Major James Gowans, DSO (23 April 1872 – 14 March 1936) was an English-born sportsman who played 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 ...

as a wing for

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 ...

and as a

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

er represented

Marylebone Cricket Club Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London. The club was formerly the governing body of cricket retaining considerable global influence ...

Personal history

Gowans was born in

Westoe Westoe was originally a village near South Shields, Tyne & Wear, England, but has since become part of the town and is now used to refer to the area of the town where the village once was. It is also an electoral ward for local politics purposes. ...

South Shields South Shields () is a coastal town in South Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England. It is on the south bank of the mouth of the River Tyne. Historically, it was known in Roman times as Arbeia, and as Caer Urfa by Early Middle Ages. According to the 20 ...

in 1872 to Dr. William Gowans of Westoe House. He was educated at Harrow before matriculating to

Clare College, Cambridge Clare College is a 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 University after Peterhouse. It was refounded ...

in 1890. Gowans joined the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

as an officer in the

Durham Artillery Militia The Durham Artillery Militia was a part-time reserve unit of Britain's Royal Artillery based in County Durham from 1853 to 1909. Volunteers from the unit served in the Second Boer War where they distinguished themselves fighting as infantry in the ...

, a

militia A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...

regiment, where he was promoted to

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

on 13 May 1896. He volunteered for active service fighting in

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 the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sout ...

, and left Southampton with other men of the regiment in the SS ''Umbria'' in March 1900. From March to June 1900 he served in operations around

Natal NATAL or Natal may refer to: Places * Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, a city in Brazil * Natal, South Africa (disambiguation), a region in South Africa ** Natalia Republic, a former country (1839–1843) ** Colony of Natal, a former British colony ...

and later around the Zululand Frontier, including the defence of Forts Itala and Prospect,James Gowans Boer War record
angloboerwar.com and the following year he was promoted to the rank of

major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

on 9 November 1901. For his actions during the conflict he was

mentioned in dispatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches, MiD) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face ...

(final despatch by Lord Kitchener dated 23 June 1902) and also received the Distinguished Service Order (DSO), the

Queen's South Africa Medal The Queen's South Africa Medal is a British campaign medal awarded to British and Colonial military personnel, and to civilians employed in an official capacity, who served in the Second Boer War in South Africa. Altogether twenty-six clasps wer ...

with three clasps and the

King's South Africa Medal The King's South Africa Medal is a British campaign medal awarded to all British and Colonial military personnel who served in the Second Boer War in South Africa, and who were in the theatre on or after 1 January 1902 and who had completed 18 m ...

with two clasps. In 1902 he married Erin Laura Muriel, daughter of William Wheelwright of Durban, and settled in South Africa. Gowans served his country again during the First World War, serving as a temporary

lieutenant colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

in the Royal Field Artillery, and was mentioned in despatches on another two occasions.

Rugby career

Gowans first came to note as a rugby player when he represented

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

whilst a student at Clare College. He played in two Varsity Matches in 1892 and 1893, winning two sporting 'Blues'. Gowans played his rugby on the wing and was first capped for Scotland, while still a Cambridge student, in the

1893 Home Nations Championship The 1893 Home Nations Championship was the eleventh series of the rugby union Home Nations Championship. Six matches were played between 17 January and 11 March. It was contested by England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. In winning all three match ...

, against Wales. His seven others caps for Scotland were also in Home Nations encounters and he took part in their successful 1895 campaign where they claimed their first ever

Triple Crown Triple Crown may refer to: Sports Horse racing * Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing * Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing (United States) ** Triple Crown Trophy ** Triple Crown Productions * Canadian Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing * Trip ...

. It was during the 1895 tournament that Gowens scored his first international points, scoring a match winning

try Try or TRY may refer to: Music Albums * ''Try!'', an album by the John Mayer Trio * ''Try'' (Bebo Norman album) (2014) Songs * "Try" (Blue Rodeo song) (1987) * "Try" (Colbie Caillat song) (2014) * "Try" (Nelly Furtado song) (2004) * " Try (Ju ...

in the encounter with Wales. He would score one more try, in his final match, during the 1896 game against England.

Cricket career

In 1891, Gowans played a

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officiall ...

match for the

against Cambridge University. Playing as a wicket-keeper, he top scored in their first innings with 40 and wasn't required to bat in the second. The bowler who dismissed him,

Cyril Wells Cyril Mowbray Wells (21 March 1871 – 22 August 1963) was an English cricketer, rugby footballer and schoolmaster. Educated at Dulwich College and Trinity College, Cambridge, Wells played first-class cricket for Cambridge University, Surrey ...

, was also a rugby union international, representing England.

References

External links

Cricinfo: James Gowans

Personal history

Rugby career

Cricket career

References

External links

See also