Matthew Mullineux MC (8 August 1867 – 13 February 1945)[1] was an English rugby union scrum-half who, although not capped for England, was selected for two British Lions tours.

The next year he was ordained as a priest and took his orders at the Church of Mottingham, also becoming the Assistant Master at the nearby Royal Naval School in Eltham.

[citation needed] Mullineux first came to note as a rugby player when he represented Cambridge University as a student, playing at scrum-half,[3] before turning out for Blackheath.

[4] He played in twelve games in total on the tour scoring four tries, including two against Queenstown, and a dropped goal in the win over Grahamstown.

Mullineux again represented the British team in the opening game, but the tourists lacked cohesion and lost to the Australians 13–3.

A reflection of Mullineux's character was seen during the 1899 tour, when after the third Test in Sydney he undiplomatically embarrassed the Australian hosts at the after-match dinner.

Before the outbreak of the First World War, Mullineux was chaplain to the Flying Angel Mission in America, but travelled by mail boat to New Zealand in order to proceed on active duty.

The Regimental Aid post was subjected to very heavy high explosive and gas shell fire for twelve hours, and but for his skill and excellent dispositions, serious congestion would have occurred.

His untiring energy and cheerful service in providing comfort for the troops under most adverse circumstances were of the greatest value to all ranks of the battalion.After the war, Mullineux continued his connections with the armed forces and Australasia, when he toured churches and Red Cross Societies throughout Australia, giving public lectures on the war cemeteries of Europe.

[14] In 1919, Mullineux set up the St Barnabas Society, a charity which helped finance those too poor to visit the graves of family members who had died in the First World War.