James Howe McClure (8 July 1851 – 1909) was a Scottish rugby football playerBath, p137 and along with his brother

George Buchanan McClure George Buchanan McClure was a Scottish rugby football playerBath, p137 and along with his brother James Howe McClure, has the distinction of being the first twin to be capped in international rugby. Early life George Buchanan McClure, also kn ...

, has the distinction of being the first twin to be capped in international rugby.

Early life

James Howe McClure was born on 8 July 1851 in the Barony district of

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

, the son of James Howe McClure (1812–1891) and Grace (née Buchanan). He was one of twins, his brother George Buchanan McClure deemed to have been born second. They were the fifth and sixth children of James and Grace.Old Parish Registers, General Register Office for Scotland, the National Archives of Scotland and the Court of the Lord Lyon, GROS Data 622/00 0140 0281 His father remarried in 1872 to Charlotte Russell, sister of the Welsh entrepreneur James Cholmeley Russell.

Rugby career

James played his club rugby for

West of Scotland FC West of Scotland Football Club is a rugby union club based in Milngavie, Scotland. Founded in 1865, West of Scotland are one of the oldest rugby clubs in the world, and one of the founding members of the Scottish Rugby Union. West have enjoy ...

. He was capped once for in 1872. His twin brother,

, was also capped for Scotland in the next year, making them the first twins to be capped in international rugby – the only other twins to be capped for Scotland are

Finlay Finlay is a masculine given name, and also a surname. The given name is represented in Scottish Gaelic as Fionnlagh. Given name Finlay *Finlay Mickel, Scottish skier *Finlay Currie (1878–1968), Scottish actor *Finlay Calder, Scottish rugby play ...

and Jim Calder.Bath, p139

Personal life

James married Ellen (Ella) Mary Collier (1858–1931) on 29 October 1884. They had five children: Grace Buchanan (1885–1971); George Buchanan (1887–1955); Ellen May (Eiwee) (1889–1979); William Francis Campbell (1892–1940); and James Howe (1899–1967).MacHistory – site dedicated to the McClure family
James died in 1909, outliving his twin by 21 years.

References

* Bath, Richard (ed.) ''The Scotland Rugby Miscellany'' (Vision Sports Publishing Ltd, 2007 ) 1851 births 1909 deaths Glasgow District (rugby union) players Rugby union players from Glasgow Scotland international rugby union players Scottish rugby union players Scottish twins Twin sportspeople {{Scotland-rugbyunion-bio-stub