Robert "Judy" Gordon MacMillan (3 April 1865 – 3 April 1936) was a
Scottish
Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including:
*Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland
*Scottish English
*Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...
international
rugby union
Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...
player.
Rugby Union career
Amateur career
MacMillan played club rugby for
Edinburgh University
The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the town council under the authority of a royal charter from King James VI in 1582 and offi ...
,
West of Scotland and
London Scottish.
Provincial career
MacMillan was capped by
Glasgow District to play in the inter-city on 3 December 1887.
He was selected for
Middlesex
Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...
to play against
Yorkshire
Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...
in the 1893 English
County Championship
The County Championship, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Rothesay County Championship, is the only domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales. Established in 1890, it is organised by the England and Wales Cri ...
. Five Scots were selected for Middlesex:
Gregor MacGregor
General Gregor MacGregor (24 December 1786 – 4 December 1845) was a Scottish soldier, adventurer, and con man who attempted from 1821 to 1837 to draw British and French investors and settlers to "Poyais", a fictional Central American territ ...
,
George Campbell,
William Wotherspoon, MacMillan and
Frederick Goodhue, all with London Scottish who played in the county. He played in that match, but Yorkshire won and then secured the championship.
On 22 December 1894 he played for the
Provinces District against the
Cities District side.
International career
MacMillan played international rugby for
Scotland
Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
for over 11 seasons, and in 1891 he represented the
British Isles
The British Isles are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner Hebrides, Inner and Outer Hebr ...
team on their
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
.
Administrative career
MacMillan was made vice-president in 1899 when he was still with
London Scottish.
He became the 27th
President of the Scottish Rugby Union
The president of the Scottish Rugby Union is the figurehead of rugby union in Scotland.
Origin
In 1873, and directly after the Scotland versus England international match, representatives from eight Scottish rugby union sides came together in Gl ...
. He served the 1900–1901 term in office.
Family
MacMillan was born in 1865, the eldest son of John Gordon MacMillan and Margaret Holmes.
Outside of rugby
MacMillan was an insurance underwriter for
Lloyds. He was an underwriter from 1890 to 1923. In 1924 he became a non-underwriting member.
He played cricket while at Merchiston Castle School. He also liked rowing and golf.
Death
MacMillan owned Somerford House - an old vicarage, which he bought in 1922, rebuilt and added stables - in Somerford Keynes near Cirencester. He also had a house in Chelsea and other lands. He was killed when out on a fox hunt in 1936 with the Vale of White Horse Hounds in Cirencester Park. These were owned by Earl Bathurst; MacMillan had hunted with Bathurst for years. He was killed on his 71st birthday - the hunt was organised to celebrate his birthday - when his horse refused to jump a stone wall and he was thrown from the horse, breaking his neck. The hounds were in full cry after the first fox of the day.
The gross value of MacMillan's estate was estimated at £352,304, 17 shillings and 7d. For the most part MacMillan's estate went to his wife; most of the rest to other family, he had no children; but some of the bequests on his death went to his servants depending on their length of service.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Macmillan, Robert
1865 births
1936 deaths
Scottish rugby union players
Scotland international rugby union players
Rugby union forwards
British & Irish Lions rugby union players from Scotland
Edinburgh University RFC players
West of Scotland FC players
London Scottish F.C. players
Insurance underwriters
Alumni of the University of Edinburgh
Provinces District (rugby union) players
Glasgow District (rugby union) players
Presidents of the Scottish Rugby Union
Rugby union players from Edinburgh
Middlesex County RFU players