John Brockbank, an English football international and Cambridge Blue, went on the South Wales Cricket Club’s tours to London and the Home Counties in 1876 and 1877, before later becoming a well-known stage actor under the adopted name of John Benn.
John had been born in Cumbria in 1848 before attending Shrewsbury School where he was captain of the cricket eleven as well as a member of the school’s football team. He subsequently went to Trinity College, Cambridge where he won Football Blues in 1874 and 1875 having also appeared in England’s first-ever football international in November 1872 against the Scottish team at the West of Scotland Cricket Ground at Hamilton Crescent in Glasgow.
In 1874 he had made his first-class debut playing for the MCC against Cambridge University, and during his cricketing career the right-handed batter also appeared in county matches for Shropshire (1870), Breconshire (1876), Cambridgeshire (1877), Staffordshire (1877), Herefordshire (1878) and Huntingdonshire (1879). He also played club cricket for Wem, Bishops Stortford and the Cambridge Long Vacation Club for whom he made 51 in their match with the MCC in 1876.
His appearances on the South Wales tours were probably the result of his friendships with various Welsh players as well as John living in London where he played football for the Wanderers and Clapham Rovers. In 1876 he went on the annual tour to the Home Counties, besides playing at Swansea in the Club’s trial match against the Next XVIII. The following year, he also represented the South Wales club in their matches at Hove, The Oval and Lord’s.
John subsequently became a well-known stage actor and was a member of Miss Cissy Grahame’s company who performed at a number of provincial theatres in England, Scotland and Wales, including the Theatre Royal in Cardiff on 22 October 1894. Sadly, within eighteen months, John had passed away as a result of a severe bout of bronchitus and a liver complaint. His wife Mary was also an actor, as was their daughter who appeared under the name of Dora Barton.
BROCKBANK, John.
Born – Whitehaven, 22 August 1848.
Died – Fulham, 4 February 1896.