James Montgomery Gilmour (4 January 1881 – 18 December 1918) was an Irish-born New Zealand

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

footballer who played in the 1910s. He played at representative level for

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

(non- Test matches), and

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

, as a .

Playing career

Gilmour moved to Australia in 1911, playing for

North Sydney North Sydney is a suburb and commercial district on the Lower North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. And is the administrative centre for the local government area of North Sydney Council. History The Indigenous people on the s ...

alongside compatriot

Billy Mitchell William Lendrum Mitchell (December 29, 1879 – February 19, 1936) was a United States Army officer who had a major role in the creation of the United States Air Force. Mitchell served in France during World War I and, by the conflict's end, ...

until heading north to play for

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

. Gilmour played all three matches against the touring New Zealand side before joining the New Zealanders for matches against Hunter River and

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

.John Coffey and Bernie Wood, ''The Kiwis: 100 Years of International Rugby League'', Hodder Moa, Auckland, 2007, p. 43. He again toured Australia with New Zealand in 1912. Prior to leaving he scored 5 tries for New Zealand against Auckland along with a conversion.

Military service and death

Gilmour served as a

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * "In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorded ...

with the

New Zealand Expeditionary Force The New Zealand Expeditionary Force (NZEF) was the title of the military forces sent from New Zealand to fight alongside other British Empire and Dominion troops during World War I (1914–1918) and World War II (1939–1945). Ultimately, the NZE ...

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. He sailed from New Zealand with the 43rd reinforcements on 17 August 1918 and died of pneumonia at Tidworth Hospital, Wiltshire, England on 18 December 1918. He was buried at Tidworth Military Cemetery.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gilmour, Jim 1881 births 1918 deaths 20th-century sportsmen from Northern Ireland Deaths from pneumonia in England Irish emigrants to New Zealand Irish rugby league players New Zealand military personnel killed in World War I New Zealand national rugby league team players North Sydney Bears players Queensland rugby league team players Rugby league centres Rugby league players from County Londonderry Wellington rugby league team players