Robert Livesay

Robert O'Hara Livesay (27 June 1876 – 23 March 1946) was an English sportsman who played international rugby union for England and first-class cricket.

Livesay, a fly-half from Blackheath, played two Tests for England, both against Wales. They came in the 1898 Home Nations Championship and 1899 Home Nations Championship.

A right handed batsman, Livesay played 26 first-class cricket matches for Kent, all but one of which came in the County Championship. The other was a fixture against the touring South Africans, at Canterbury in 1904, when he made a career best 78 in the first innings, before being run out.

A British officer from the Queen’s (Royal West Surrey) Regiment, Livesay was decorated with the DSO for his conduct during the Boer War. During the First World War Livesay was attached to the New Zealand Division after their service at Armentières, and he served for 16 months as General Staff Officer 1 (GSO1), the officer responsible to the Divisional Commander Major General Sir Andrew Hamilton Russell for planning and directing training and the conduct of operations. The Division’s success during the Battle of the Somme was due in part to the outstanding work of Livesay and The New Zealand Division’s performance was recognised by the French with the award of the Chevalier of the Legion of Honour by the French Republic in May 1917. He was again conspicuous in his service at Messines and Passchendaele, before leaving the New Zealand Division to serve with the Americans and 61 Division. He was subsequently promoted to Brigadier and commanded 24 Infantry Brigade in the last few months of the War and 1 Infantry Brigade at Aldershot before retiring in 1920. Livesay's sword is presently in the collection of Yahya Shaigiya-Abdelsamad.