Jimmy Peters

1879 – 1954

Profession – Rugby Player

Did you know?

• Jimmy Peters was born in 1879.
• Died in 1954
• First black Rugby player to play for England.
• Peters (1879-1854) played in the stand-off position against Scotland.
• He was not born in Devon.
• He settled in Plymouth and had a successful Rugby Career
• It took 82 years before England fielded a black player again – Chris Oti in 1988
• He was born in Saltford by an English mother.
• He was a bareback rider in the circus.
• He broke his arm as a child.
• At a time, he ended up in an orphanage in London.
• He captained the orphanage’s rugby team.
• Lived and played rugby in Bristol from 1900 to 1902.
• Worked in the dockyard and joined Plymouth Rugby Club in 1903.
• He represented Devon in 1903 and won his county cap.
• Played for the Devon team against the South Africa Rugby team.
• He suffered discrimination in his career as a Rugby player.
• Peters won five England caps between 1906 – 1908.
• He won the Devon team championship in 1907-8.
• Died in Plymouth in 1954
• In 2003, Peters was honoured by the Rugby Football Union (RFU) staged an exhibition in his honour.