- Date of Birth18 / 08 / 1887
- Died16 / 10 / 1957
- Lions Tours1908
- International CapsEngland / Lions
- Lions Origin SchoolsUppingham School
- Lions Origin ClubsEdinburgh University, Barbarians, Durham University, Northern, Northumberland
A forward for Northern Football Club, an internationally uncapped John Ritson was selected to Tour New Zealand and Australia with the Lions, featuring in the first Test match against New Zealand.
In total, he made nine appearances for the Lions, scoring a try apiece in the games against Wairapapa and Hawkes Bay.
Two years later, he won his first England cap, and went on to amass a further seven, featuring at the 1910, 1912 and 1913 Five Nations Championships and becoming a member of the first ever English Grand Slam team in the latter year.
Following the end of his rugby career, Ritson became a professor of mining at Leeds University and Imperial College, London, and was appointed an OBE in 1935.