Auston Rotheram

An Anglo-Irishman, Auston Rotheram made his career as a cavalry officer in the British Army. Auston joined the 4th (Queen’s Own) Hussars in 1896 and left in 1903. He was a Major in the North Irish Horse, a yeomanry regiment, from 1904 and served as a reserve officer in France in 1915-1916. He left the Army in 1920 and left Ireland for England later in that decade.

On the polo field he captained North Westmeath to a run of successes in the Irish County Championship and, in 1905, was a member of the first Irish team to defeat England. Two years later he scored a hat-trick as Ireland lost 6-5 to England. Whilst stationed in India with the 4th Hussars a team-mate in the regimental polowas none other than future British Prime Minister Winston Churchill.

Rotheram appears to have been extremely modest about his sporting exploits as his family were not aware of his success at the 1908 Games until many decades after his death.