Person

Billy Wilson

Not who you're looking for? Others named Billy Wilson: Northern Ireland footballer born 1936 · Australian rules footballer (1891-1957) · Australian rules football player (born 2005) · American soccer player

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Overview

William Wilson was a New Zealand professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1910s and 1920s. He played at representative level for New Zealand (Heritage № 103), and Wellington, as a , or , i.e. number 2 or 5, or, 13, during the era of contested scrums. Family and personal life Billy Wilson was born on 17 May 1889 in Timaru to Tabitha Ann Wilson and Joseph William Wilson. His mother Tabitha was born in Batley, Yorkshire, England while his father Joseph was from the West Indies. Billy had three brothers, Joseph Simman, Nathaniel Arthur, and Charles Leslie, and two sisters, Elizabeth Maria May (Betty), and Ada. He also had a half sister, May Ineson after his mother remarried later in life to Johnathon (Johny) Cooper. His brother Nathaniel Arthur Wilson was better known as Ranji Wilson. He played 21 times for the All Blacks from 1908 to 1914. Billy Wilson was a carpenter by trade. At the time of his enlistment he stated that he was working for Campbell and Burke who ran a construction business in Wellington at the time. Playing career Rugby union beginnings, Athletic RFC, and Wellington B Billy Wilson began his senior oval ball career playing for the Athletic rugby club in Wellington. He had been a junior there and made his senior debut in a match on 7 May 1910 against Victoria College. He was only to play 4 games for them in total because of an extremely controversial and well publicised incident in the 6 August match between Athletic and Poneke. It was alleged that his brother Ranji Wilson had struck Petone player Duilio Calcinai and broken his jaw. The case went to court 3 months later in November and received extensive front page newspaper coverage. Numerous witnesses were called to Ranji Wilson's trial with conflicting descriptions of what had happened and who had struck the blow. The match featured Ranji, Billy, and a third brother Joseph. They were similar looking enough that many witnesses said they couldn't be sure who struck the blow or each named a different brother. Billy said that he knew who struck the blow and when the Wellington Rugby Football Union asked him who it was he refused to answer. The Union then disqualified him from playing permanently at the start of the 1911 season for his failure to cooperate. Prior to the court case Wilson was selected to play for Wellington B in their match with Marlborough. He was considered a surprise selection because he had only played a handful of senior club matches.

From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).

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Not who you're looking for? Others named Billy Wilson: Northern Ireland footballer born 1936 · Australian rules footballer (1891-1957) · Australian rules football player (born 2005) · American soccer player

Overview

William Wilson was a New Zealand professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1910s and 1920s. He played at representative level for New Zealand (Heritage № 103), and Wellington, as a , or , i.e. number 2 or 5, or, 13, during the era of contested scrums. Family and personal life Billy Wilson was born on 17 May 1889 in Timaru to Tabitha Ann Wilson and Joseph William Wilson. His mother Tabitha was born in Batley, Yorkshire, England while his father Joseph was from the West Indies. Billy had three brothers, Joseph Simman, Nathaniel Arthur, and Charles Leslie, and two sisters, Elizabeth Maria May (Betty), and Ada. He also had a half sister, May Ineson after his mother remarried later in life to Johnathon (Johny) Cooper. His brother Nathaniel Arthur Wilson was better known as Ranji Wilson. He played 21 times for the All Blacks from 1908 to 1914. Billy Wilson was a carpenter by trade. At the time of his enlistment he stated that he was working for Campbell and Burke who ran a construction business in Wellington at the time. Playing career Rugby union beginnings, Athletic RFC, and Wellington B Billy Wilson began his senior oval ball career playing for the Athletic rugby club in Wellington. He had been a junior there and made his senior debut in a match on 7 May 1910 against Victoria College. He was only to play 4 games for them in total because of an extremely controversial and well publicised incident in the 6 August match between Athletic and Poneke. It was alleged that his brother Ranji Wilson had struck Petone player Duilio Calcinai and broken his jaw. The case went to court 3 months later in November and received extensive front page newspaper coverage. Numerous witnesses were called to Ranji Wilson's trial with conflicting descriptions of what had happened and who had struck the blow. The match featured Ranji, Billy, and a third brother Joseph. They were similar looking enough that many witnesses said they couldn't be sure who struck the blow or each named a different brother. Billy said that he knew who struck the blow and when the Wellington Rugby Football Union asked him who it was he refused to answer. The Union then disqualified him from playing permanently at the start of the 1911 season for his failure to cooperate. Prior to the court case Wilson was selected to play for Wellington B in their match with Marlborough. He was considered a surprise selection because he had only played a handful of senior club matches.

From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).