John Imrie Gillespie (16 January 1879 – 5 December 1943), known as Jimmy Gillespie, was a Scottish international rugby union player, who played for and the Lions.Bath, p117Godwin, p164

Rugby Union career

Amateur career

At club level he played for

Edinburgh Academicals The Edinburgh Academical Football Club, also known as Edinburgh Accies, is a rugby union club in Edinburgh, Scotland. The club is currently a member of the Scottish Premiership, the top tier of Scottish club rugby. Its home ground is Raeburn Pl ...

Provincial career

He was capped by Edinburgh District in

1898 Events January–March * January 1 – New York City annexes land from surrounding counties, creating the City of Greater New York as the world's second largest. The city is geographically divided into five boroughs: Manhattan, B ...

International career

Gillespie was selected for the

1903 British Lions tour to South Africa The 1903 British Isles tour to South Africa was the fifth tour by a British Isles rugby team and the third to South Africa. It is retrospectively classed as one of the British Lions tours, as the Lions naming convention was not adopted until 195 ...

and finished the tour as the top Test scorer for the touring team. He played in 19 matches during the tour including all three test games against South Africa. He scored 13 conversions and a single try on the tour,Lions profile
lionsrugby.com and amassed four points in the first Test, the British failing to score in the second and third tests.

Referee career

He later became a successful referee, including two vs internationals, one in

1907 Events January * January 14 – 1907 Kingston earthquake: A 6.5 Mw earthquake in Kingston, Jamaica, kills between 800 and 1,000. February * February 11 – The French warship ''Jean Bart'' sinks off the coast of Morocco. ...

, and the other in

1911 A notable ongoing event was the Comparison of the Amundsen and Scott Expeditions, race for the South Pole. Events January * January 1 – A decade after federation, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory ...

Outside of rugby

Gillespie was a chartered accountant.

Bibliography

* Bath, Richard (ed.) ''The Scotland Rugby Miscellany'' (Vision Sports Publishing Ltd, 2007 ) * Godwin, Terry ''Complete Who's Who of International Rugby'' (Cassell, 1987, ) * Massie, Allan ''A Portrait of Scottish Rugby'' (Polygon, Edinburgh; )

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gillespie, Jimmy 1879 births 1943 deaths Scottish rugby union players Scotland international rugby union players Rugby union players from Edinburgh British & Irish Lions rugby union players from Scotland Scottish accountants Scottish rugby union referees Edinburgh Academicals rugby union players Edinburgh District (rugby union) players