Ernest James Unwin

Ernest James Unwin

Ernest James Unwin was born in Birdbrook on 18 September 1912 and educated at Haileybury and Imperial Service College. During his military training at Sandhurst he was a triple Blue at rugby, cricket and hockey. He later played county cricket for Essex and Minor Counties for Suffolk. As a commissioned officer in the Middlesex Regiment he played for the Army in the Inter-Services' tournament and at club level on the wing for Rosslyn Park. He played three times against the 1935/36 All Blacks, scoring a try for the Combined Services in the match at Aldershot. He was still uncapped in 1936 when he toured with the British team to Argentina. In the course of a ten-match tour he scored 17 tries including four on his debut against Buenos Aires. He gained the first of his four caps for England in 1937 and during World War Two played in two Red Cross internationals against Wales in and two Services' internationals against Scotland and Wales in 1943. He also played for a combined England & Wales XV against Scotland & Ireland in 1939. The pinnacle of his career was with the British Isles on tour to South Africa in 1938 when he played in two tests and scored nine tries in 15 appearances. He retired from the Army in October 1949 with the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel and joined the family business of corn and seed merchants and farmers. Jim Unwin died on 23 November 2003, aged 91.