Cyril Lowe - Early Life

Early Life

Lowe was born in Holbeach, Lincolnshire. He attended Dulwich College where he was a boarder in Orchard House. There he edited the school magazine, the Alleynian from 1910 to 1911, as his fellow alumnus P.G.Wodehouse had done previously. At Dulwich he excelled at a number of sports, and represented the school in boxing, athletics, swimming, cricket and rugby. He captained the Athletics squad in 1911 and in the same year played for the first XI cricket squad. In this same cricket side he played alongside future England captain, Arthur Gilligan, the future Essex wicket-keeper Frank Gilligan and R K Nunes the future captain of the West Indies. Eclipsing these sporting achievements was his record as a rugby player. He was in the side first XV from 1908 and was in the unbeaten first XV rugby union squad in 1909 which contained five future internationals dubbed the 'Famous Five'. These five would all go on to play in the 1913 Varsity match, (and also produced the captains of both Oxford and Cambridge in 1919), and all served in the First World War. They were Eric Loudoun-Shand and Grahame Donald who both went on to play for Scotland, W. D. Doherty who went on to play for and captain Ireland, J. E. Greenwood who went on to play for and captain England and Cyril Lowe himself. He then went on to captain the side in 1910-11. Despite his sporting prowess, Lowe was not physically imposing, standing 5'6" and weighing around eight-and-a-half stone. His small stature led to his nickname at school being "Tich" Lowe. He was described by the school magazine, The Alleynian, as "A first rate centre three-quarter. Very fast, with a capital pair of hands, a first-rate dodge on a dry ground, and a good pair of feet on the wet."

He went on to Cambridge University where he won rugby blues in 1911, 1912 and 1913, making him a rare triple blue.