Thomas Ormsby Jameson (4 April 1892 — 6 February 1965) was an Irish first-class cricketer and a soldier in the British Army. As a cricketer, he made 124 appearances in first-class cricket as an all-rounder. He was mostly associated with the British Army cricket team, Hampshire County Cricket Club, and the Marylebone Cricket Club, though he also represented Ireland twice. In first-class cricket, he scored nearly 4,700 runs and took over 250 wickets. In the British Army, he was an officer in the Rifle Brigade, with which he served in the first part of the First World War, before serving with the Royal West African Frontier Force. A major shareholder in Jameson Irish Whiskey, he was descended from its founder John Jameson.
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Early life and education
Jameson was descended from John Jameson, a Scotsman who founded the Jameson Whiskey Distillery in Dublin. He was born to James Ormsby Jameson and Maria Hone in Clonsilla in April 1892; his grandfather was the cricketer William Hone. He began his education in England at Hazelwood School, where his affinity for sports began. He then proceeded to Harrow School, playing cricket for the school and taking part in the famous Fowler's match (named for his fellow Irish compatriot Robert St Leger Fowler) against Eton in 1910. An all-round sportsman, he also represented Harrow in rackets and fives.
Military career
After completing his education, Jameson joined the British Army and was commissioned into the Rifle Brigade as a second lieutenant on probation in November 1912, serving in Ireland, with him being confirmed in the rank in April 1914. He served in the First World War with the 3rd Battalion on the Western Front, with Jameson departing for France in September 1914 on board the SS Lake Michigan from Southampton. Two months later, he was promoted to lieutenant, with Jameson returning to England toward the end of 1915. The following year he was posted to the 6th Reserve Battalion, based on the Isle of Sheppey. Promoted to captain in March 1917, he was seconded to the Colonial Office in September 1917 and served in West Africa with the West African Frontier Force. Following the end of the war in November 1919, Jameson returned from West Africa and was restored to the Rifle Brigade February 1920. He spent three years from 1919 to 1922 serving in Ireland, before joining the 21st (County of London) Battalion as an adjutant from March 1923 to October 1924, after which he left the military and returned to Ireland to run the family farm at Cappoquin.
Sporting career
Cricket
Prior to joining the army, Jameson played club cricket in Ireland for both Phoenix and the nomadic Na Shuler. Following the First World War, he made his debut in first-class cricket for the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) against Oxford University at Lord's in June 1919. The following month, he made his debut for Hampshire against Yorkshire at Dewsbury in the County Championship, with him making a further eight appearances for Hampshire that season. He also played for the South against an Australian Imperial Forces team. He began playing first-class cricket for armed services teams in 1920, making two appearances for the British Army cricket team against the MCC and Cambridge University, in addition to playing for the Combined Services cricket team against the Gentlemen of England; for the Army against the MCC, he took his maiden five wicket haul with figures of 5 for 22 in the MCC second innings, helping guide the Army to an innings victory. Jameson scored his maiden first-class century in 1921, making 119 for the Army against the Royal Navy at Lord's. In the same season he played a handful of services matches, including for the Combined Services against the touring Australians, alongside two appearances for Hampshire and the MCC. Notably for Hampshire against Surrey, he took figures of 6 for 81 in Surrey's first innings and scored an aggressive 84 in Hampshire's first innings. At the end of the season, he played for the Gentlemen in the Gentlemen v Players fixture at The Oval.
Jameson's 1922 season closely matched 1921 in terms of the first-class fixtures in which he participated in. He had notable all-round performance during his first match of the 1922 season, when playing for the Combined Services against Essex he made two half centuries (54 and 63) and took 5 for 61. Having been elected a Free Forester in 1920, he played for them in 1922 against Oxford University. At the end of the season, he once again featured in the Gentlemen v Players fixture at The Oval. Jameson featured more extensively for Hampshire in 1923, making eight first-class appearances, seven of which came in the County Championship; this uptake in county fixtures coincided with his transfer from the Rifle Brigade to the 21st (County of London) Battalion. Although he had transferred regiments, he continued to play services cricket, making three appearances for the Army. He also made three appearances for the MCC, including captaining them in a weather-affected match against the touring West Indians. Although he featured just once for Hampshire in 1924, Jameson made three final appearances for the Army, made a final appearance for the Combined Services against the touring South Africans, and played twice for the MCC. For the Army, he had made fourteen appearances, scoring 715 runs at an average of 32.50; as a bowler, he took 47 wickets at an bowling average of 17.61.
Racquets and squash
Jameson was also a fine racquets player, winning the Army singles championship in 1922, 1923 and 1924 and the doubles championship in 1920, 1921 and 1922. He reached the final of the amateur singles championship in 1924 and won the British Amateur Squash Championships during the 1922/23 and 1923/24 seasons. He was described as playing racquets "freely and beautifully on his back-hand as on his fore-hand", and in 1922 The Times suggested that he was the best racquets player produced by Harrow in the last twenty–years.
Personal life and death
Jameson remained a major shareholder of Jameson's throughout his life. He married the artist Joan Musgrave (1892–1953) on 11 June 1920, with the couple having two sons. In later life, he lived in Ardmore in County Waterford. Jameson died in a care home in Dún Laoghaire near Dublin on 6 February 1965.