William Neilson (18 August 1873 – 16 March 1960) was a

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 ...

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.Bath, p137 He was born in Thankerton House in

Holytown Holytown is a village situated to the east of Bellshill and north of Motherwell in North Lanarkshire, Scotland. Most local amenities are shared with the adjacent villages of Carfin, Newarthill and New Stevenston which have a combined population ...

, near

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

. Holytown was historically in Bothwell parish leading to some references to state Bothwell.

Rugby Union career

Amateur career

He attended

Merchiston Castle School Merchiston Castle School is an independent boarding school for boys in the suburb of Colinton in Edinburgh, Scotland. It has around 470 pupils and is open to boys between the ages of 7 and 18 as either boarding or day pupils; it was modelled ...

and was captain of the rugby and cricket sides and School Prefect. He represented Scotland at rugby while still attending Merchiston. Neilson played for West of Scotland in November 1886. He was still at school but playing for West's first team. He then left to go to

Clare College, Cambridge Clare College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. The college was founded in 1326 as University Hall, making it the second-oldest surviving college of the Unive ...

, where he also played rugby for the university before graduating BA in 1894. He played for London Scottish on his move to London as a barrister.

Provincial career

Neilson played for Glasgow District against North of Scotland District on 2 January 1886. Later that year Neilson played for Glasgow in the Inter-City match against Edinburgh District. He played for West of Scotland District against East of Scotland District on 26 January 1889. He was being released from

to play for Glasgow District.

International career

He was capped fourteen times for between 1891 and 1897. In 1891, he made his debut, along with his brother George in the game against . One of the four Neilson brothers played in each of the twenty five matches between Willie and George's debut in 1891, until 1899, when Robert had to withdraw from the

Calcutta Cup The Calcutta Cup is the trophy awarded to the winner of the rugby match between teams of England and Scotland played annually in the Six Nations Championship. Like the match itself (England–Scotland), the Calcutta Cup is the oldest trophy con ...

line-up after breaking his nose.

Administrative career

He was vice-president of the

Scottish Rugby Union The Scottish Rugby Union (SRU; ) is the Sport governing body, governing body of rugby union in Scotland. Now marketed as Scottish Rugby, it is the second-oldest Rugby Union, having been founded in 1873. The SRU oversees the national league sys ...

from 1904 to 1905.Simon Stanley
genealogy.com Neilson became

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 ...

in 1905.

Cricket career

He played for the West of Scotland Cricket Club. He played cricket for Clare College while at Cambridge University.

Military career

He served in the 2nd Battalion of the

Highland Light Infantry The Highland Light Infantry (HLI) was a light infantry regiment of the British Army formed in 1881. It took part in the First World War, First and World War II, Second World Wars, until it was amalgamated with the Royal Scots Fusiliers in 1959 t ...

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 was promoted to captain and was wounded in 1918 and taken as a Prisoner of War.

Law career

He then became a Barrister and settled in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. He was called to the Bar in 1896 at the Inner Temple.

Family

His father was James Neilson, an Ironmaster and second cousin of

Walter Montgomerie Neilson Walter Montgomerie Neilson (28 November 1819 – 8 July 1889) was a Scottish locomotive and marine engineer and manufacturer. He was born in Glasgow, the son of James Beaumont Neilson, inventor of the hot blast furnace. Walter was trained as an ...

and his mother was Jane Thomson, daughter of

George Thomson George Thomson may refer to: Government and politics * George Thomson (MP for Southwark) (c. 1607–1691), English merchant and Parliamentarian soldier, official and politician * George Thomson, Baron Thomson of Monifieth (1921–2008), Scottish p ...

, the famous Glasgow shipbuilder. Three of William's brothers, George Thomson Neilson, Walter Gordon Neilson and Robert Thomson Neilson also played international rugby for Scotland. George and Robert were also Presidents of the SRU. The four brothers never got to play together, although on at least five occasions, various pairings played on the same team.

References

;Sources * Bath, Richard (ed.) ''The Scotland Rugby Miscellany'' (Vision Sports Publishing Ltd, 2007 ) * Thorburn, Sandy ''The History of Scottish Rugby'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Neilson, Willie 1873 births 1960 deaths Scottish rugby union players Scotland international rugby union players

Willie Willy or Willie is a masculine, male given name, often a diminutive form of William or Wilhelm, and occasionally a nickname. It may refer to: People Given name or nickname * Willie Allen (basketball) (born 1949), American basketball player and ...

People educated at Merchiston Castle School Alumni of Clare College, Cambridge Presidents of the Scottish Rugby Union West of Scotland District (rugby union) players Glasgow District (rugby union) players West of Scotland FC players Cambridge University R.U.F.C. players London Scottish F.C. players Rugby union players from North Lanarkshire Rugby union three-quarters