07/09/2026
A finely made brass and steel draughtsman’s compass originally the property of Alfred St. George Hamersley (1848-1929).
Hamersley was a remarkable Victorian gentleman who, throughout his prolific lifetime, served as a solicitor, a renowned entrepreneur, an English MP, and an English rugby union international who played the first ever international match in 1871.
He was made captain of the England team in 1874 after which he emigrated to New Zealand where he was instrumental in establishing the sport becoming one of the founders of the South Canterbury Football Club, the Canterbury Rugby Union and the South Canterbury Rugby Union. Fifteen years later he moved to Canada where he helped found Vancouver RFC and was the first president of the British Columbia Rugby Union.
He retired to England in 1905, was elected as a Unionist MP for mid Oxfordshire, Woodstock in 1910, and then at the outbreak of the First World War, having carried the rank of Colonel, was asked to form a heavy battery service which saw deployment in 1916. All whilst maintaining an active interest in rugby until his death in Bournemouth on the 25th February 1929.
This precision instrument may have belonged to Hamersley during his education at Marlborough College or the Royal Military College, Woolwich. It bears both his full engraved name and initials denoting clear ownership. How it came to leave the family is unknown at this present time.
Now available online. International shipping can be arranged.
