Robert Neilson (17 November 1874 – 16 July 1946) was a

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 ...

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.Bath, p137

Rugby Union career

Amateur career

He also played 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 ...

Provincial career

He was capped for Glasgow 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

He was capped six times for between 1898 and 1900.

Administrative career

He was

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

of the

Scottish Rugby Union The Scottish Rugby Union (SRU; gd, Aonadh Rugbaidh na h-Alba) is the governing body of rugby union in Scotland. Styled as Scottish Rugby, it is the second oldest Rugby Union, having been founded in 1873. The SRU oversees the national league s ...

for the period 1923 to 1924.

Family

His father was James Neilson, an Ironmaster and second cousin of

Walter Montgomerie Neilson Walter Montgomerie Neilson (28 November 1819 – 8 July 1889) was a Scottish locomotive and marine engineer and manufacturer. He was born in Glasgow, the son of James Beaumont Neilson, inventor of the hot blast furnace. Walter was trained as an ...

and his mother was Jane Thomson, daughter of

George Thomson George Thomson may refer to: Government and politics * George Thomson (MP for Southwark) (c. 1607–1691), English merchant and Parliamentarian soldier, official and politician * George Thomson, Baron Thomson of Monifieth (1921–2008), Scottish p ...

, the famous Glasgow shipbuilder. He attended

Merchiston Castle School Merchiston Castle School is an independent boarding school for boys in the suburb of Colinton in Edinburgh, Scotland. It has around 470 pupils and is open to boys between the ages of 7 and 18 as either boarding or day pupils; it was modelled a ...

. He was the brother of

George George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd Presiden ...

, Gordon and

Willie Neilson William Neilson (18 August 1873 – 16 March 1960) was a Scotland international rugby union player.Bath, p137 He was born in Thankerton House in Holytown, near Glasgow, Scotland. Holytown was historically in Bothwell parish leading to some refer ...

who were also capped for Scotland. In 1891, he made his debut, along with his brother George in the game against – it is the only time that brothers have debuted together for Scotland, with the exception of the joint debut of Gavin and Scott Hastings.Bath, p97 One of the four Neilson brothers played in each of the twenty five matches between Willie and George's debut in 1891, until 1899, when Robert had to withdraw from the Calcutta Cup line-up after breaking his nose. Robert played another match in 1900. Along with his brothers, Willie and George, he was a president of the

References

;Sources # Bath, Richard (ed.) ''The Scotland Rugby Miscellany'' (Vision Sports Publishing Ltd, 2007 ) # Thorburn, Sandy ''The History of Scottish Rugby'' 1870s births 1946 deaths People educated at Merchiston Castle School Scottish rugby union players Scotland international rugby union players

Robert The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...

West of Scotland FC players Glasgow District (rugby union) players Presidents of the Scottish Rugby Union Rugby union players from South Lanarkshire {{Scotland-rugbyunion-bio-stub