Rupert Inglis

Inglis was born in the Hanover Square area of London. He was the youngest son of Nova Scotian Sir John Eardley Wilmot Inglis (who died 8 months before Rupert was born) and Julia Selina Thesiger; He was educated at Rugby School from 1877 before going up to University College, Oxford in 1881 to read history. On leaving Oxford in 1885, he attended Ely Theological College and was ordained deacon in 1889. ==Family==

Inglis was the youngest of seven children. His siblings were: • Alfred Markham Inglis (1856–1919), who played cricket for Kent • Victoria Alexandrina Inglis (1859–1929), married Hubert Ashton, mother of cricketers Hubert, Gilbert, Percy and Claude • Julia Mathilda Inglis (1861–1929), married to Sir George Herman Collier of the India Office On 11 June 1900, he married Helen Mary Gilchrist. They had three children: • Joan Clara Thesiger Inglis (1901–1967) • John Gilchrist Thesiger Inglis (1906–1972) who was knighted and rose to the rank of Vice-Admiral. • Margaret Cochran Inglis (1911–1994) ==Sporting career==

At Rugby School, Inglis was a member of the school cricket and rugby teams. He played cricket for M.C.C. against the school in June 1879, aged 16. He also played against Marlborough College in July 1881 when he was the top-scorer in the first innings, helping Rugby win the match by two wickets. He was a member of the school rugby XV in 1879 and 1880 and also of the rugby XVs at Oxford University in 1883 and 1884, winning his Blue. His debut came against Wales at Rectory Field, Blackheath on 2 January 1886 in a match which England won on tries scored. This was followed by a victory over Ireland in February and a draw with Scotland in March. As a result, England shared the 1886 Home Nations Championship with Scotland. ==Clerical career==

Inglis was ordained deacon in 1889 by the Bishop of Beverley. He became curate at Helmsley from 1889 to 1890 and then at Basingstoke from 1892 to 1899 (being ordained priest by the Bishop of Winchester in 1894), before being appointed Rector of Frittenden, Kent in 1900. ==First World War==

In 1915, Inglis decided that, if he was to encourage the young men of his village to sign up for the army, he would also have to volunteer. he was attached to 1st Battalion, King's Shropshire Light Infantry, arriving in France later in July 1915. For a short while he did duty at No. 23 General Hospital, Étaples, and then joined No. 21 Casualty Clearing Station at Corbie, near Albert. and nursed him through a bout of flu. By Christmas, Talbot had returned home on leave and Inglis was senior chaplain. On Christmas Day, he had church services in the morning and then was entertained with a band concert in the evening. There was no truce: "The firing was not heavy but there was some going on all day. . ." By this time, his letters home regularly complained about the conditions, both in the field hospital ("You would love to see this hut – the untidiness of it beats anything I have ever seen", "It's awfully difficult to get coal here – our allowance is 1 ½ lbs. per head per day. It isn’t much, to keep this and the kitchen fire going") and in the battlefield generally ("[the] mud . . . beggars description, and is getting worse", "the trenches are in an awful state; it is of course, quite impossible to drain them, as everything is flat"). He was able to return home on leave at the end of January 1916, but was soon "back in my little wooden hut'" again. He continued to spend his time ministering to the needs of the injured soldiers and helping them write letters home. He also assisted the surgeon in operations in the field hospital; in a letter to his daughter Joan in February he relates an anecdote about his work in the hospital: After a brief spell at Calais in March, Inglis returned to the Ypres Salient where the brigade came under heavy bombardment, resulting in many casualties including the death of the Colonel, Edward Bourryau Luard (1870–1916) (son of General Richard Luard). Over the next few months, he was regularly on the move with the brigade, spending much of his time, when not involved with funerals and other church services, organising a shop to supply the soldiers and later acting as "Mess President", organising the canteen. By mid September, he was at Ginchy; two days after the Battle of Ginchy, when the village was re-taken from the enemy, he describes walking across the battlefield: "Then I walked across country with them – a wonderful country, all shell holes and trenches – trenches which till recently were German." His final letter home was dated 17 September 1916 in which he describes his work with the stretcher bearers, bringing the wounded soldiers to the dressing station. His letter closes: The following day, 18 September, he joined a party of stretcher-bearers, in order to help bring in the wounded. While doing this, he was struck by a fragment of shell and while his wound was being dressed a second shell killed him instantly. In his letter of condolence to Mrs. Inglis, Rev. Neville Talbot praised Inglis' bravery and gallantry: He was buried close to the battlefield at Ginchy; his body was not recovered after the end of the war. ==Tributes==

Apart from the letter from Neville Talbot, several other fellow officers sent tributes to Mrs. Inglis: ==Memorials==

Inglis' name is among the 72,000 dead with no known grave commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial. There is also a memorial to him at All Saints' Church, Basingstoke where he had served as a curate. At Frittenden, he is commemorated on the War Memorial while the lychgate at St. Mary's church is dedicated to him; On Remembrance Sunday 2009, Inglis' nephew, Hubert Ashton, preached at St. Mary's church, Frittenden. Parishioners also visited Ginchy where a memorial service was held in honour of the First World War dead. A memorial to the students of the Ely Theological College is now at King's Ely. ==References==