Thomas Melville Watson McGown (22 February 1876 – 15 July 1956) was an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

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 ...

forward who played 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 ...

and

North of Ireland FC North of Ireland Football Club is a former Irish rugby union club that was based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It was the first rugby club formed in what is now Northern Ireland and only two other clubs - Dublin University and Wanderers - wer ...

. McGown played international rugby for

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

and in 1899 he was selected for the

British Isles The British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isles, ...

team on its tour of Australia.

Personal history

McGown was born in Belfast in 1876, and was educated at

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 ...

in Scotland, before being accepted into

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 1894. He gained his

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

in 1897 and served as a solicitor to the Supreme Court of Judicature in Ireland. He fought for 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 ...

during the First World War, serving in the Royal Army Ordnance Department. McGown reached 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 ...

holding the additional posts of Deputy Adjutant and Quartermaster-General. For his actions during the War, 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 ...

Rugby career

McGown first came to note as a rugby player when he began playing for

. In 1896 he played in

The Varsity Match The Varsity Match is an annual rugby union fixture played between the universities of Oxford University RFC, Oxford and Cambridge University R.U.F.C., Cambridge in England. The event began in 1872 with the first men's match, with interruptions ...

, winning a sporting 'Blue'. On leaving University he joined North of Ireland F.C., and while representing the club he was first selected to play for the Ireland national team. His first international game was the

1899 Home Nations Championship The 1899 Home Nations Championship was the seventeenth series of the rugby union Home Nations Championship. Six matches were played between 5 January and 18 March. It was contested by England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. The 1899 Championship w ...

encounter with England, played at home at

Lansdowne Road Lansdowne Road Stadium ( ga, Bóthar Lansdún, ) was a stadium in Dublin owned by the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) that was primarily used for rugby union and association football matches. The stadium was demolished in 2007 to make way for ...

. A good defence by Ireland gave them a 6–0 victory, their fourth successive win over the English. McGown was reselected for the next Ireland game, played away against Scotland. This was the first game to be played at Scotland's new ground in Inverleith, and resulted in the very first Irish win on Scottish soil. Although McGown was not present for the final game against Wales, the victory made him a

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 ...

winning player. In 1899, McGown was invited to join the British Isles on the team's first official tour of

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 ...

. McGown played in 19 of the 20 games of the tour,Tom McGown player profile
lionsrugby.com only missing the match against Maryborough. McGown played in all four Test Matches against

, though did not score in any of the 19 games he played in. On returning to Ireland, McGown played in one final international for Ireland, a loss to Scotland in the

1901 Home Nations Championship The 1901 Home Nations Championship was the nineteenth series of the rugby union Home Nations Championship. Six matches were played between 5 January and 16 March. It was contested by England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Scotland won all their t ...

Bibliography

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McGown, Tom 1876 births 1956 deaths Irish rugby union players Ireland international rugby union players British & Irish Lions rugby union players from Ireland Cambridge University R.U.F.C. players Rugby union forwards Rugby union players from Belfast North of Ireland F.C. players People educated at Merchiston Castle School Alumni of Clare College, Cambridge British Army personnel of World War I Royal Army Ordnance Corps officers