Judkins had gone under the radar as one of the school’s sporting greats, until research in the 1970s uncovered an item in the Pocklington Weekly News newspaper’s edition of August 26, 1899, stating: “W Judkins, late of Pocklington School, is one of the team of English Rugby Footballers at present touring Australia.”
Based on this, Judkins was included in an article in Pocklington School’s 1979-80 magazine that celebrated its rugby centenary; but doubts subsequently arose when British Lions’ history publications, and later the official Lions’ website, named the 1899 tourist as ‘William Judkins,’ not the ex-Pocklington schoolboy, Walter.
So Pocklington’s W Judkins went back under the radar until the 2025 Lions tour sparked another look.
Thanks to online reference sources, it has been possible to plot Walter Judkins’ life history and prove he was indeed the W Judkins named in the 1899 Pocklington Weekly News.
Walter Judkins was born in 1876 in Long Buckby, Northamptonshire, the son of a prosperous Nuneaton quarry owner.
Judkins moved to Pocklington School in 1889, and was there a capable sportsman, winning events on sports days and playing first team cricket and football.
After leaving school, Judkins had a stint at his local Nuneaton rugby club.
His father died in March 1898; Walter turned up for a trial at Coventry Rugby Club, straightaway becoming a first team pack regular; and in April 1899, he was selected for the British Isle’s team of 21 players to tour Australia the following month.
The boat journey ‘down under’ took five weeks.
Judkins played in 13 of the 21 games in the ten-week tour, contributing to the Lions’ 3-1 series victory.
After returning to England, he volunteered for army service, and saw action in the Ashanti campaign and Boer War.
He later became director of the Judkins Quarry and Brickworks.
He married in 1909 but had no children and died suddenly in 1921 on a trip to South Africa.
