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Robert Pillman

British rugby union player

Correspondence, annotated notebooks and portrait silhouettes prepared for research
People and ideasInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionMay 5, 2026
Entity authorityQ16059214 ↗
Source-derived summary

Robert Laurence Pillman (9 February 1893 − 9 July 1916) was an English rugby union player. He was the brother of Cherry Pillman. He played once for England, against France in the 1914 Five Nations Championship. He was killed in action while serving with the British Army during the First World War.

Early life

Robert Pillman was born in Sidcup on 16 February 1893, the third son of Joseph and Mary Anna Pillman. He was educated at Merton Court School, Sidcup, and Rugby School, which he attended from 1907 to 1911. There, he played as a forward in the 1st XV in 1910. Leaving school, he was articled to White and Leonard of Ludgate Circus, London. His older brother was Charles Pillman, who also went on to play for Blackheath and England.

Rugby career

After leaving Rugby, he played at Blackheath, where he gained a reputation for playing hard and being quick on the ball.

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Robert Pillman” as british rugby union player. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewStrongest as a route into the people, institutions and dated events that shaped the subject’s public record. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1893, 1916, 1914, 1907—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1893-02-09. The account is most persuasive where Robert, Pillman and British can be independently traced.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the people & ideas register because the source frames it as british rugby union player. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 5, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q16059214. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1893, 1916, 1914 and 1907.

Critical limits

A concise life account rarely captures disputed attribution, private networks or the changing language used to describe a career. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.

Best used for
  • Establishing names and roles
  • Building a first chronology
  • Locating cited institutions
Verify next

Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Robert Pillman”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Robert Pillman primary sources, Robert Pillman archive and Robert research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Robert Pillman”?
  2. Which claims depend on a single source or contested interpretation?
  3. Which primary records establish identity, chronology and institutional ties?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Robert Pillman” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.