William Frederick Holms (27 August 1866 – 30 September 1950) was a British

civil engineer A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering – the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructure while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing ...

and

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. He was the son of James and Annie Holms and was also a nephew of Liberal politicians, John Holms (MP for Hackney) and Col. William Holms (MP for Paisley).

Rugby union career

Amateur career

Holms started his rugby union career playing for Blairlodge School. He was captain of the side in 1884. He was picked for Scotland and noted as a Blair Lodge player initially for the Ireland match in February 1886 – but by the time the match came around he was already snapped up by London Scottish and was previously listed as a London Scottish player in the Wales match in January 1886. However he was noted as being unable to play and his place went to Alexander Stephen of West of Scotland. He played for London Scottish in March 1886 and December 1886 and March 1887. It was noted that Holms had a particular skill in kicking drop goals in the side, which only his teammate

George Campbell Lindsay George Campbell Lindsay (3 January 1863 – 5 April 1905) was a Scotland national rugby union team, Scotland international rugby union player. Rugby Union career Amateur career He played for Fettesian-Lorettonian Club, Fettesian-Lorettonians, ...

could equal in England. He played

for RIE College. In 1888 and 1889, he played for

Clydesdale Clydesdale is an archaic name for Lanarkshire, a traditional county in Scotland. The name may also refer to: Sports * Clydesdale F.C., a former football club in Glasgow * Clydesdale RFC, Glasgow, a former rugby union club * Clydesdale RFC, South ...

. In the 1888 to 1889 season, he moved to Edinburgh and played for

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 Murrayfiel ...

Provincial career

In 1888, he was capped by Glasgow District for their inter-city match against Edinburgh District. This was despite Clydesdale asking Glasgow District not to consider their players as they were due to play the Leeds St John club on the same day in Leeds. In 1889, he played for West of Scotland District.

International career

He was capped six times for Scotland between 1886 and 1889.

Cricket career

He went to Blair Lodge School in

Polmont Polmont ( gd, Poll-Mhonadh) is a village in the Falkirk council area of Central Scotland. It lies towards the east of the town of Falkirk, north of the Union Canal, which runs adjacent to the village. Due to its situation in Central Scotland, m ...

. He played cricket for the school; and a match made ''The Sporting Life'' newspaper when the schoolboys played the masters in 1883. Holms performed well as a bowler, bowling out three teachers. He also caught W. A. Bettesworth, the first master to bat, but only after Bettesworth had scored 96. Although Holms was second up to bat for the schoolboys he was bowled out lbw after scoring only five runs. The School team played well that summer with victories over Dunfermline and Edinburgh Academy – with Holms in the side. He played for Glasgow Cricket club; and was second in their batting averages in 1889, just behind A. G. G. Asher. The team also included such dual

and cricket players:- Frank Hunter,

Leslie Balfour-Melville Leslie Balfour-Melville (9 March 1854 – 17 July 1937), born Leslie Balfour, was a Scottish amateur sportsman, serving as captain, opening batsman, and wicket-keeper for the Scotland national cricket team. Balfour-Melville was also an inter ...

Andrew Ramsay Don-Wauchope Andrew Ramsay "Bunny" Don-Wauchope (29 April 1861 – 16 January 1948) was a Scottish international rugby union back who played club rugby for Cambridge and Fettesian-Lorettonian. Don Wauchope played an important role within the early growth ...

Thomas Roger Marshall Thomas Roger Marshall (1849–1913) was a Scottish international rugby and cricket player.Bath, p104 He played at three quarter back. Rugby career One of the earliest Scottish players, he was capped four times for between 1871 and 1874. He ...

and

Henry Stevenson Henry James Stevenson (12 July 1867 – 8 August 1945) was a Scotland international rugby union player. He played at Full back. He also played first-class cricket. Rugby Union career Amateur career Stevenson played for Edinburgh Academicals ...

. He was also playing for the Edinburgh club

Grange Grange may refer to: Buildings * Grange House, Scotland, built in 1564, and demolished in 1906 * Grange Estate, Pennsylvania, built in 1682 * Monastic grange, a farming estate belonging to a monastery Geography Australia * Grange, South Austral ...

in that same year. The Blair Lodge cricket club got their facts wrong in 1896 and were corrected by the ''Edinburgh Evening News''. Blair Lodge C.C. had claimed that their 302 scored against Glenalmond was a record. The newspaper went on to list times where 302 was exceeded. It did then list the Scottish records that Blair Lodge did hold, including a 557 for 4 wickets against Campsie Glen in 1884. In this match, Holms scored the largest score held by a schoolboy at cricket - 303 not out. This was still the record in June 1896.

Other sports

In 1885, he won the 100 yards sprint in the Blair Lodge Sports Day with a time of 10.5 seconds; and he won the quarter-mile race in 56 seconds; and the 300 yards handicap race in 32.5 seconds. He won the long jump and was second in the shot put. In 1886 he was at the RIE College at Coopers Hill. He entered their Sports Day. At the time of print of ''The Sporting Life'' newspaper Holms had won his heat for the 100 yards dash and was favourite for the final, clocking a time of 11 seconds with newspaper noting the simple phrase ''won easily''.

Engineering career

He worked in the

Indian Engineering Service The Engineering Services Examination (ESE) is conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) to recruit officers for the services which cater to the technical functions of the Government of India. It is a three-stage competitive examin ...

and was appointed

Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire The Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire is an order of chivalry founded by Queen Victoria on 1 January 1878. The Order includes members of three classes: #Knight Grand Commander (GCIE) #Knight Commander ( KCIE) #Companion ( CIE) No appoi ...

in 1918.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Holms, William 1866 births 1950 deaths Scottish rugby union players Scotland international rugby union players RIE College RFC players Indian Engineering Service officers Clydesdale RFC Glasgow rugby union players Glasgow District (rugby union) players West of Scotland District (rugby union) players Rugby union players from Glasgow London Scottish F.C. players Edinburgh Wanderers RFC players Grange cricketers Rugby union three-quarters Scottish civil engineers Companions of the Order of the Indian Empire