Sir William Wavell Wakefield, 1st Baron Wakefield of Kendal (10 March 1898, Beckenham-12 August 1983) was a rugby union player for Harlequins and England, President of the Rugby Football Union and a British politician. March 10 is the 69th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (70th in Leap years). ... 1898 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... Beckenham is a town in the London Borough of Bromley. ... August 12 is the 224th day of the year (225th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1983 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Two Australian players make a heavy tackle on an England player Rugby union is a team sport that was (according to legend) developed from the rules used to play football at Rugby School in England. ... The Harlequin Football Club (The Harlequins or Quins for short) is an English rugby union team who play in National Division One. ... England Rugby is the name of the English national rugby union team. ... The Rugby Football Union (RFU) is the rugby union governing body in England. ...

Wakefield attended Sedbergh school in the West Riding of Yorkshire (now part of Cumbria), leaving during World War I to join the Royal Naval Air Service. After the War he became the captain of the RAF rugby team and joined Quins. On October 11, 1919, he made his debut for Quins against Richmond and he continued to play for the club for the next ten years. He occasionally played for other teams during this time, but his main club was always with Quins. The West Riding as an administrative county prior to its abolition in 1974. ... Cumbria is a administrative county located in the northwest area of England. ... Ypres, 1917, in the vicinity of the Battle of Passchendaele. ... The Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) was the air arm of the Royal Navy until near the end of World War I. When the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) was founded on April 13, 1912 it was intended to encompass all military flying. ... RAF is an abbreviation for: Royal Air Force -- the Air Force of the United Kingdom (see also Air Ministry) Red Army Fraction (Rote Armee Fraktion) -- a German terror organisation Rigas Autobusu Fabrika -- a factory making buses in Riga, Latvia Rapid Action Force in India Rachunarski Fakultet RAF is also an... October 11 is the 284th day of the year (285th in Leap years). ... 1919 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ...

During his career with Quins, he appeared a total of 136 times - 82 as captain, and he made his final appearance on 25 January 1930 against Cambridge University. He scored 51 tries for the club, along with one penalty and 14 conversions. He was club captain in the seasons 1920/21, 1924/25 and 1927/28 to 1929/30. January 25 is the 25th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1930 is a common year starting on Wednesday. ... The University of Cambridge is the second-oldest university in the English-speaking world (after Oxford). ...

In 1920, Wakefield made his England debut against Wales. He captained the Cambridge University team in 1922. In total, he appeared for England 31 times and was captain on 13 occasions. He led England to back to back Five Nations Grand Slams. His final appearance for England was against France in April 1927. The Iroquois Confederacy (also known as the League of Peace and Power) is a group of First Nations/Native Americans. ... Grand Slam is a general sports term applied when achieving something special. ...

In 1935, Wakefield moved into politics, becoming Conservative MP for Swindon. At the 1945 general election, he moved to St. Marylebone. He was knighted in 1944 and in 1963, upon retiring from Parliament, became the first Baron Wakefield of Kendal. He was still involved in Rugby and was the RFU president in 1950. From 1950 to 1980 he was president of Harlequins. An excellent all-round sportsman, Wakefield also became the president of the Ski Club of Great Britain, the British Sub Aqua Club and the British Water Ski Federation. The Conservative Party is the largest political party on the centre-right in the United Kingdom. ... Swindon is a large town of Wiltshire, England, located in the South West of the UK (between London and Bristol). ... The British general election of 1945 held on July 5th 1945 but not counted and declared until July 26, 1945 (due to the time it took to transport the votes of those serving overseas) was one of the most significant general elections of the 20th century. ... Marylebone (sometimes written St. ...

In 1999 Wakefield was inducted as the first English member of the International Rugby Hall of Fame.