Richard Ruck

Richard Ruck was born at Pennal, Merionethshire, Wales on 27 May 1851,{{sfn|Warsop|2004|p=122}} the fourth child and second son of Laurence Ruck (c.1820–1896), a gentleman farmer, originally from Newington in Kent.{{cite web |title=Richard M. Ruck |url=http://www.thepeerage.com/p53400.htm#i533993 |website=the peerage.com |access-date=7 June 2020 |date=9 Jun 2012}}{{cite web |title=Lawrence Ruck |url=http://www.thepeerage.com/p4397.htm#i43961 |website=the peerage.com |access-date=8 June 2020 |date=9 Jun 2012}} Richard acquired his second Christian name from his mother, Mary Anne Mathews (1822–1905), whose family could claim descent from Owain Glyndŵr, the last Welsh native Prince of Wales.{{cite news |last1=Brown|first=William Baker |title=Memoir: Major-General Sir Richard M. Ruck, K.B.E., C.B., C.M.G |url=https://www.nzsappers.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/1935-June.pdf |access-date=6 June 2020 |work=Royal Engineers Journal |issue=XLIX (49) |date=June 1935 |pages=278–283}}{{ref|A|a}}

Richard's siblings included:

• Mary Elizabeth Ruck (1842–1920): married Robert Travers Atkin, a newspaper editor; their son, James, became an eminent judge and was ennobled as James Atkin, Baron Atkin.{{cite ODNB |last1=Lewis |first1=Geoffrey |title=Atkin, James Richard, Baron Atkin |url=https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-30492 |access-date=8 June 2020 |date=3 October 2013|doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/30492 }}
• Arthur Ashley Ruck (1847–1939): served with The King's (Liverpool Regiment), retiring in 1886 with the honorary rank of lieutenant-colonel.{{London Gazette|issue= 25595|date=8 June 1886|page=2744}} He was later the Chief Constable of Caenarvonshire.{{cite web |title=Richard Conyers Ruck |url=http://www.19thcenturyphotos.com/Richard-Conyers-Ruck-126534.htm |publisher=The Library of Nineteenth-Century Photography |access-date=8 June 2020}} His daughter Amy Roberta (1878–1978) was a writer of romance novels.{{cite web |last1=Lloyd-Morgan |first1=Ceridwen |title=Ruck, Amy Roberta (Berta Ruck) |url=https://biography.wales/article/s10-RUCK-ROB-1878 |publisher=Dictionary of Welsh Biography |access-date=8 June 2020 |date=13 November 2015}}
• Amy Richenda Ruck (1850–1876): married Francis Darwin, the botanist son of the naturalist Charles Darwin. She died shortly after the birth of her son, Bernard, the golf writer.{{cite ODNB |last1=Junker |first1=Thomas |title=Darwin, Sir Francis |url=https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-32717 |access-date=8 June 2020 |date=28 May 2015|doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/32717 }}
• Oliver Edwal Ruck (1856–1934): also served with the Royal Engineers and played in the 1878 FA Cup Final.{{sfn|Warsop|2004|p=122}}

Ruck was educated privately, before joining the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich.{{sfn|Warsop|2004|p=122}}{{cite news |title=Major-General Sir R.M. Ruck: A Scientific Officer |url=https://www.thetimes.com/archive/article/1935-03-19/21/7.html#start%3D1935-01-31%26end%3D1936-01-01%26terms%3DRuck%26back%3D/tto/archive/find/Ruck/w:1935-01-31%7E1936-01-01/1%26prev%3D/tto/archive/frame/goto/Ruck/w:1935-01-31%7E1936-01-01/1%26next%3D/tto/archive/frame/goto/Ruck/w:1935-01-31%7E1936-01-01/3 |access-date=6 June 2020 |work=The Times |date=19 March 1935|page=26}}

File:Royal engineers 1875.jpg

At the Royal Military Academy, Ruck gained a reputation as an athlete, playing both cricket and rugby football and being a keen gymnast. On joining the Royal Engineers in 1871, he switched to association football. At this time, the Royal Engineers were among the top football teams in England, having reached the final of the first FA Cup tournament in 1872 and again two years later, finishing on both occasions as runners-up.{{sfn|Collett|2003|pp=527–528}} Ruck played on the right of the half-backs and was described as a "good half-back, being a sure kick... using his weight well".{{sfn|Warsop|2004|page=122}}

The Engineers reached the FA Cup Final for the third time in four years in 1875 but only after a hard semi-final against Oxford University, with a 1–1 draw followed by a 1–0 victory in the replay.{{Sfn|Collett|2003|pages=527–528}} In the final, played on 13 March 1875 at Kennington Oval, the Engineers met the Old Etonians. The match was played in a strong gale and the Engineers spent most of the match against the gale, with the rules requiring ends to be changed after each goal. Alexander Bonsor scored for the Old Boys after 30 minutes followed by an equaliser from Capt Renny-Tailyour within five minutes. Shortly after the equaliser, Ruck collided with Cuthbert Ottaway who was forced to leave the field with a serious ankle injury; in his absence, the Old Boys were regarded as fortunate to have held on for a 1–1 draw.{{cite web |title=FA Cup Final: 1875 |url=https://www.fa-cupfinals.co.uk/1875.html |website=www.fa-cupfinals.co.uk |access-date=10 June 2020}}{{sfn|Warsop|2004|page=43}}

The replay was three days later; although the Engineers were able to field the same eleven as in the first match, the Etonians had to make four changes, losing the match 2–0, with both the Engineers' goals scored by Capt Renny-Tailyour.{{Sfn|Warsop|2004|pages=32–33}} At the third attempt, the Royal Engineers won their first, and only, FA Cup Final.{{sfn|Gibbons|2001|pages=44–45}}

Ruck also represented the Royal Engineers at billiards, cricket and golf. During his military posting to Malta from 1899 to 1902, he laid out a golf course and designed the clubhouse, before winning the inaugural tournament, despite this being open to officers from both the Army and the Royal Navy.

In 1891, he was the founder and first secretary of the Welsh Golfing Union,{{cite news |title=Sir Richard M. Ruck: A Founder of Welsh Golfing Union |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000104/19350322/125/0004 |access-date=12 June 2020 |work=Western Mail |date=22 March 1935}}{{cite news |title=The Honours List. Decorations for Weil-Known Welsh Officers |url=https://newspapers.library.wales/view/4102971/4102975/84 |access-date=11 June 2020 |work=The Cambria Daily Leader |date=25 January 1917}} becoming president in 1933, and was a member of golf clubs at Aberdovey and Woking.

In December 1928, he was the author of a "valuable"{{sfn|Warsop|2004|page=43}} article published in the Royal Engineers Journal entitled "R.E. Football in the Early 'Seventies".{{cite journal |last1=Ruck |first1=Richard |authorlink1=Richard Ruck |title=R.E. Football in the Early 'Seventies |journal=Royal Engineers Journal |date=December 1928 |volume=XLIII |pages=636–643 |url=https://www.nzsappers.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/1928-December.pdf}}{{ref|B|b}} In the article, Ruck describes the Engineers' use of passing rather than running with the ball:

Individually, we were sometimes up against better players than ourselves, but collectively we felt equal to any club. We were a veritable band of brothers.{{cite book |last1=Brown |first1=Paul |title=The Victorian Football Miscellany |date=29 May 2013 |publisher=Superelastic |isbn=9780956227058 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RcfKAQAAQBAJ&q=ruck |access-date=11 June 2020}}{{cite web |last1=Bauckham |first1=David |title=The Soldiers' Game |url=https://dbauckham.exposure.co/the-soldiers-game |access-date=11 June 2020 |date=25 February 2017}}

Ruck graduated from RMA Woolwich and joined the Royal Engineers as a lieutenant on 2 August 1871.{{London Gazette |issue=23761|page=3416|date= 1 August 1871 }}{{London Gazette|issue= 24026|date=17 October 1873|page=4615}} After completing his initial training at the Royal School of Military Engineering in Chatham in November 1873, he was posted to Aldershot until September 1874, when he returned to Chatham to join the Submarine Mining Service, in which he was to serve for over 20 years.{{cite web |title=Regimental Registers of Service |url=https://www.ancestry.co.uk/interactive/3253/40940_2000729179-00403 |website=Ancestry.co.uk |access-date=6 June 2020|url-access=subscription}}
{{cite web |title=WO 25/3914/314: Richard Matthews Ruck. Rank: Major General. |url=https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C13333074 |website=The National Archives |access-date=6 June 2020}}

Over the next six years, Ruck was posted to various ports around the British Isles, including Pembroke and Cork, taking command of the 28th Company, Royal Engineers, until 1 March 1881, when he was appointed assistant instructor at the School of Military Engineering, in charge of the Submarine Mining School at Gillingham. He was promoted to captain on 2 August 1883.{{London Gazette|issue= 25255|date=31 July 1883|page=3821}}

Between May and December 1885, Ruck worked in the War Office, before being appointed Assistant Inspector of Submarine Mining Defences in January 1886, with the temporary rank of major in the Army.{{London Gazette|issue= 25572|date=26 March 1886|page=1469}}{{London Gazette|issue= 25577|date=13 April 1886|page=1783}} He was promoted to the permanent rank of major on 17 December 1889,{{London Gazette|issue= 26005|date=24 December 1889|page=7469}} and to Inspector of Submarine Defences at Headquarters on 1 July 1891, replacing Colonel R. Y. Armstrong.{{London Gazette|issue= 26178|date=3 July 1891|page=3532}}{{London Gazette|issue= 26185|date=21 July 1891|page=3872}}

On 31 December 1896, Ruck was promoted to lieutenant-colonel,{{London Gazette|issue= 26812|date=8 January 1897|page=126}} and left the War Office to become Commander, Royal Engineers (C.R.E.) at Shoeburyness, until July 1898, when he was placed on temporary half-pay on account of ill-health.{{London Gazette|issue= 26984|date=5 July 1898|page=4065}} On 1 January 1899, his health was restored{{London Gazette|issue= 27036|date=27 December 1898|page=8341}} and he briefly returned to the War Office,{{London Gazette|issue= 27043|date=17 January 1899|page=298}} until 26 April 1899, when he took up his first and only overseas posting as C.R.E., West Sub-district, Malta.

Having been promoted to brevet colonel on 17 June 1901,{{London Gazette|issue= 27326|date=25 June 1901|page=4251}} Ruck remained in Malta until 1 June 1902, when he returned to England to take up the post of Deputy Inspector-General of Fortifications, at Headquarters,{{London Gazette|issue= 27447|date=24 June 1902|page=4120|supp=y}} under General Sir Richard Harrison.

On 1 April 1904, he was promoted to Director of Fortifications and Works (the equivalent of the Chief Royal Engineer), with the substantive rank of Colonel in the Army,{{London Gazette|issue= 27690|date=28 June 1904|page=4108|supp=y}} obtaining the temporary rank of brigadier general on 17 July 1905.{{London Gazette|issue= 27830|date=25 August 1905|page=5844}}

After four years as director of fortifications and works, on 1 April 1908 Ruck was appointed major general in charge of administration, taking over from Major General Edward Thompson Dickson,{{London Gazette|issue= 28126|date=7 April 1908|page=2670}} and was soon afterwards promoted to major general,{{London Gazette|issue=28134|page=3315|date=5 May 1908}} before retiring from the army at his own request on 1 October 1912,{{London Gazette|issue= 28649|date=1 October 1912|page=7195}}{{cite news |title=Obituaries: Major-General Sir Richard M. Ruck |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/aeronautical-journal/article/obituaries/1736293367A3D601A41B6916B52E9B8C |access-date=6 June 2020 |work=The Aeronautical Journal |issue=300 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |date=December 1935 |volume=39 |pages=1184}} having been appointed a Companion of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath (C.B.) in the Coronation Honours of 23 June 1911.{{London Gazette|issue= 12365|date=20 June 1911|page=621|city=Edinburgh}}{{London Gazette|issue= 12366|date=23 June 1911|page=629|city=Edinburgh}} In his final role, he took charge of the military arrangements in London during the railway strike in August 1911.

On the outbreak of the First World war, Ruck volunteered to re-join the Army, and on 22 October 1914 he was appointed Chief Engineer of the Central Force,{{London Gazette|issue= 28957|date=30 October 1914|page=8763}} with responsibility for organising Territorial units in London and eastern England, covering the coast from The Wash to Portsmouth, and for preparing the defences of London. In April 1915, the command of the Central Force was combined with that of the Eastern Command, and in November 1915, Ruck was appointed Major-General in Charge of Administration to the Eastern Command.{{London Gazette|issue= 29417|date=24 December 1915|page=12839}}

On 6 June 1916, he was replaced by Major General Sir Frederick Robb, and retired for the second time.{{London Gazette|issue= 29625|date=16 June 1916|page=5984}} following which he was mentioned in dispatches.{{London Gazette|issue= 29919|date=23 January 1917|page=945|supp= y}} On 1 January 1917, he was appointed a companion of The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George (C.M.G.).{{London Gazette|issue= 13044|date=26 January 1917|page=227|city=Edinburgh}}{{London Gazette|issue= 29916|date=23 January 1917|page=924|supp= y}}

Ruck developed a keen interest in aeronautics and in 1905, he forecast that "in the early future the question of military supremacy would be decided by fighting in the air".

In 1911, Ruck became a member of the Royal Aeronautical Society, and was the society's chairman from 1912 to 1919, after which he became a vice-president.

In 1916, he was appointed vice-chairman of the Air Inventions Committee under the Air Ministry, and was also a member of the first Civil Aerial Transport Committee.

For his services on the Air Inventions Committee, Ruck was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (K.B.E.) on 1 April 1920.{{London Gazette|issue= 31840|date=26 March 1920|page=3760|supp=y}}{{London Gazette|issue= 13582|date=1 April 1920|page=896|city=Edinburgh}}

Throughout his career, Ruck submitted numerous applications for patents to cover his inventions, including:

• June 1885: A "counterbalancing float for marine torpedoes".{{cite web |title=Counterbalancing float for marine torpedoes|url=https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/18/e6/57/67d5c4f859e49e/US319626.pdf |website=patentimages |publisher=c Patent Office |access-date=14 June 2020 |date=9 June 1885}}
• May 1890: Hook or shackle.{{cite web |title=Patent US427482A |url=https://patents.google.com/patent/US427482A/en |publisher=United States Patent Office |access-date=12 June 2020 |date=6 May 1890}}
• October 1906: Variable speed driving mechanism.{{cite web |title=Patent US833974A |url=https://patents.google.com/patent/US833974 |publisher=US Patent Office |access-date=12 June 2020 |date= 23 October 1906}}
• August 1927: Gear-changing apparatus.{{cite web |title=Patent US1640808A|url=https://patents.google.com/patent/US1640808 |publisher=US Patent Office |access-date=12 June 2020 |date=30 August 1927}}
• March 1930: Gear-changing apparatus.{{cite journal |title=Patent US1640808A|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gjHk6UlrD7YC&q=%22Richard+Matthews+Ruck%22+patents&pg=PA789 |journal=Official Gazette of the United States Patent Office|publisher=US Patent Office |access-date=12 June 2020 |date=15 September 1931}}

On 8 October 1878, Ruck (aged 27) married 45-year old Mary Constance Pedley née Gully, the widow of Thomas H. Pedley (1806–1871), at the Roman Catholic Church of Our Lady of the Rosary, Marylebone.{{cite news |title=Marriages: Ruck – Pedley |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000183/18781012/003/0001 |access-date=11 June 2020 |work=London Evening Standard |date=12 October 1878|url-access =subscription}} She was the daughter of the late John Gully (1783–1863), a prize-fighter and politician.{{cite ODNB |title=Baptism of Mary Gully at Ackworth, Yorkshire. West Yorkshire, England, Church of England Births and Baptisms, 1813-1910 |url=https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-11733 |year = 2004|doi = 10.1093/ref:odnb/11733|access-date=11 June 2020 |url-access =subscription}} By her marriage to Thomas Pedley, Mary had ten children,{{cite web |title=1861 England census |url=https://search.ancestry.co.uk/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=8767&h=22443666&ssrc=pt&tid=168107181&pid=392182015791&usePUB=true |website=Ancestry.co.uk |access-date=11 June 2020|url-access =subscription}}
{{cite web |title=1871 England census |url=https://search.ancestry.co.uk/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=7619&h=14075809&ssrc=pt&tid=168107181&pid=392182015791&usePUB=true |website=Ancestry.co.uk |access-date=11 June 2020|url-access =subscription}} including William (1858–1920), who played first-class cricket for Sussex and was later an engineer in California, and Eve (1854–1951} who married Richard's younger brother, Oliver, in 1884.{{cite news |title=Marriages: Ruck - Pedley |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001485/18841201/100/0015 |access-date=11 June 2020 |work=St James's Gazette |date=1 December 1884|url-access =subscription}}

By 1903, Richard Ruck was in a relationship with a 21-year old Frenchwoman, Elizabeth Marie (Lisette) Ducros, with whom he had three children: Alice Bertha (1903–1991), Richard Edward (1905–1976) and Dorise Annette (1908–1997). In January 1905, Lisette Ducros was the subject of an attempted blackmail by Frederick Paxton, who threatened to expose her relationship with "a Mr.... in the War Office", with whom she had a child, and accused her of "keeping a disorderly house" at her lodgings in Clarendon Street, Pimlico. At his trial at the Central Criminal Court on 8 February, Paxton was found guilty of demanding money with menaces, and sentenced to 18 months hard labour.{{cite web |title=Old Bailey Proceedings, 6th February 1905. |url=https://www.oldbaileyonline.org/print.jsp?div=t19050206 |website=www.oldbaileyonline.org |access-date=12 June 2020}}

Ruck's wife, Mary, died on 13 October 1914,{{cite web |title=England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1995 for Mary Ruck |url=https://www.ancestry.co.uk/interactive/1904/31874_223166-00114/5890446?backurl=https://www.ancestry.co.uk/family-tree/person/tree/168107181/person/392182015791/facts/citation/1082252089301/edit/record |website=Ancestry.co.uk |access-date=11 June 2020}} but earlier that year, Lisette had married student-teacher Frank Hoare (1894–1980),{{cite web |title=Hoare - Ducros in England & Wales, Civil Registration Marriage Index, 1837-1915 |url=https://www.ancestry.co.uk/family-tree/person/tree/168107181/person/392197694333/facts |website=Ancestry.co.uk |access-date=11 June 2020|url-access =subscription}} who would later become a film and TV producer. Richard Ruck adopted the three children shortly after the death of his wife. Alice married Revd. Geoffrey Warwick in a "society wedding" at St. Paul's Church, Regent's Park, London on 23 February 1927.{{cite news |title=Society Wedding |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/BL/0000669/19270224/111/0005?browse=False |access-date=11 June 2020 |work=Birmingham Daily Gazette |date=24 February 1927 |url-access =subscription}}{{cite news |title=Truro Bridegroom: Distinguished Gathering at Wedding in London. |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/BL/0000329/19270223/107/0009?browse=False |access-date=11 June 2020 |work=Western Morning News |date=23 February 1927 |quote=The bride was given away by her father, (Major-General Sir Richard M. Ruck)|url-access =subscription}} Dorise married Edward Kench at All Saints' Church, Leamington Spa on 11 June 1930.{{cite news |title=Interesting Leamington Wedding |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/BL/0000635/19300613/066/0004?browse=False |access-date=11 June 2020 |work=Royal Leamington Spa Courier |date=13 June 1930|url-access =subscription}}

Following the death of his friend, John Townshend, 6th Marquess Townshend in 1921, Ruck was a trustee of the Raynham estates in Norfolk, during the minority of the 7th Marquess, who inherited the title aged just 5.

During the last few years of his life, Ruck lived with his daughter, Alice and her husband, Revd. Geoffrey Warwick at Woodford, Essex (where Geoffrey Warwick was Vicar of St Peter-in-the-Forest),{{cite news |title=The Essex Churches |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/BL/0000516/19350322/060/0007?browse=False |access-date=12 June 2020 |work=Chelmsford Chronicle |date=22 March 1935| url-access =subscription}} although his home was at Charles Street in St James's, Westminster.{{sfn|Warsop|2004|p=123}} Richard Ruck died, aged 83, on 17 March 1935{{London Gazette|issue= 34173|date=21 June 1935|page=4039}} at a nursing home in St John's Wood, London.{{sfn|Warsop|2004|p=123}}{{cite web |title=England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1995 for Richard Matthews Ruck |url=https://www.ancestry.co.uk/interactive/1904/31874_222422-00212/5056435?backurl=https://www.ancestry.co.uk/family-tree/person/tree/168107181/person/392182015790/facts |website=Ancestry.co.uk |access-date=12 June 2020|url-access =subscription}}

His funeral was at Golders Green Crematorium on 21 March 1935.{{cite news |title=Funeral: Major-General Sir Richard Ruck |url=https://www.thetimes.com/archive/article/1935-03-23/15/10.html#start%3D1935-01-31%26end%3D1936-01-01%26terms%3DRuck%26back%3D/tto/archive/find/Ruck/w:1935-01-31%7E1936-01-01/1%26prev%3D/tto/archive/frame/goto/Ruck/w:1935-01-31%7E1936-01-01/3%26next%3D/tto/archive/frame/goto/Ruck/w:1935-01-31%7E1936-01-01/5 |access-date=6 June 2020 |work=The Times |date=23 March 1935|page=15}}

Among the tributes paid to him, one officer said:

He had a very strong character and a quiet efficiency which was very comforting to his subordinates.

• {{note|A|a}} Most official sources record him as Richard Matthews Ruck; e.g. his military service records.
• {{note|B|b}} The reprint of the Royal Engineers Journal on the NZ Sappers website has had the pages covering Ruck's article removed.

{{Reflist}}

• {{cite book |title= The Complete Record of the FA Cup|last= Collett|first= Mike |year= 2003|publisher= Sports Books|isbn=1-899807-19-5}}
• {{cite book |last= Gibbons|first= Philip|title= Association Football in Victorian England – A History of the Game from 1863 to 1900|year= 2001|publisher= Upfront Publishing|isbn= 1-84426-035-6}}
• {{cite book |last1=Warsop |first1=Keith |title=The Early F.A. Cup Finals and the Southern Amateurs |date=30 November 2004 |publisher=SoccerData |location=Nottingham |isbn=978-1899468782 }}

• [https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/person/mp61020/sir-richard-matthews-ruck Sir Richard Matthews Ruck] at The National Portrait Gallery

{{Ruck family tree}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ruck, Richard Mathews}}

Category:1851 births

Category:1935 deaths

Category:19th-century British Army personnel

Category:Men's association football wing halves

Category:British Army generals of World War I

Category:Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George

Category:Companions of the Order of the Bath

Category:Graduates of the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich

Category:Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire

Category:People from Merionethshire

Category:Royal Engineers A.F.C. players

Category:Royal Engineers officers

Category:Welsh men's footballers

Category:Welsh inventors

Category:Military personnel from Gwynedd