James Edward “Edward” Stapleton was born in Newcastle NSW in 1896 along with his twin brother John Alphonsus Stapleton. Their father was a Police Sergeant and the family moved to the NSW regional town of Bathurst in the early 1900’s. The Stapleton boys went to school and learned their football at Bathurst.
The earliest record of Edward and his brother John playing football was with the Bathurst Waratah Rugby Union Club. They played together until 1918. Edward was a forward and John played in the backs. It is not known why Edward chose to be called by his middle name.
It was possible that it distinguished him from his brother, otherwise there would have been two, J. Stapletons in team lists. John Stapleton went on to play with the Lithgow All Blacks in 1920 where he was selected in the Hartley District and Western District representative teams. Edward Stapleton was the captain of Bathurst Waratahs.
