James Pearson (24 February 1889 – 22 May 1915) was a Scotland international rugby union player. He played at Centre. At the First World War, Pearson joined the Royal Scots as a soldier; he was killed in Second Battle of Ypres.[1]
| Birth name | Alexander William Angus | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 24 February 1889 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Edinburgh, Scotland | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date of death | 22 May 1915 (aged 26) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of death | Hooge, Belgium | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rugby Union career
editAmateur career
editPearson was born in Dalkeith, Midlothian. He was educated at George Watson's College, where he played cricket for the Watsonians. A friend encouraged him to take up rugby as well, and he soon excelled at that as well.[2]
Provincial career
editHe played for Edinburgh District against Glasgow District in the 1910 inter-city match. Edinburgh won the match 26-5.[3]
International career
editMilitary career
edit
He served as a Private with the 9th Battalion, Royal Scots during the war. Following the Second Battle of Ypres, he was shot and killed by a sniper while going for water in Sanctuary Wood in May 1915.[4]
He is buried at Sanctuary Wood Cemetery (plot VE 27) but also remembered on the special memorial to the 133 rugby players killed in the Great War, at Fromelles in north France.[5]
References
edit- ^ a b Bath, Richard (ed.) The Scotland Rugby Miscellany, p. 109. (Vision Sports Publishing Ltd, 2007 ISBN 1-905326-24-6)
- ^ McCrery, Nigel (2014). Into Touch: Rugby Internationals Killed in the Great War. Pen and Sword. pp. 190–191. ISBN 9781781590874. Retrieved 23 June 2018.
- ^ "The Glasgow Herald - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com.
- ^ "Casualty Details: Pearson, James". Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Retrieved 23 June 2018.
- ^ https://www.cwgc.org/stories/stories/private-james-pearson/
External links
edit- "An entire team wiped out by the Great War". The Scotsman, 6 November 2009
   | This Scottish rugby union biography article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
  | This biographical article related to the British Army is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |