Bill Church
Birth nameWilliam Campbell Church
Date of birth(1883-08-05)5 August 1883
Place of birthPartick, Glasgow, Scotland
Date of death28 June 1915(1915-06-28) (aged 31)
Place of deathGallipoli, Turkey
Rugby union career
Position(s) Centre / Wing
Amateur team(s)
Years Team Apps (Points)

1904-07		 Glasgow University
Glasgow Academicals		 ()
Provincial / State sides
Years Team Apps (Points)
- Glasgow District ()
International career
Years Team Apps (Points)
1906 Scotland 1 (0)

Capt. William Campbell Church (5 August 1883 – 28 June 1915) was a Scottish rugby union player.[1][2]

Early life

Church was born in Partick, Glasgow, to William Reginald Monteith Church, a chartered accountant and stockbroker, and Christina Ainslie Church.[3] He was educated at Glasgow Academy but left for Switzerland in 1902.[4][5] He was educated at South African College.

Rugby Union career

Amateur career

He moved back to Scotland to attend university,[6] where he played for Glasgow Academicals.[4] He played on the wing for rugby union side.[4]

Provincial career

He was capped by Glasgow District in 1906.[7]

International career

Church was capped for Scotland in 1906.[8] He was also selected to play against New Zealand but he declined this.[4]

Military career

He was killed in action in World War I while serving with the Cameronians during the Gallipoli campaign.[8] He is on the Helles Memorial for the missing at Gallipoli.[9][10]

References

  1. ^ Bath, Richard (ed.) The Scotland Rugby Miscellany (Vision Sports Publishing Ltd, 2007 ISBN 1-905326-24-6)
  2. ^ "William Campbell Church". ESPN scrum.
  3. ^ "1883 CHURCH, WILLIAM CAMPBEL (Statutory registers Births 646/3 1096)". Scotland's People. National Records of Scotland and the Court of the Lord Lyon.
  4. ^ a b c d "University of Glasgow :: Story :: Biography of Captain William Campbell Church". www.universitystory.gla.ac.uk.
  5. ^ "William Campbell Church : Rugby Player | Military History Forum". www.militarian.com.
  6. ^ "Rugby international among new names to be added to university war memorial". The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee). 25 June 2018 – via PressReader.
  7. ^ "The Glasgow Herald - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com.
  8. ^ a b Bath, p. 109
  9. ^ "Casualty: Captain Church, William Campbell". Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Retrieved 23 June 2018.
  10. ^ "William Campbell Church – Friends of Glasgow Necropolis". www.glasgownecropolis.org.

External links


Scottish rugby players killed in World War I
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