James Pearson (rugby union)
{{short description|Scotland international rugby union player}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2020}}
{{Infobox rugby biography
| name = James Pearson
| image =
| birth_name = Alexander William Angus
| nickname =
| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1889|02|24}}
| birth_place = Edinburgh, Scotland
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1915|05|22|1889|02|24|df=yes}}
| death_place = Hooge, Belgium
| height =
| weight =
| ru_position = Centre
| ru_amateuryears =
| ru_amateurclubs = Watsonians
| ru_amclubcaps =
| ru_amclubpoints =
| ru_amupdate =
| ru_provinceyears = 1910
| ru_province = Edinburgh District
| ru_provincecaps =
| ru_provincepoints =
| repteam1 = Scotland
| repcaps1 = 12
| reppoints1 = 10
| ru_ntupdate =
| repyears1 = 1909-13
| years1 =
| ru_clubupdate =
| apps1 =
| points1 =
| clubs1 =
| occupation =
| school =
| university =
}}
James Pearson (24 February 1889 – 22 May 1915) was a Scotland international rugby union player. He played at Centre. At the First World War, Pearson joined the Royal Scots as a soldier; he was killed in Second Battle of Ypres.Bath, Richard (ed.) The Scotland Rugby Miscellany, p. 109. (Vision Sports Publishing Ltd, 2007 {{ISBN|1-905326-24-6}})
Rugby Union career
=Amateur career=
Pearson was born in Dalkeith, Midlothian. He was educated at George Watson's College, where he played cricket for the Watsonians. A friend encouraged him to take up rugby as well, and he soon excelled at that as well.{{cite book |last1=McCrery |first1=Nigel |title=Into Touch: Rugby Internationals Killed in the Great War |date=2014 |publisher=Pen and Sword |isbn=9781781590874 |pages=190–191|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JMo7BAAAQBAJ&pg=PA190 |accessdate=23 June 2018 |language=en}}
=Provincial career=
He played for Edinburgh District against Glasgow District in the 1910 inter-city match. Edinburgh won the match 26-5.{{Cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=SMdAAAAAIBAJ&sjid=LaYMAAAAIBAJ&pg=1667,4186886|title=The Glasgow Herald - Google News Archive Search|website=news.google.com}}
=International career=
Military career
File:Rugby players memorial at Fromelles.jpg
He served as a Private with the 9th Battalion, Royal Scots during the war. Following the Second Battle of Ypres, he was shot and killed by a sniper while going for water in Sanctuary Wood in May 1915.{{CWGC|id=477920|name=Pearson, James|access-date=23 June 2018}}
He is buried at Sanctuary Wood Cemetery (plot VE 27) but also remembered on the special memorial to the 133 rugby players killed in the Great War, at Fromelles in north France.https://www.cwgc.org/stories/stories/private-james-pearson/
References
{{Reflist|2}}
External links
- [https://www.scotsman.com/sport/an-entire-team-wiped-out-by-the-great-war-1-768537 "An entire team wiped out by the Great War"]. The Scotsman, 6 November 2009
{{WWI Scottish rugby fatalities}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pearson, James}}
Category:British Army personnel of World War I
Category:British military personnel killed in World War I
Category:Deaths by firearm in Belgium
Category:Edinburgh District (rugby union) players
Category:People educated at George Watson's College
Category:Rugby union players from Edinburgh
Category:Scotland international rugby union players
Category:Scottish rugby union players
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