Birth name | Thomas Arthur Nelson | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Date of birth | 22 September 1876 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Place of birth | Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Date of death | 9 April 1917 40) | (aged||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Place of death | Arras, France | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Captain Thomas Arthur Nelson, JP (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]
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. His grandfather died in 1861, leaving a considerable fortune. [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]
In 1892 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] He was a Justice of the peace for Argyllshire. [7]
He was educated at Edinburgh Academy, where he became a rugby union player. [8] He played for a combined Edinburgh Academy - Watsons College schoolboy side in January 1895. [9]
He then went to study Classics at Oxford University, where he befriended John Buchan. Nelson played rugby union for Oxford University, [10] playing for them from 1896. [11] [12] He captained the side in 1900. [13]
Nelson was named in the Anglo-Scots side to face South of Scotland District on 25 December 1897. [14] The match was called off. [15]
He was originally named in the Provinces District side in December 1898, but his selection fell through. [16] 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. [17]
Nelson was capped for Scotland in 1898. [10] 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. [18] Smith started that match, but Nelson played alongside Smith at Centre for the match against England. [19]
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. [20] 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. [21]
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]
At the First World War, Nelson became a Captain with the Lothians and Border Horse attached to the Machine Gun Corps. [10] He then moved to special service. [22] He joined the Tank service in early 1917. [23] He was mentioned in dispatches (MiD) during the war.
Nelson was killed on 9 April 1917 on the first day of the Battle of Arras in World War I [24] 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). [25] 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. [13] £219,300 of that estate represented his holding in the publishing firm. [26]
In 1903 he was married to Margaret Balfour, daughter of the Liverpool merchant, Alexander Balfour. [27] [28] [29] 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. [29]