| Full name | Walter Jesse Jackson | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 16 March 1870 | ||
| Place of birth | Gloucester, England | ||
| Date of death | 1 December 1958 | ||
| Place of death | Halifax, England | ||
| Rugby union career | |||
| Playing career | |||
| Position | Forward Wing |
||
| Professional / senior clubs | |||
| Years | Club / team | Caps | (points) |
| Gloucester Halifax |
|||
| National team(s) | |||
| Years | Club / team | Caps | (points) |
| 1891 1894 |
British Isles XV England |
0 1 |
(0) (0) |
Walter Jesse Jackson (16 March 1870[1] – 1 December 1958)[2][3] was an English rugby union forward who played international rugby for the British Isles and England.
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Jackson first came to note as a rugby player while representing Gloucester. In 1891 Jackson accepted an invitation to join the British Isles on their tour to South Africa, the first official tour by the team that would later become the British Lions. It is unknown if Jackson joined the tour party late, was unwell or just not chosen to play, but he missed the first four matches of the tour, not playing until the team faced Griqualand West at Kimberley on 20 July.[4] From there he played in four of the next six games though missing the First Test against South Africa. His final match of the tour was against a King William's Town & District team, played on 6 August, despite there being a further 11 matches remaining.
On returning to Britain Jackson continued playing rugby, but between 1891 and 1894, switched from Gloucester to Halifax,[5] who were at the time still a rugby union team. It was while representing Halifax that Jackson was selected for his one and only appearance for the England national team. Played away against Scotland, Jackson was brought into the England team for the final match of the 1894 Home Nations Championship, but after playing in the pack for the British Isles, was placed on the wing for England. The match ended in defeat for England, their first loss in five visits to Scotland; and the English selectors reacted by never selecting nine of the England players again, Jackson being one of them.
When Halifax converted from the rugby union code to the rugby league code on the 29th August 1895, Walter Jesse Jackson would have been approximately 25 years of age. Consequently, he may have been both a rugby union and rugby league footballer for Halifax.
ESPNscrum states Walter Jesse Jackson's date and place of death as being 1 December 1958 in Halifax, FreeBMD quotes the death as being registered during January→March 1959 in Leeds district. If the date of birth on ESPNscrum is correct, this would have made him 88 at the time of his death, however FreeBMD quotes the age at death as being 87.