Alexander J. Laing (born 1865), was a Scottish

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

footballer of the 1880s, who played in Scotland for

Hawick Hawick ( ; sco, Haaick; gd, Hamhaig) is a town in the Scottish Borders council area and historic county of Roxburghshire in the east Southern Uplands of Scotland. It is south-west of Jedburgh and south-south-east of Selkirk. It is one of ...

, and was selected to play at a representative level for the

British Isles The British Isles are a group of islands in the 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 and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isles, ...

on the

1888 British Lions tour to New Zealand and Australia The 1888 British Isles tour to New Zealand and Australia was a tour by a British rugby union team, known at the time as the "English Footballers", throughout New Zealand and Australia. Although a private venture not organised by any official b ...

, the first tour by a team representing the British Isles. He later immigrated to the US, specifically to

Buffalo, Wyoming Buffalo is a city in Johnson County, Wyoming, United States. The city is located almost equidistant between Yellowstone Park and Mount Rushmore. The population was 4,415 at the 2020 census, down from 4,585 at the 2010 census. It is the county s ...

, where he became a successful sheep farmer.Lions rugby official site – profile of Alex Laing
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Early life and career

Alexander J Laing was born on 25 October 1865 in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

, to Alexander Laing and Jane Milligan Dinwiddie. He had at least five younger siblings (Robert, Janet, Marjory, Mary and William). His father was a partner in a Tweed Merchants. He attended the

Royal High School, Edinburgh The Royal High School (RHS) of Edinburgh is a co-educational school administered by the City of Edinburgh Council. The school was founded in 1128 and is one of the oldest schools in Scotland. It serves 1,200 pupils drawn from four feeder primar ...

Domestic career

Alex Laing played for five seasons for Hawick RFC up to 1888. He was captain of the club in the 1887–1888 season and was also selected to play for his county side, Roxburgh. In addition he was selected to play for the South of Scotland when they played Edinburgh. He was described as ''"one of the fastest forwards on the Borders''". In their appraisal of him, the

Otago Witness The ''Otago Witness'' was a prominent illustrated weekly newspaper in the early years of the European settlement of New Zealand, produced in Dunedin, the provincial capital of Otago. Published weekly it existed from 1851 to 1932. The introduction ...

also said that he was "''a good dribbler and a splendid tackler and is a very dangerous man near the goal line."''

British Isles

Laing played 26 times while on the 1888 tour but did not score any tries.

Later life

During the 1888 tour, after the Brisbane match, Laing's Hawick teammate Bob Burnet made his made up to stay in Australia. Alex along with his other Hawick teammate Willie Burnet, returned to face questioning about their amateur status in Glasgow as soon as they returned. Along with the rest of the tour party, they were found not to have contravened the rules and in late November 1888 they returned to Hawick, apparently to a hero’s welcome. Laing emigrated in November 1889 to

, where he and Willie Burnet set up a successful sheep farming ranch. In Wyoming he married Flora, herself from Wyoming but whose father was from Canada and whose mother was from North Carolina. They had at least two daughters in Wyoming, Elizabeth and Margory.1910 Federal Census; Census Place: South Buffalo, Johnson, Wyoming; Roll: T624_1745; Page: 5B; Enumeration District: 0070; FHL microfilm: 1375758 Laing was naturalized as a citizen of USA in November 1898 before the District Court of

Sheridan County, Wyoming Sheridan County is a county in the U.S. state of Wyoming. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 30,921. The county seat is Sheridan. Its northern boundary abuts the Montana state border. Sheridan County comprises the Sheridan ...

. By 1920 he had lived uninterruptedly in buffalo for 31 years where he had established himself as a stock grower, specializing in sheep, although in 1920 he did apply to import into the USA a shipment of pure bred cattle from Scotland.National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); Washington D.C.; NARA Series: Passport Applications, 2 January 1906 – 31 March 1925; Roll #: 1356; Volume #: Roll 1356 – Certificates: 89750-90125, 11 Sep 1920 – 13 Sep 1920

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Laing, Alexander 1865 births British & Irish Lions rugby union players from Scotland Hawick RFC players People educated at the Royal High School, Edinburgh People from Buffalo, Wyoming Roxburgh County RFU players Rugby union forwards Rugby union players from Hawick Scottish rugby union players Year of death missing