John Albert Gwilliam (28 February 1923 – 21 December 2016) was a Welsh

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 and schoolteacher. As a " No. 8" he played international rugby for

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

and club rugby for

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 ...

Edinburgh Wanderers Edinburgh Wanderers is a former rugby union club, founded in 1868. It was latterly a tenant of the Scottish Rugby Union, playing home fixtures at Murrayfield Stadium for nearly 75 years. In 1997 it merged with Murrayfield RFC to form Murrayfie ...

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east ...

, Newport,

London Welsh London Welsh Rugby Football Club ( cy, Clwb Rygbi Cymry Llundain) was a rugby union club formed in 1885. Based in Old Deer Park, Richmond-upon-Thames, London Welsh RFC played in the English Premiership in the 2012–13 and 2014–15 seasons, ...

Llanelli Llanelli ("St Elli's Parish"; ) is a market town and the largest community in Carmarthenshire and the preserved county of Dyfed, Wales. It is located on the Loughor estuary north-west of Swansea and south-east of the county town, Carmarthen. ...

and

Wasps A wasp is any insect of the narrow-waisted suborder Apocrita of the order Hymenoptera which is neither a bee nor an ant; this excludes the broad-waisted sawflies (Symphyta), which look somewhat like wasps, but are in a separate suborder. ...

. He captained the Wales rugby union team when they achieved

Grand Slam Grand Slam most often refers to: * Grand Slam (tennis), one player or pair winning all four major annual tournaments, or the tournaments themselves Grand Slam or Grand slam may also refer to: Games and sports * Grand slam, winning category te ...

victories in the 1950 and

1952 Five Nations Championship The 1952 Five Nations Championship was the twenty-third series of the rugby union Five Nations Championship. Including the previous incarnations as the Home Nations and Five Nations, this was the fifty-eighth series of the northern hemisphere rugb ...

Early life

Gwilliam was born in

Pontypridd () (colloquially: Ponty) is a town and a community in Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. Geography comprises the electoral wards of , Hawthorn, Pontypridd Town, 'Rhondda', Rhydyfelin Central/Ilan ( Rhydfelen), Trallwng (Trallwn) and Treforest (). The ...

, the son of Thomas Albert and Adela Audrey Gwilliam. He attended

Monmouth School Monmouth School for Boys is a public school (independent day and boarding school) for boys in Monmouth, Wales. The school was founded in 1614 with a bequest from William Jones, a successful merchant and trader. The School is run as a trust, t ...

and went up to

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by Henry VIII, King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge ...

in 1941 to read mathematics. After spending a year at Cambridge, he was commissioned as an officer in the

Royal Tank Regiment The Royal Tank Regiment (RTR) is the oldest tank unit in the world, being formed by the British Army in 1916 during the First World War. Today, it is the armoured regiment of the British Army's 12th Armoured Infantry Brigade. Formerly known as th ...

and saw action in Europe.John Theyers, "John Gwilliam, Captain of Wales", ''Gloucester Rugby Heritage''
Retrieved 23 December 2016 The historian

Max Hastings Sir Max Hugh Macdonald Hastings (; born 28 December 1945) is a British journalist and military historian, who has worked as a foreign correspondent for the BBC, editor-in-chief of ''The Daily Telegraph'', and editor of the ''Evening Standard' ...

reported an incident at Rathau where Gwilliam was carrying a small German soldier by the scruff of his neck. Asked why he didn't just shoot the man, Gwilliam purportedly replied "Oh no sir. ''Much'' too small".

Career

After the war, Gwilliam played rugby union for Newport for two seasons, and returned to study at Cambridge where he played for the University. After leaving Cambridge he became a schoolmaster, initially at Glenalmond College, Perth from 1949 to 1952, and while in Scotland played for Edinburgh Wanderers. He played in his first international game for Wales on 20 December 1947 against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. He went on to win 23

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

for Wales, including notable victories over Australia in 1947 and the

All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987 ...

in 1953. Thirteen of these games were as captain, the first being in a win over England at

Twickenham Twickenham is a suburban district in London, England. It is situated on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historically part of Middlesex, it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames since 1965, and the boroug ...

in 1950. Wales won the Triple Crown under his captaincy, but he was not available for the 1950

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tour of Australia and New Zealand. He taught at

Bromsgrove School Bromsgrove School is a co-educational independent day and boarding school in the Worcestershire town of Bromsgrove, England. Founded in 1553, it is one of the oldest public schools in Britain, and one of the 14 founding members of the Headmaste ...

between 1952 and 1956, when he played for Gloucester, becoming the first Gloucester player to captain his country. His last international game was against England on 16 January 1954. He was described "as physically imposing, quietly spoken, religious and austere – the phrase 'Cromwellian' tends to recur in descriptions." In 2005 he was inducted into the

Welsh Sports Hall of Fame The Welsh Sports Hall of Fame (WSHOF) is a charitable organisation created to commemorate the sporting achievements and preserve the artefacts of Welsh athletes. It was established in 1980 from the memorabilia collection of Welsh radio commentato ...

. He wrote a book ''Rugby Football Tactics'' He later became Head of Lower School at

Dulwich College Dulwich College is a 2–19 independent, day and boarding school for boys in Dulwich, London, England. As a public school, it began as the College of God's Gift, founded in 1619 by Elizabethan actor Edward Alleyn, with the original purpose of ...

(1956–63) and Headmaster of

Birkenhead School Birkenhead School is an independent, academically-selective, co-educational day school located in Oxton, Wirral, in North West England. The school offers educational opportunities for girls and boys from three months to eighteen years of age. ...

from 1963 to 1988, where he is remembered for his disciplinary standards and his religious views.

Personal life and death

He married Pegi Lloyd George in 1949 and had three sons and two daughters. He lived in retirement at

Llanfairfechan Llanfairfechan ("Little Mary, Mother of God, St Mary's llan (placename), Parish") is a town and Community (Wales), community in the Conwy County Borough, Wales. It is known as a seaside resort and had a population at the United Kingdom Census 20 ...

Gwynedd Gwynedd (; ) is a county and preserved county (latter with differing boundaries; includes the Isle of Anglesey) in the north-west of Wales. It shares borders with Powys, Conwy County Borough, Denbighshire, Anglesey over the Menai Strait, and C ...

. He died at the age of 93 in December 2016. "Former Wales captain John Gwilliam dies, aged 93", ''News and Star'', 22 December 2016
/ref>

References

External links

Obituary, Welsh Rugby UnionObituary, Cambridge Rugby Union Football ClubObituary, The Scotsman
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gwilliam, John 1923 births 2016 deaths Welsh rugby union players Wales international rugby union players Rugby union number eights Royal Tank Regiment officers British Army personnel of World War II Heads of schools in England Gloucester Rugby players Newport RFC players Wasps RFC players Barbarian F.C. players Cambridge University R.U.F.C. players Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Wales rugby union captains Rugby union players from Pontypridd People educated at Monmouth School for Boys Edinburgh Wanderers RFC players Rugby union players from Gloucestershire