J. B. Thompson
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James Bogne "J. B." Thompson (1829 – 18 July 1877) was one of the creators of the original
laws of Australian rules football The laws of Australian rules football were first created by the Melbourne Football Club in 1859 and have been refined over the years as the sport evolved into its modern form. The laws significantly predate the advent of a governing body for t ...
, one of the founders and the inaugural secretary of the
Melbourne Football Club The Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed the Demons, is a professional Australian rules football club that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's elite competition. It is based in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, ...
, a
cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...
er for
Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...
and the
Melbourne Cricket Club The Melbourne Cricket Club (MCC) is a sports club based in Melbourne, Australia. It was founded in 1838 and is one of the oldest sports clubs in Australia. The MCC is responsible for management and development of the Melbourne Cricket Ground ...
(MCC), and a journalist for Melbourne newspaper, '' The Argus''.


Early life

Thompson was born in 1829 in
Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...
, England."James Thompson"
Cricinfo. Retrieved 25 July 2010.
He studied at
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 ...
from 1845 to 1848, before deciding to travel to the British colony of
Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...
, where he ended up living for the remainder of his life.


Victoria


Cricket

Thompson was a respected amateur cricketer for the
Melbourne Cricket Club The Melbourne Cricket Club (MCC) is a sports club based in Melbourne, Australia. It was founded in 1838 and is one of the oldest sports clubs in Australia. The MCC is responsible for management and development of the Melbourne Cricket Ground ...
and played one first-class match for
Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...
, in the 1861–62 season, against
New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...
at the
MCG The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), also known locally as "The 'G", is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne, Victoria. Founded and managed by the Melbourne Cricket Club, it is the largest stadium in the Southern Hem ...
."Victoria v New South Wales"
CricketArchive. Retrieved 30 August 2010.
He batted in just one innings, scoring 16 runs. Victoria went on to win the match by ten wickets. Thompson played for the Gentlemen of Victoria against the Gentlemen of New South Wales in 1858–59.
CricketArchive. Retrieved 30 August 2010.
He batted only in the first innings and scored six runs; he also took a catch while in the field. The match ended in a draw. Future collaborators in the codifying of Australian football's laws,
Tom Wills Thomas Wentworth Wills (19 August 1835 – 2 May 1880) was an Australian sportsman who is credited with being Australia's first cricketer of significance and a founder of Australian rules football. Born in the British penal colony of New ...
and
William Hammersley William Josiah Sumner Hammersley (25 September 1826 – 15 November 1886) was an English-born first-class cricketer and sports journalist in Victoria, Australia, one of the four men credited with setting down the original rules of Australian rule ...
, also played in the match. Thompson played twice for Victoria against
H. H. Stephenson Heathfield Harman "HH" Stephenson (3 May 1833 in Esher, Surrey – 17 December 1896 in Uppingham, Rutland) was a famous English cricketer during the game's roundarm era. Stephenson bowled right-arm fast roundarm, batted right-handed and was an ...
's XI in 1862. In the first match he scored 17 and a
duck Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfamilies, they are a form t ...
and Victoria lost by an innings and 96 runs. In the second match Thompson made 1 and 25 and the match ended in a draw. In 1864 Thompson played for Bendigo against G. Parr's XI."Bendigo v G Parr's XI"
CricketArchive. Retrieved 30 August 2010.
Thompson batted twice, scoring one and zero, but took one wicket for 31 runs (1/31) and held onto a catch. Bendigo lost by 144 runs. When G. Parr's XI played Castlemaine, also in 1864, Thompson, alongside Tom Wills, was the
umpire An umpire is an official in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The term derives from the Old French nonper, ''non'', "not" and ''per'', ...
."Castlemaine v G Parr's XI"
CricketArchive. Retrieved 30 August 2010.


Australian rules football

On 17 May 1859, Thompson, along with
Tom Wills Thomas Wentworth Wills (19 August 1835 – 2 May 1880) was an Australian sportsman who is credited with being Australia's first cricketer of significance and a founder of Australian rules football. Born in the British penal colony of New ...
,
Thomas H. Smith Thomas Henry Smith (born 1 July 1830 in Carrickmacross, County Monaghan, Ireland) was an Irish Australian who had a clear role in the origins of Australian football by being one of the first people to introduce school football games to Australia ...
and
William Hammersley William Josiah Sumner Hammersley (25 September 1826 – 15 November 1886) was an English-born first-class cricketer and sports journalist in Victoria, Australia, one of the four men credited with setting down the original rules of Australian rule ...
(with some sources also including Wills' cousin
H. C. A. Harrison Henry Colden Antill Harrison (16 October 1836 – 2 September 1929) was an athlete and Australian rules footballer who played a leading role in pioneering the sport. Harrison's cousin, champion cricketer Tom Wills, captained an early incarnat ...
), co-founded the
Melbourne Football Club The Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed the Demons, is a professional Australian rules football club that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's elite competition. It is based in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, ...
, the first ever Australian rules football club, of which he was inaugural secretary, at the Parade Hotel in
East Melbourne East Melbourne is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Melbourne local government area. East Melbourne recorded a population of 4,896 at the 2021 ...
."History – Official AFL Website of the Melbourne Football Club"
. Melbourne Football Club. Retrieved 25 July 2010.
At the same meeting the men also created the first ever
laws of Australian rules football The laws of Australian rules football were first created by the Melbourne Football Club in 1859 and have been refined over the years as the sport evolved into its modern form. The laws significantly predate the advent of a governing body for t ...
, which became the foundation of the game."History of Australian Football"
Australian Football League. Retrieved 25 July 2010.
Thompson played with the Melbourne Football Club for many years and during this time he also contributed to updating the laws of the game. Thompson disagreed with Wills about many aspects, as he thought that Wills was trying to implement more
Rugby School Rugby School is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) in Rugby, Warwickshire, England. Founded in 1567 as a free grammar school for local boys, it is one of the oldest independent schools in Britain. Up ...
rules into the game.Fagan, Sean
"A Game of Our Own"
Colonial Rugby. Retrieved 25 July 2010.
Wills, however, did manage to implement many of the Rugby School rules, such as place kicks and marks. The disagreements culminated in 1860, when Melbourne, whom Thompson was captaining, played Richmond, whom Wills was captaining, and Wills used his position as captain to declare that he and his team would not play unless they used the oval shaped, Rugby School-styled ball, as opposed to a round ball, such as is used in
association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...
, which had been used in all matches up to this point. In the end the game was played with an oval-shaped ball and to this day Australian rules football still uses that particular shape of ball.


Journalist

Thompson wrote for Melbourne-based newspaper, '' The Argus'', for many years, contributing a weekly sports column, generally writing about cricket in the summer and football in the winter. After his falling out with Wills he used the column to criticise Wills for not turning up to a Victorian cricket team practice and for failing to provide an excuse. Thompson was editor of ''The Victorian Cricketer's Guide for 1859–60''.


Death and legacy

Thompson died in Melbourne, on 18 July 1877, at the age of 48, from a combination of excessive alcohol consumption and
bronchopneumonia Bronchopneumonia is a subtype of pneumonia. It is the acute inflammation of the bronchi, accompanied by inflamed patches in the nearby lobules of the lungs. citing: Webster's New World College Dictionary, Fifth Edition, Copyright 2014 It is often ...
. Former Chief Executive of the
Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the only fully professional competition of Australian rules football. Through the AFL Commission, the AFL also serves as the sport's governing body and is responsible for controlling the laws of the gam ...
(AFL),
Andrew Demetriou Andrew Demetriou (born 14 April 1961) is an Australian businessman, sports administrator, and former Australian rules football player who was chief executive officer (CEO) of the Australian Football League (AFL) up to June 2014. Demetriou pl ...
, wrote in the introduction of ''The Australian Game of Football'', "Our game does not belong to an idea by Tom Wills or dedicated management by H.C.A. Harrison, but it can be safely said that it was driven by a diverse collective of two journalists (Thompson and Hammersley), a teacher from Melbourne's Scotch College, Thomas Smith, and ... the hotelier, Jerry Bryant."


Footnotes

;Notes ;References


External links


Demonwiki profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thompson, J. B. 1829 births 1877 deaths Melbourne Football Club founders Melbourne Cricket Club cricketers Victoria cricketers Journalists from Melbourne Sportspeople from Yorkshire Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge English players of Australian rules football Australian cricketers 19th-century Australian journalists 19th-century Australian male writers Date of birth missing Melbourne Football Club captains 19th-century male writers Melbourne Football Club (pre-VFA) players The Argus (Melbourne) people Australian male journalists