blade.i.am
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Over the last 15 years I have used various sites like Ancestry and Find my Past to trace mine and my wife's family history. At the moment there are no new record sets to search I thought about doing a bit of Blades related research.
We all know our brief golden period was at the turn of the last century. I decided to look at the 1901 census to see how many players involved in the Champion and cup winning sides.
Some of the addresses still exist, some don't and they certainly weren't multi millionaires living in the sort of luxury our current crop of top flight stars have grown accustomed to. On the contrary, they often lived with extended family or lodged with friends or family. Some were easier to locate than others and there are 2 for whom a bit of extra verification data would have been beneficial.
So, here are the ones I have found so far.
William 'Fatty' Foulkes
8 Belgrave Square, Sheffield
this grand sounding address is situated behind the former Earl of Arundel pub a stone's throw from the Lane. Half the square still exist but, unfortunately, Foulkes has made way for the Belgrave Medical Centre. In 1901 he was living there with his wife, 2 sons (one called Redvers), a niece and a boarder.
Ernest Needham
6 Hartington Cottages, Staveley
Again, no longer standing but an old OS map shows them along the bottom end of Eckington Road. Needham lived with his parents in law, his wife, 2 young daughters and 2 of his wife's brothers, both coal hewers like their father.
Tommy Morren
123 Abbeydale Road
I haven't had chance to check this one but I would guess it's still standing. At firt I had some issues with this entry because he gives his occupation as Iron Founder. However, the age and place of birth (Sunderland) are correct and, crucially, his mother Margaret is living with him which allowed me to trace them on previous census records. His father's occupatoin is also given as Iron Founder. I can only speculate as to why he doesn't give his profession as footballer; not widhing to be recognised by the census officer or, more likely, not seeing football as his long term source of income.
Walter Bennett
2 Shelly Street, Mexborough
I can't find any trace of this on Google Maps. Also living at the same address: his parents and 4 siblings. His father's occupation is given as barman and one of his brothers was a billiard marker.
Harry Thickett
66 Urban Road, Hexthorpe, Doncaster
This is an address I came across accidentally recently so I know it exists. We were trying to find the entrance to Hexthorpe Park and overshot, ended up going up Urban Road a couple of times trying to find where we were going. Thickett lived with his wife, his wife's aunt (a retired cow keeper we are told), 4 children and a boarder and fellow United player George Headley.
William Harrison 'Harry' Johnson
Far Lane, Wadsley
I am still a little unsure of this one. It's a common name and, like Morren, the occupation is not given as footballer. He has a son born in 1898 called Harry which fits with our Harry's son, our leading goalscorer of all time. His occupation is given as Gannister Miner. A quick google search shows this to be a form of sandstone much used in lining furnaces. The location is consistent with the part of Sheffield that Johnson came from.
Peter Boyle
19 Alderson Place, Sheffield
Another one handy for the Lane. Irish born Boyle had a Scottish wife
Herbert Lipsham
111 Cemetry Road, Sheffield
Since demolished I would guess roughly where the flats are on the left as you come up the hill. Again Lipsham was a lodger. More difficult to find this one as his name has been incorrectly transcribed as Lipshaw, not an uncommon problem with genealogy sights.
There are still a few more I have failed to locate but I'll keep trying. I hope some of you may find this interesting; perhaps we could lobby the council for some sort of blue plaque scheme. It fascinates me the way people lived over a century ago and the fact that many of them lived so far from the ground (I checked, the season was still in progress when the census was taken). Testament, perhaps, to a decent public transport system at the time.
We all know our brief golden period was at the turn of the last century. I decided to look at the 1901 census to see how many players involved in the Champion and cup winning sides.
Some of the addresses still exist, some don't and they certainly weren't multi millionaires living in the sort of luxury our current crop of top flight stars have grown accustomed to. On the contrary, they often lived with extended family or lodged with friends or family. Some were easier to locate than others and there are 2 for whom a bit of extra verification data would have been beneficial.
So, here are the ones I have found so far.
William 'Fatty' Foulkes
8 Belgrave Square, Sheffield
this grand sounding address is situated behind the former Earl of Arundel pub a stone's throw from the Lane. Half the square still exist but, unfortunately, Foulkes has made way for the Belgrave Medical Centre. In 1901 he was living there with his wife, 2 sons (one called Redvers), a niece and a boarder.
Ernest Needham
6 Hartington Cottages, Staveley
Again, no longer standing but an old OS map shows them along the bottom end of Eckington Road. Needham lived with his parents in law, his wife, 2 young daughters and 2 of his wife's brothers, both coal hewers like their father.
Tommy Morren
123 Abbeydale Road
I haven't had chance to check this one but I would guess it's still standing. At firt I had some issues with this entry because he gives his occupation as Iron Founder. However, the age and place of birth (Sunderland) are correct and, crucially, his mother Margaret is living with him which allowed me to trace them on previous census records. His father's occupatoin is also given as Iron Founder. I can only speculate as to why he doesn't give his profession as footballer; not widhing to be recognised by the census officer or, more likely, not seeing football as his long term source of income.
Walter Bennett
2 Shelly Street, Mexborough
I can't find any trace of this on Google Maps. Also living at the same address: his parents and 4 siblings. His father's occupation is given as barman and one of his brothers was a billiard marker.
Harry Thickett
66 Urban Road, Hexthorpe, Doncaster
This is an address I came across accidentally recently so I know it exists. We were trying to find the entrance to Hexthorpe Park and overshot, ended up going up Urban Road a couple of times trying to find where we were going. Thickett lived with his wife, his wife's aunt (a retired cow keeper we are told), 4 children and a boarder and fellow United player George Headley.
William Harrison 'Harry' Johnson
Far Lane, Wadsley
I am still a little unsure of this one. It's a common name and, like Morren, the occupation is not given as footballer. He has a son born in 1898 called Harry which fits with our Harry's son, our leading goalscorer of all time. His occupation is given as Gannister Miner. A quick google search shows this to be a form of sandstone much used in lining furnaces. The location is consistent with the part of Sheffield that Johnson came from.
Peter Boyle
19 Alderson Place, Sheffield
Another one handy for the Lane. Irish born Boyle had a Scottish wife
Herbert Lipsham
111 Cemetry Road, Sheffield
Since demolished I would guess roughly where the flats are on the left as you come up the hill. Again Lipsham was a lodger. More difficult to find this one as his name has been incorrectly transcribed as Lipshaw, not an uncommon problem with genealogy sights.
There are still a few more I have failed to locate but I'll keep trying. I hope some of you may find this interesting; perhaps we could lobby the council for some sort of blue plaque scheme. It fascinates me the way people lived over a century ago and the fact that many of them lived so far from the ground (I checked, the season was still in progress when the census was taken). Testament, perhaps, to a decent public transport system at the time.
