J. B. Thompson
Encyclopedia
James Bogne "J. B." Thompson (1829 – 18 July 1877) was one of the creators of the original laws of Australian rules football, one of the founders and the inaugural secretary of the Melbourne Football Club
, a cricket
er for both Victoria and the Melbourne Cricket Club
(MCC), and a journalist for Melbourne newspaper, The Argus
.
, England
. He studied at Trinity College, Cambridge
from 1845 to 1848, before deciding to travel to the British colony of Victoria
, where he ended up living for the remainder of his life.
and played one first-class
match for Victoria, in the 1861–1862 season, against New South Wales at the MCG
, when he batted in just one innings, scoring 16 runs, which is therefore his first-class average. Victoria went on to win the match by ten wickets.
Thompson played for the Gentlemen of Victoria against the Gentlemen of New South Wales in 1858–1859. Thompson batted only in first innings and scored six runs and also took a catch. The match ended in a draw. Future collaborators in the codifying of Australian football's laws, Tom Wills
and William Hammersley
, also played in the match.
Thompson played twice for Victoria against HH Stephenson's XI
in 1862. In the first match he scored 17 and a duck and Victoria lost by an innings and 96 runs. In the second match Thompson made one and 25 and the match ended in a draw.
In 1864 Thompson played for Bendigo against G Parr's XI
. Thompson batted twice, scoring one and zero, but took one wicket for 31 runs (1/31) and took one catch. Bendigo lost by 144 runs.
When G Parr's XI played Castlemaine, also in 1864, Thompson, alongside Tom Wills, was the umpire
.
, Thomas H. Smith
and William Hammersley
(with some sources also including Wills' cousin H.C.A. Harrison), co-founded the Melbourne Football Club
, the first ever Australian rules football club, of which he was inaugural secretary, at the Parade Hotel in East Melbourne. At the same meeting the men also created the first ever laws of Australian rules football, which have subsequently become the foundation of the game.
Thompson played with the Melbourne Football Club for many years and during this time he also contributed to the updated version of the laws of the game. Thompson disagreed with Wills about many aspects of the game, as he considered that Wills was trying to implement more Rugby School
rules into the game. Wills, however, did manage to implement many of the Rugby School rules, such as place kicks and marks. The disagreements culminated in 1860, when Melbourne, whom Thompson was captaining, played Richmond, whom Wills was captaining, and Wills used his position as captain to declare that he and his team would not play unless they used the oval shaped, Rugby School-styled ball, as opposed to a round ball, such as is used in association football, which had been used in all matches up to this point. In the end the game was played with an oval-shaped ball and to this day Australian rules football still uses that particular shape of ball.
, for many years, contributing a weekly sports column, generally writing about cricket in the summer and football in the winter. After his falling out with Wills he used the column to criticise Wills for not turning up to a Victorian cricket team practice and for failing to provide an excuse.
Thompson was editor of The Victorian Cricketer's Guide for 1859–60.
.
(AFL), Andrew Demetriou
, wrote in the introduction of The Australian Game of Football, "Our game does not belong to an idea by Tom Wills or dedicated management by H.C.A. Harrison, but it can be safely said that it was driven by a diverse collective of two journalists (Thompson and Hammersley), a teacher from Melbourne's Scotch College, Thomas Smith, and... the hotelier, Jerry Bryant."
Melbourne Football Club
The Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed The Demons, is an Australian rules football club playing in the Australian Football League , based in Melbourne, Victoria....
, a cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
er for both Victoria and the Melbourne Cricket Club
Melbourne Cricket Club
The Melbourne Cricket Club is a sporting club based in Melbourne, Australia. It was founded in 1838 and is regarded as the oldest sporting club in Australia....
(MCC), and a journalist for Melbourne newspaper, The Argus
The Argus (Australia)
The Argus was a morning daily newspaper in Melbourne established in 1846 and closed in 1957. Widely known as a conservative newspaper for most of its history, it adopted a left leaning approach from 1949...
.
Early life
Thompson was born in 1829 in YorkshireYorkshire
Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. He studied at Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Trinity has more members than any other college in Cambridge or Oxford, with around 700 undergraduates, 430 graduates, and over 170 Fellows...
from 1845 to 1848, before deciding to travel to the British colony of Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
, where he ended up living for the remainder of his life.
Cricket
Thompson was a respected amateur cricketer for the MCCMelbourne Cricket Club
The Melbourne Cricket Club is a sporting club based in Melbourne, Australia. It was founded in 1838 and is regarded as the oldest sporting club in Australia....
and played one first-class
First-class cricket
First-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...
match for Victoria, in the 1861–1862 season, against New South Wales at the MCG
Melbourne Cricket Ground
The Melbourne Cricket Ground is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne and is home to the Melbourne Cricket Club. It is the tenth largest stadium in the world, the largest in Australia, the largest stadium for playing cricket, and holds the world record for the highest light...
, when he batted in just one innings, scoring 16 runs, which is therefore his first-class average. Victoria went on to win the match by ten wickets.
Thompson played for the Gentlemen of Victoria against the Gentlemen of New South Wales in 1858–1859. Thompson batted only in first innings and scored six runs and also took a catch. The match ended in a draw. Future collaborators in the codifying of Australian football's laws, Tom Wills
Tom Wills
Thomas Wentworth "Tom" Wills was an Australian all-round sportsman, umpire, coach and administrator who is credited with being a catalyst towards the invention of Australian rules football....
and William Hammersley
William Hammersley
William Josiah Sumner Hammersley was a prominent sports journalist for Bell's Life in Victoria and later The Australasian , one of the four men credited with setting down the original rules of the Australian rules football.-Life:He was educated at Aldenham School...
, also played in the match.
Thompson played twice for Victoria against HH Stephenson's XI
HH Stephenson
Heathfield Harman "HH" Stephenson was a famous English cricketer during the game's roundarm era....
in 1862. In the first match he scored 17 and a duck and Victoria lost by an innings and 96 runs. In the second match Thompson made one and 25 and the match ended in a draw.
In 1864 Thompson played for Bendigo against G Parr's XI
George Parr (cricketer)
George Parr was an English cricketer, whose first-class career lasted from 1844 to 1870....
. Thompson batted twice, scoring one and zero, but took one wicket for 31 runs (1/31) and took one catch. Bendigo lost by 144 runs.
When G Parr's XI played Castlemaine, also in 1864, Thompson, alongside Tom Wills, was the umpire
Umpire (cricket)
In cricket, an umpire is a person who has the authority to make judgements on the cricket field, according to the Laws of Cricket...
.
Australian rules football
On 17 May 1859, Thompson, along with Tom WillsTom Wills
Thomas Wentworth "Tom" Wills was an Australian all-round sportsman, umpire, coach and administrator who is credited with being a catalyst towards the invention of Australian rules football....
, Thomas H. Smith
Thomas H. Smith
Thomas Henry Smith was an Irish Australian who had a clear role in the origins of Australian football by being one of the first people to introduce school football games to Australian public schools in 1858 and as one of the founders of the Melbourne Football Club.Smith was a founding member and...
and William Hammersley
William Hammersley
William Josiah Sumner Hammersley was a prominent sports journalist for Bell's Life in Victoria and later The Australasian , one of the four men credited with setting down the original rules of the Australian rules football.-Life:He was educated at Aldenham School...
(with some sources also including Wills' cousin H.C.A. Harrison), co-founded the Melbourne Football Club
Melbourne Football Club
The Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed The Demons, is an Australian rules football club playing in the Australian Football League , based in Melbourne, Victoria....
, the first ever Australian rules football club, of which he was inaugural secretary, at the Parade Hotel in East Melbourne. At the same meeting the men also created the first ever laws of Australian rules football, which have subsequently become the foundation of the game.
Thompson played with the Melbourne Football Club for many years and during this time he also contributed to the updated version of the laws of the game. Thompson disagreed with Wills about many aspects of the game, as he considered that Wills was trying to implement more Rugby School
Rugby School
Rugby School is a co-educational day and boarding school located in the town of Rugby, Warwickshire, England. It is one of the oldest independent schools in Britain.-History:...
rules into the game. Wills, however, did manage to implement many of the Rugby School rules, such as place kicks and marks. The disagreements culminated in 1860, when Melbourne, whom Thompson was captaining, played Richmond, whom Wills was captaining, and Wills used his position as captain to declare that he and his team would not play unless they used the oval shaped, Rugby School-styled ball, as opposed to a round ball, such as is used in association football, which had been used in all matches up to this point. In the end the game was played with an oval-shaped ball and to this day Australian rules football still uses that particular shape of ball.
Journalist
Thompson wrote for Melbourne based newspaper, The ArgusThe Argus (Australia)
The Argus was a morning daily newspaper in Melbourne established in 1846 and closed in 1957. Widely known as a conservative newspaper for most of its history, it adopted a left leaning approach from 1949...
, for many years, contributing a weekly sports column, generally writing about cricket in the summer and football in the winter. After his falling out with Wills he used the column to criticise Wills for not turning up to a Victorian cricket team practice and for failing to provide an excuse.
Thompson was editor of The Victorian Cricketer's Guide for 1859–60.
Death
Thompson died in Melbourne, on 18 July 1877, at the age of 48, from a combination of excessive alcohol consumption and bronchopneumoniaBronchopneumonia
Bronchopneumonia or bronchial pneumonia or "Bronchogenic pneumonia" is the acute inflammation of the walls of the bronchioles...
.
Legacy
Incumbent Chief Executive of the Australian Football LeagueAustralian Football League
The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...
(AFL), Andrew Demetriou
Andrew Demetriou
Andrew Demetriou is the chief executive officer of the Australian Football League and a former Australian rules footballer. He is the youngest son of Greek-Cypriot immigrants and, before becoming a VFL player, he worked in the dental import industry...
, wrote in the introduction of The Australian Game of Football, "Our game does not belong to an idea by Tom Wills or dedicated management by H.C.A. Harrison, but it can be safely said that it was driven by a diverse collective of two journalists (Thompson and Hammersley), a teacher from Melbourne's Scotch College, Thomas Smith, and... the hotelier, Jerry Bryant."