By 1881 the family was living in Batley, Yorkshire where Joseph was a warp beamer in a woolen mill.
[4] Tom ruptered an artery of the left lung in a pre-season game playing for Mossley against Swinton on Saturday 17 September 1887.
Tom made his Yorkshire debut against Durham at West Hartlepool on Saturday 8 November 1884.
In 1888 he was offered a place as part of the British Isles team to tour Australia and New Zealand, signing the contract in January.
[6] He missed the second game again Otago, but rejoined the squad to play Canterbury to record his first points of the tour, scoring two of the five British tries in a 14-6 win.
[8] As well as being a key member of the British Isles squad, Tom is also noted as one of the earliest exponents of the dummy pass, if not the inventor of the technique within the rugby code.