Born in north Oxford, he was the son of Emily Palmer and her husband, the zoologist Sir Edward Bagnall Poulton.

He was born into a wealthy family, and brought up at Wykeham House, an impressive residence on Oxford's Banbury Road, with six servants.

[6] He joined the Oxford University Officers Training Corps in 1908 and resigned three years later, having been promoted to the rank of Cadet Colour Sergeant.

[11] At Oxford, Stoop already applied an intelligent approach to improving the game with rigorous attention to detail, and new ideas about changing the direction of attack, and deliberately surprising the opponent's defence.

[12] Stoop supposedly discovered Poulton, and introduced him into the Harlequins threequarter line for his debut first class match in 1908.

[15] Although he had missed selection for the Varsity match, Poulton was called up to play at centre for England, alongside Frank Tarr, against France on 30 January 1909.

[18] The following season, George Cunningham, who later captained Scotland, was Oxford's skipper,[19] and he selected Poulton in place of Vassall for the Varsity match.

[21] Vassall, for his part, was considered one of the world's best centres, and had made his mark in the previous three Varsity games, beginning in 1906, his fresher year,[22] and in 1908 had played both for England against Ireland, and for the Anglo-Welsh touring side against New Zealand.

In a break with orthodox play, which required him to kick the ball back into touch, Stoop began an angled run from the right side towards the far left corner.

He then passed the ball to Bert Solomon at centre, and from there it moved on quickly to John Birkett and then Poulton on the left wing.

A similar passage of play again saw Poulton put Geen through for another try, but the latter dropped the ball after crossing the line while trying to get closer to the posts.

[29][30] Following this performance, Geen and Poulton, who together were considered the scoring force of the Oxford team, were both selected to play for England in the second trial match against The North in Leeds.

[36] Poulton, however, after scoring the first try of the match in the opening moments, suffered a hamstring injury approaching half time,[37] and his replacement Eric Thomas, a forward, lacked the speed and skills to combine effectively with Geen.

Poulton, playing at left centre, cut through the midfield and swerved to the right, leaving the South African fullback Gerhard Morkel standing, and would have scored, had it not been for E.E.

In the second half, Poulton having found 'a small green patch in a sea of mud', kicked a dropgoal to open the scoring.

[26] Poulton was appointed captain of England in 1914, and led the team for all four matches of the Five Nations Championship,[6] and a second successive 'Grand Slam', though the term had not yet been coined.

For the next game, against Ireland, a large police contingent was posted outside the ground in anticipation of violent protests relating to the Home rule debate, but the 40,000 crowd were peaceable and kept entertained.

[44] When it transpired that some farmers and fishermen in Devon were receiving money to play, Poulton challenged the RFU on the question of payment to players, arguing that recompensing workers for lost wages did not amount to professionalism, but would allow rugby to flourish amongst all social classes.

[41] Against Wales, playing on the wing, he dropped a goal in England's 12–0 victory away at Cardiff, with his former Oxford partner Billy Geen at centre for the opposition.

[43] After leaving Oxford and stepping down from the Officers' Training Corps, Poulton moved to Reading in January 1912, where he was commissioned into 1st/4th Battalion Princess Charlotte of Wales's (Royal Berkshire Regiment) (Territorial Force) in June of the same year, and promoted to the rank of lieutenant in July 1913.

On the morning of 5 May 1915, Poulton was involved in repairing a trench, in the vicinity of Ploegsteert Wood in Belgium, when he was shot by an enemy sniper.

[63] Captain Jack Conybeare, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, a school friend from both OPS and Rugby, wrote later that day: "I was talking to one of the Berks' officers this morning.

At night, on the other hand, we perpetually have working parties of one kind or another out, either wiring, repairing the parapet, or doing something which involves coming from under cover, and one simply takes the risk of stray bullets.

[66] Ronald Poulton Palmer's grave is in Hyde Park Corner (Royal Berks) Cemetery, near Ploegsteert, Belgium.

[67] The cross marking Poulton's grave in Flanders was taken back to Oxford, and is mounted in a wall in Holywell Cemetery[5] George Cunningham, his Oxford teammate and captain, wrote on hearing of his death: "He ran, as everyone remembers, with a curiously even, yet high-stepping motion, his head thrown back, the ball held in front at full arms' length.

God had endowed him with a rare combination of graces ... what we hoped would come of it ... strong and tender and true, he lived for others and died for others.

Reverend William Temple addressed the congregation, saying: "Many of us believed that with his ready sympathy, his utter freedom from selfishness, and his courage to follow what he saw to be right, he would grasp the causes of our labour unrest and class friction, and by removing them from the great industry in whose control a large part was to be his, set an example which would prove a great force in our social regeneration ... What he hated most in our usual manner of life was the artificial barriers that hold people apart, and the suspiciousness of one class towards another ..."[70] Twenty seven England international rugby players were killed in World War I of a total international toll of one hundred and thirty.