare that they had not received payment, other than expenses, for their services.

The Reverend Frank Marshall, a keen opponent of rugby players being rewarded as though sport was a job rather than a pass-time of gentlemen reflected on the RFU’s decision making:

“On the return of the team, each player was required to make an affidavit that he had received non pecuniary benefit from the tour, and there the matter ended.”

However the incident laid bare the contradictions and pressures present within the way the sport was organised and ‘was symptomatic of the festering wound that finally erupted with the split of the Northern Rugby Union in England, leading to the advent of Rugby League in 1895’ (Horton, 2012).

Clowes on the rugby field with the tourists at last

Jack Clowes did finally join the rugby field as a member of the Pan-Britannic team, but only after the return of the tourists to England. In March 1889 a match was arranged between the team at Swinton (Manchester) and the available members of the touring team. Fellow tourist Arthur Paul was normally a member of the Swinton squad and may have helped organise the match. Among those who had promised to play was one J. P. Clowes, finally unfurloughed onto the rugby field.

Shearsby History Notes

Exhibition Ground, Bowen Hills, Brisbane, 18 August 1888: J.P. Clowes on furlough

The Pan-Britannic Rugby Tour to Australasia

‘There the matter ended’

Clowes on the rugby field with the tourists at last

Further reading