Thomas Arthur Nelson

Last updated

Thomas Nelson
Birth nameThomas Arthur Nelson
Date of birth(1876-09-22)22 September 1876
Place of birth Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland
Date of death9 April 1917(1917-04-09) (aged 40)
Place of death Arras, France
Rugby union career
Position(s) Centre
Amateur team(s)
YearsTeamApps(Points)
1896-1900 Oxford University ()
International career
YearsTeamApps(Points)
1898 Scotland 1 (0)

Captain Thomas Arthur Nelson MID (22 September 1876 – 9 April 1917) was a Scottish international rugby union player, soldier and publisher in his family's firm of Thomas Nelson and Sons. He was killed in the First World War. [1]

Contents

Background

Abden House, Edinburgh Abden House, Edinburgh.jpg
Abden House, Edinburgh
The gravestone of Thomas Nelson, Grange Cemetery, Edinburgh; Thomas Arthur appears named at the bottom. The grave of Thomas Nelson 1822 to 1892, Grange Cemetery, Edinburgh.jpg
The gravestone of Thomas Nelson, Grange Cemetery, Edinburgh; Thomas Arthur appears named at the bottom.

He was born on 22 September 1876, the son of the publisher Thomas Nelson and his wife Jessie Kemp. [2] The family lived in the house of their grandfather Thomas Nelson: Abden House on the south of Edinburgh, the grandfather having died in 1861. [3] His father built a new house, St Leonards, in the grounds of Abden House and the family moved there on its completion in 1890. [4]

Nelson obtained an estate at Achnacloich, on the shore of Loch Etive near Oban, Argyll. He spent a considerable part of each year there. [5] [6]

Rugby Union career

Amateur career

He was educated at Edinburgh Academy, where he became a rugby union player. [7] He played for a combined Edinburgh Academy - Watsons College schoolboy side in January 1895. [8]

He then went to study Classics at Oxford University, where he befriended John Buchan. Nelson played rugby union for Oxford University, [9] playing for them from 1896. [10] [11] He captained the side in 1900. [12]

Provincial career

Nelson was named in the Anglo-Scots side to face South of Scotland District on 25 December 1897. [13] The match was called off. [14]

He was originally named in the Provinces District side in December 1898, but his selection fell through. [15] It was remarked that Nelson was not expected to turn out for the Provinces District in their match against Cities District on 14 January 1899. [16]

International career

Nelson was capped for Scotland in 1898. [9] He rivalled Allan Smith for a place in the international side. It was thought that Nelson would get a place at Centre in front of the Smith for the Ireland match as Smith was struggling for fitness. [17] Smith started that match, but Nelson played alongside Smith at Centre for the match against England. [18]

Publishing career

The John Buchan novel The Thirty-Nine Steps (1915) is dedicated to him. Nelson and Buchan had been friends since Nelson was an undergraduate at University College, Oxford. [19] He became head of the family publishing firm of Thomas Nelson and Sons, which employed Buchan as literary advisor and was one of the writer's publishers. [20]

He was noted as a benevolent owner of the company. The publishing house had an athletics club and Nelson gave over a portion of his family estate so that the club could use it. The company was noted as a pioneer in looking after the health of its employees at the time; by employing an official to look after their health. [5]

Military career

At the First World War, Nelson became a Captain with the Lothians and Border Horse attached to the Machine Gun Corps. [9] He then moved to special service. [21] He joined the Tank service in early 1917. [22]

Death

Faubourg d'Amiens Cemetery Faubourg d'Amiens Cemetery-45.jpg
Faubourg d'Amiens Cemetery

Nelson was killed on 9 April 1917 on the first day of the Battle of Arras in World War I [23] He was killed by a stray shell. [5] He had been on the front for 18 months. [5]

He is buried in Faubourg D'Amiens Cemetery, near Arras (grave reference VII.G.26). [24] He is also memorialised on his parents grave in Grange Cemetery in south Edinburgh and on the Scottish Rugby Union War Memorial at Murrayfield Stadium. The Hull Daily Mail headlined A Publishers Fortune detailing that Nelson of Achnacloich in Argyll left an estate of £470,782. [12] £219,300 of that estate represented his holding in the publishing firm. [25]

Family

In 1903 he was married to Margaret Balfour, daughter of the Liverpool merchant, Alexander Balfour. [26] [27] [28] They had six children, including Alexander Ronan Nelson (1906–1997) and Elisabeth Nelson (1912–1999), who married The Hon. Bryan Walter Guinness (later 2nd Baron Moyne), then becoming Elisabeth Guinness, Lady Moyne. [2]

Following his death Margaret married Paul Lucien Maze (1887–1979), a Frenchman, and became known as Margaret Maze. [28]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leslie Balfour-Melville</span> Scotland international rugby union player, cricketer & golfer

Leslie Balfour-Melville, born Leslie Balfour, was a Scottish amateur sportsman, serving as captain, opening batsman, and wicket-keeper for the Scotland national cricket team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eric Milroy</span> Scotland international rugby union player (1887–1916)

Eric "Puss" MacLeod Milroy was a rugby union player who represented Scotland and Watsonians. He was capped twelve times for Scotland between 1910 and 1914, his first appearance coming as a surprise replacement for the Scottish captain, George Cunningham. He was selected for the 1910 British Isles tour to South Africa after other players were forced to withdraw. Due to illness, he only participated in three matches, and did not take part in any of the tests against South Africa. In 1914, he captained Scotland against Ireland, and against England in the last international match before the outbreak of the First World War.

Dr. Robert C. Stevenson was a Scotland international rugby union player. He also represented the Barbarians and the British and Irish Lions.

Jack Orr was a Scotland international rugby union player.

Matthew Clark McEwan, known as Saxon McEwan, was a Scotland international rugby union player.

Charles Fleming was a Scotland international rugby union player. He was the 37th President of the Scottish Rugby Union. His regular playing position was Centre.

Frank Coutts was a Scotland international rugby union player. He became the 91st President of the Scottish Rugby Union.

Walter Irvine was a Scotland international rugby union player. He became a surgeon and was a Lieutenant Colonel in the Indian Medical Service.

William Frederick Holms was a British civil engineer and Scotland international rugby union player. He was the son of James and Annie Holms and was also a nephew of Liberal politicians, John Holms and Col. William Holms.

John Dobson was a Scotland international rugby union player. He played at the Hooker position.

Thomas Torrie was a Scotland international rugby union player.

Thomas Begbie (1862-1896) was a Scotland international rugby union player. His regular playing position was Fullback.

William Peterkin (1857–1945) was a Scotland international rugby union player and athlete.

Thomas Bowie was a Scotland international rugby union player.

William Roughead was a Scotland international rugby union player.

Arthur Laing was a Scotland international rugby union player.

Patrick Wauchope was a Scotland international rugby union player.

Charles Fraser was a Scotland international rugby union player.

Thomas Brown White was a Scotland international rugby union player and physician.

Thomas Lawther was a Scotland international rugby union player.

References

  1. ↑ "Thomas Arthur Nelson". ESPN scrum.
  2. 1 2 "Thomas Arthur Nelson, III" at Geni.
  3. ↑ Edinburgh Post Office Directory 1866.
  4. ↑ Edinburgh Post Office Directory 1890.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "Register" . Retrieved 4 June 2023– via British Newspaper Archive.
  6. ↑ "Achnacloich from The Gazetteer for Scotland". www.scottish-places.info.
  7. ↑ Public Schools and the Great War, Seldon and Walsh.
  8. ↑ "Register" . Retrieved 4 June 2023– via British Newspaper Archive.
  9. 1 2 3 Bath, p. 109.
  10. ↑ "Register" . Retrieved 4 June 2023– via British Newspaper Archive.
  11. ↑ "Register" . Retrieved 4 June 2023– via British Newspaper Archive.
  12. 1 2 "Register" . Retrieved 4 June 2023– via British Newspaper Archive.
  13. ↑ "Register" . Retrieved 4 June 2023– via British Newspaper Archive.
  14. ↑ "Register" . Retrieved 4 June 2023– via British Newspaper Archive.
  15. ↑ "Register" . Retrieved 4 June 2023– via British Newspaper Archive.
  16. ↑ "Register" . Retrieved 4 June 2023– via British Newspaper Archive.
  17. ↑ "Register" . Retrieved 4 June 2023– via British Newspaper Archive.
  18. ↑ "Rugby Union - ESPN Scrum - Statsguru - Player analysis - Tommy Nelson - Test matches". ESPN scrum.
  19. ↑ Adam Smith, Janet (1979). John Buchan and His World. Thames and Hudson. pp. 24–25. ISBN   0-500-13067-1.
  20. ↑ John Buchan and His World. pp. 51–52.
  21. ↑ "Register" . Retrieved 4 June 2023– via British Newspaper Archive.
  22. ↑ John Buchan, Memory Hold the Door
  23. ↑ John Buchan and His World. p. 65.
  24. ↑ "Captain Nelson, Thomas Arthur", CWGC.
  25. ↑ "Register" . Retrieved 4 June 2023– via British Newspaper Archive.
  26. ↑ "Alexander Balfour, of Liverpool" at Geni.
  27. ↑ "Captain Thomas Arthur Nelson",
  28. 1 2 Burke, Sir Bernard (1921). "Balfour of Dawyck". A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Landed Gentry of Great Britain. Burke Publishing Company. p. 70.
Sources
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.