William Molteno Bisset (11 September 1867 – 23 February 1958) was a South African international

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 ...

player.

Early life and ancestry

Bisset was born in

Kenilworth Kenilworth ( ) is a market town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Warwick (district), Warwick District in Warwickshire, England, south-west of Coventry, north of Warwick and north-west of London. It lies on Finham Brook, a ...

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

, the second son of Wynberg Mayor James Bisset and the grandson of Cape Town Mayor Hercules Jarvis. He attended

Diocesan College The Diocesan College (commonly known as Bishops) is a private, English medium, boarding and day high school for boys situated in the suburb of Rondebosch in Cape Town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. The school was established on ...

and went on to become a solicitor.

Rugby career

He represented

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in the inaugural

Currie Cup The Currie Cup is South Africa's premier domestic rugby union competition, played each winter and spring (June to October), featuring teams representing either entire provinces or substantial regions within provinces. Although it is the premier ...

. He made his only two appearances for

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

during Great Britain's 1891 tour. He was selected, as a

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, to play in the 1st and 3rd matches of the three

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series, both of which South Africa lost.

Test history

Professional career

Bisset was an attorney by profession. He was President of the

Law Society A law society is an association of lawyers with a regulatory role that includes the right to supervise the training, qualifications, and conduct of lawyers. Where there is a distinction between barristers and solicitors, solicitors are regulated ...

(1919–20, 1924–25) and the South African Association in later life. He also came to be a director of companies in later life and he was a founding partner of the law firm Bisset Boehmke McBlain.

Personal

Bisset married Henrietta Katherine Tait and the couple had six children – four daughters (Islay Kathleen, Gwendolyn, Helen and Betty) and two sons (William Murray and Eldred). In 1902 he bought the house St James Manor in

St James, Cape Town St James is a seaside village on the Cape Peninsula, South Africa, situated on the False Bay coast between Muizenberg and Kalk Bay. The village is situated between the rocky shore and a steep mountain, and measures about 200m by 2 km. Its nam ...

and lived there until 1912. He then settled with his family at Aboyne House in

Kenilworth, Cape Town Kenilworth is a suburb in Cape Town, South Africa. Geography Kenilworth is bordered by Wynberg to the south and Claremont to the north. Kenilworth railway station is on the main line from Cape Town to Simon's Town. Main Road (which runs fro ...

and died in 1958 at the age of 90.Pretoriana: Tydskrif van die Genootskap Oud-Pretoria, Nr 64. ''Bisset, William Molteno''. December 1970. p.6.

References