Hubert Turtill

"Jum" Hubert Sydney Turtill^[2] (1 February 1880 – 9 April 1918) was a New Zealand dual-code footballer, playing rugby union and then rugby league for New Zealand.^[1] After emigrating to Britain, he served in the British Army during the First World War, and was killed while serving in 1918.

Jum Turtill

Personal information
Full name	Hubert Sydney Turtill
Born	(1880-02-01)1 February 1880 London, England
Died	9 April 1918(1918-04-09) (aged 38) France
Playing information
Height	5 ft 9 in (175 cm)
Weight	72 kg (11 st 5 lb)
Rugby union
Position	Fullback
Club Years Team Pld T G FG P 1902–06 Canterbury Representative Years Team Pld T G FG P 1905 New Zealand 1 0 0 0 0
Rugby league
Position	Fullback
Club Years Team Pld T G FG P 1909–13 St. Helens 137 3 197 0 403 Representative Years Team Pld T G FG P 1907–08 New Zealand 31 (6) 4 (1) (1) 0 14 (5)
Source: [1]

Early years

Turtill's father died in London when he was only three years old and his mother decided to move to New Zealand to be with relatives. On the sea voyage in 1884 he gained the nickname Jum, short for Jumbo. Turtill worked in New Zealand as a decorative metal worker.^[3]

Rugby union

He started his rugby union career playing for Christchurch Albion before making the Canterbury team in 1902.^[4] He represented the South Island in 1903 and 1907. He became an All Black in 1905, playing against Australia.

Rugby league

In 1907 he joined the professional All Blacks – better known as the All Golds^[5] – on their tour of Great Britain and Australia, thus joining the code that would evolve into rugby league. He was selected because he was considered well versed in wet weather football, something the side would constantly experience in Great Britain.^[4] On the tour he played in six test matches. Turtill captained the side in the first ever trans-Tasman test against the Australia national rugby league team on 9 May 1908 when New Zealand won 11-10. Turtill only scored one try on tour, but it was an important one - the first by New Zealand in a test match against Great Britain at Leeds on 25 January 1908 - and helped them win the series.

Once the tour was over he returned to England with his wife, Mabel, originally intending to play for Salford.^[6] However he instead joined St. Helens where he also owned a pub, the "Lord Nelson Hotel" in St Helens.^[7]

First World War

After the outbreak of the First World War, Turtill served with the British Army. He became a sergeant in the Royal Engineers until he was killed in France in 1918 during the Battle of Givenchy.^[7][8]

Turtill’s body was buried in a French war cemetery.

In 2022 the New Zealand Rugby Museum displayed a tribute to Turtill, including items on loan from his family, such as his Canterbury cap and New Zealand jersey and cap and his engraved war service medallion.

See also

• List of international rugby union players killed in World War I

References

1. "Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org". rugbyleagueproject.org. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
2. TURTILL, Hubert Sydney 1907 - 08 - Kiwi #21 Archived 19 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine nzleague.co.nz
3. Coffey, John. Canterbury XIII, Christchurch, 1987. p.11
4. John Haynes From All Blacks to All Golds: Rugby League's Pioneers, Christchurch, Ryan and Haynes, 1996. ISBN 0-473-03864-1
5. "All Golds". Archived from the original on 10 October 2017. Retrieved 18 January 2020.
6. Coffey, John. Canterbury XIII, Christchurch, 1987. p.15
7. Coffey and Wood The Kiwis: 100 Years of International Rugby League ISBN 1-86971-090-8
8. CWGC entry

External links

• Hurbert Turtill at AllBlacks.com
• St Helens Heritage Society profile