Bill Cotty

Bill Cotty

Full name	William Alfred Henry Cotty
Date of birth	(1875-02-24)24 February 1875
Place of birth	Kimberley, South Africa
Date of death	6 September 1928(1928-09-06) (aged 53)
Place of death	Kimberley, South Africa
School	Kimberley Boys' High School
Rugby union career
Playing career
Position	Scrum-half
Provincial/State sides
Years	Club / team	Caps	(points)
	Griqualand West
correct as of 19 July 2010.
National team(s)
Years	Club / team	Caps	(points)
1896	South Africa	1	(0)
correct as of 19 July 2010.

William Alfred Henry "Bill" Cotty (24 February 1875 – 6 September 1928) was a South African international rugby union player. Born in Kimberley, he attended Kimberley Boys' High School before playing provincial rugby for Griqualand West (now known as Griquas). He made his only Test appearance for South Africa during Great Britain's 1896 tour. He played as a scrum-half in the 3rd Test of the series, a 9–3 loss in Kimberley.^[1]

During the Siege of Kimberley, Bill fought as a trooper^[2] in the Kimberley Light Horse, a colonial unit of the Boer War of 1899-1902.^[3] This is unsurprising as the family were very close to Cecil Rhodes.^[4] It was Rhodes who had sponsored the raising of this new regiment, the Kimberley Light Horse, in anticipation of conflict with the Boers and shortly prior to the Siege of Kimberley. The Kimberley regiment is one of only two regiments of the British Empire holding as a Battle Honour the defence of its own city - in this instance Defence of Kimberley. Bill Cotty received the Defence of Kimberley clasp^[5] and the Kimberley Star for his service.

Cotty died in 1928, in Kimberley, at the age of 53.^[6]

References