Thomas William Rory Pearson (10 May 1872-12 September 1957) was a Welsh

Wales

Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

 international wing who played club rugby for Cardiff

Cardiff RFC

Cardiff Rugby Football Club is a rugby union football club based in Cardiff, the capital city of Wales. The club was founded in 1876 and played their first few matches at Sophia Gardens, but soon relocated to Cardiff Arms Park where they have been based ever since...

 and Newport and county rugby with Middlesex. He won 13 caps for Wales

Wales national rugby union team

The Wales national rugby union team represent Wales in international rugby union tournaments. They compete annually in the Six Nations Championship with England, France, Ireland, Italy and Scotland. Wales have won the Six Nations and its predecessors 24 times outright, second only to England with...

 and captained the team on one occasion, against England. Pearson was an all-round sportsman, representing Wales not only in rugby, but also in squash

Squash (sport)

Squash is a high-speed racquet sport played by two players in a four-walled court with a small, hollow rubber ball...

, tennis

Tennis

Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...

, hockey

Field hockey

Field Hockey, or Hockey, is a team sport in which a team of players attempts to score goals by hitting, pushing or flicking a ball into an opposing team's goal using sticks...

 and golf

Golf

Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....

. In 1902 Pearson was given the captaincy of the Welsh hockey squad, while playing for Newport Hockey Club.

During World War I he was a Lieutenant Colonel in the Royal Field Artillery

Royal Field Artillery

The Royal Field Artillery of the British Army provided artillery support for the British Army. It came into being when the Royal Artillery was divided on 1 July 1899, it was reamalgamated back into the Royal Artillery in 1924....

.

Rugby career

Pearson was born in Bombay, but moved to England at the age of five. By 1889 he had moved to Wales and was living in the capital, joining Cardiff Rugby Club.

Pearson gained his first cap for Wales while playing with Cardiff in 1891. His debut was against England on 3 January at Rodney Parade

Rodney Parade

Rodney Parade is a stadium in the city of Newport, south Wales. Located on the east bank of the River Usk in Newport city centre it is primarily used for rugby matches and is the home ground of Newport RFC and the Newport Gwent Dragons regional team.-History:...

 and Wales lost 7-3, though Pearson managed to score a try

Try

A try is the major way of scoring points in rugby league and rugby union football. A try is scored by grounding the ball in the opposition's in-goal area...

 for Wales. This would make him the youngest player to score a try in his Wales debut for more than a century, until George North

George North

George Philip North is a Wales international rugby union player currently playing for the Scarlets in the RaboDirect Pro12, in the position of winger.-Early life:...

 surpassed the record in 2010

2010 end of year rugby tests

The 2010 end of year rugby tests, also known as the Autumn internationals in the northern hemisphere, will see Argentina, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa and tour the northern hemisphere. Test matches will also be arranged involving the various Pacific island teams and other non-Tier 1...

. Pearson was dropped after the 1892 Championship

1892 Home Nations Championship

The 1892 Home Nations Championship was the tenth series of the rugby union Home Nations Championship. Six matches were played between 2 January and 5 March. It was contested by England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales....

 and didn't regain his Wales place until the end of 1894 tournament

1894 Home Nations Championship

The 1894 Home Nations Championship was the twelfth series of the rugby union Home Nations Championship. Six matches were played between 6 January and 17 March. It was contested by England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales.-Table:-Results:...

, an unusual situation as during 1892/93 season, he scored a record 40 tries for Cardiff, a club record. Pearson played fairly frequently for Wales through to 1898, but in 1903, with his international career supposedly far behind him, he was recalled to captain Wales against England. Pearson had already scored a try when he was forced to leave the field after a particularly heavy tackle from Harry Gamlin. His replacement, Jehoida Hodges

Jehoida Hodges

Joseph Jehoida Hodges was a Welsh international rugby union player. He was a member of the winning Welsh team who beat the 1905 touring All Blacks...

scored a hat-trick of tries. Pearson played a total of 13 matches for his country.

International matches played

Wales 1891, 1892, 1895, 1897, 1898, 1903 1891, 1894, 1895, 1898 1892, 1894, 1895