John Sturrock (rugby union)

John Sturrock (1 November 1880 - 6 May 1940) was a Scottish rugby union player. He became an international rugby union referee. He later became the 52nd President of the Scottish Rugby Union.[1]

John Sturrock
Birth nameJohn Chesser Sturrock
Date of birth(1880-11-01)1 November 1880
Place of birthDalkeith, Scotland
Date of death6 May 1940(1940-05-06) (aged 59)
Place of deathEdinburgh, Scotland
Rugby union career
Position(s) Forward
Amateur team(s)
Years Team Apps (Points)
- Royal HSFP ()
Refereeing career
Years Competition Apps
1906
1914-29
1921-22		 Border League
Scottish Unofficial Championship
Five Nations Championship
52nd President of the Scottish Rugby Union
In office
1931–1932
Preceded byAndrew Balfour
Succeeded byCrawford Findlay

Rugby Union career

Amateur career

Sturrock played for Royal HSFP.[2][3][4] In a Royal High Sports Day in 1898, he won the 300 yards dash with a time of 33 and 1/5 seconds.[5]

Referee career

Sturrock referred in the Border League in 1906..[6]

He refereed in the Scottish Unofficial Championship in 1914[7] and in 1929.[8]

Sturrock refereed the 1921 England versus Wales match;[9] and the France versus England match that same year.[10] In 1922, he refereed the Wales versus Ireland match.[11]

Administrative career

He was a committee member of Royal HSFP in 1909.[12][13]

He gave a speech in 1927 on behalf of the Scottish Rugby Union at the Edinburgh Borderers rugby club dinner on the scarcity of referees in Scotland. He stated it was nearly 25 years since he had became a referee and he would likely continue this until he dropped dead on the field. He was nearer 50 than 40. He urged players on the edge of retiring from the game to take up refereeing. In his experience those retiring players tried refereeing for a few weeks and then dropped it. He stated that clubs would try to take advantage of a young referee. He advised those inexperienced referees to take charge of the game in the first 5 minutes and this should prevent trouble for the rest of the match.[14]

He was appointed Vice-President of the Scottish Rugby Union in 1930.[15]

He was President of the Scottish Rugby Union for the period 1931 to 1932.[16]

He was elected a Special Representative of the SRU in 1933.[17]

Outside of rugby

Sturrock was a solicitor. His father, Thomas Sturrock was also a solicitor and also on the Dalkeith Town Council. His father died and Sturrock took over his father's business alongside his brother with the name T. & J. C. Sturrock.[18]

He was appointed his father's successor on the Dalkeith Town Council.[19]

He was made Justice of the Peace on 22 March 1939.[20]

Death

Sturrock died in an Edinburgh Nursing Home. In the month prior he was advised to take a rest from his duties by his doctor; and was admitted to the nursing home only a week before his death.[21]

gollark: "More than" in what way?!
gollark: There are still fewer people who are actually in the rural areas. Why are they "more of the state"? Why are you basing it on land area?
gollark: They were not, probably.
gollark: ↑]
gollark: As I said, there are a lot of other groups with different requirements.

References
  1. http://en.espn.co.uk/scotland/rugby/player/2733.html
  2. https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000564/19330520/166/0009
  3. https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000452/19030307/092/0003
  4. https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001876/19000105/024/0002
  5. https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001876/18980404/009/0002
  6. https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001876/19060402/040/0004
  7. https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0002686/19140123/059/0004
  8. https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000954/19291129/021/0002
  9. http://en.espn.co.uk/scrum/rugby/match/19214.html
  10. http://en.espn.co.uk/scrum/rugby/match/19222.html
  11. http://en.espn.co.uk/scrum/rugby/match/19237.html
  12. https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001876/19090927/085/0005
  13. https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000540/19110203/217/0005
  14. https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000540/19270314/174/0004
  15. https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000564/19300517/137/0008
  16. https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/sru-files/files/SR_RR1819_digital.pdf
  17. https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000564/19330520/166/0009
  18. https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000540/19400507/147/0004
  19. https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000540/19400507/147/0004
  20. https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000452/19390323/096/0004
  21. https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000540/19400507/147/0004
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