John "Jimmy" Imrie Gillespie (16 January 1879 - 5 December 1943) was a Scottish international rugby union

Rugby union

Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...

 player, who played for and the Lions

British and Irish Lions

The British and Irish Lions is a rugby union team made up of players from England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales...

. At club level he played for Edinburgh Academicals.

Gillespie was selected for the 1903 British Lions tour to South Africa

1903 British Lions tour to South Africa

The 1903 British Isles tour to South Africa was the fifth tour by a British Isles team and the third to South Africa. It is retrospectively classed as one of the British Lions tours, as the Lions naming convention was not adopted until 1950....

 and finished the tour as the top Test scorer for the touring team. He played in 19 matches during the tour including all three test games against South Africa

South Africa national rugby union team

The South African national rugby union team are 2009 British and Irish Lions Series winners. They are currently ranked as the fourth best team in the IRB World Rankings and were named 2008 World Team of the Year at the prestigious Laureus World Sports Awards.Although South Africa was instrumental...

. He scored 13 conversions and a single try on the tour, and amassed four points in the first Test, the British failing to score in the second and third tests.

Gillespie was a chartered accountant

Chartered Accountant

Chartered Accountants were the first accountants to form a professional body, initially established in Britain in 1854. The Edinburgh Society of Accountants , the Glasgow Institute of Accountants and Actuaries and the Aberdeen Society of Accountants were each granted a royal charter almost from...

 and later became a successful referee, including two vs internationals, one in 1907

1907 Home Nations Championship

The 1907 Home Nations Championship was the twenty-fifth series of the rugby union Home Nations Championship. Six matches were played between 12 January and 16 March...

, and the other in 1911

1911 Five Nations Championship

The 1911 Five Nations Championship was the second series of the rugby union Five Nations Championship following the inclusion of France into the Home Nations Championship. Including the previous Home Nations Championships, this was the twenty-ninth series of the annual northern hemisphere rugby...

.