(Continued from part one)
The disagreement between Rhoades and Moultrie came out of the blue on Christmas morning 1872 when the rector wrote a peremptory note to his curate:
Dear Rhoades, I ...
John Moultrie is probably Rugby’s most gifted and prolific 19th century poet, though now rarely read and to most not even a vaguely remembered name. He was an upholder of ...
Rupert Brooke’s father William was a teacher at Rugby School who ran his home, 5 Hillmorton Road, as a boarding house for boys from the school. This is where Rupert ...
As we look forward to Christmas celebrations this year, it’s maybe worth looking back on previous years’ celebrations. For no other reason than it allows me to make a bad ...
Rugby is of course well known for its train station, and part of the reason for the town’s dramatic growth in the Victorian era is its status as an important ...
Tom Wills, educated at Rugby School, Warwickshire, was an Australian sporting genius. He created Australia’s national code of football; and was the central figure in Australia’s most compelling cricket story.
Born ...
Until Webb Ellis’s definitive act, the game of football allowed the ball to be handled, but the player could not hold it and run towards the opposite goal. Progress forward ...
A resident of Rugby, George Day appeared before the circuit judge at the Coventry Courts quarter sessions twice in 1854, both times accused of thefts linked to pigs. George was ...
Cataloguing the Willans Works archive material at Warwickshire County Record Office is revealing some interesting facts, partly because of the efforts of volunteers who are helping with the collection. Their ...
The records of a Rugby-based engineering firm that pioneered the manufacture of steam engines and turbines for electricity generation are being catalogued by Warwickshire County Record Office in a project ...
A collection of over 300 glass plate negatives has recently been catalogued and prints are now able to be consulted at the Warwickshire County Record Office. Some of these photos ...
St Andrew’s Church in Rugby was originally constructed in the 13th century (on the site of an older building) but was considerably altered during the 19th century. A photograph of ...
As well as the ongoing rivalries and development of the game on the field throughout the 1860s, there was another important area where progress was being made. This is an ...
The story of the game we love and play today begins at Rugby School, that much is true. How a boy by the name of William Webb Ellis became so remarkably ...
John William Joseph Vecqueray, the founder of Hillbrow School, handed over to Thomas Bainbridge Eden (b. 27.4.1845), who brought with him his small school, Orwell House, from Clifton upon Dunsmore, ...
Hillbrow School was a prep school founded in 1859 by the Modern Languages teacher at Rugby School, John William Joseph Vecqueray (1826-1901), a Prussian from Aachen by birth. In 1922 ...
Ask any of the older folk in Rugby town and they’ll probably know the name Sam Robbins, or at least remember some of the shops and buildings in his (and his ...
Here – as promised on our Twitter ‘Silver Takeover’ last week – are some photos of the early buildings of St Cross Hospital in Rugby.
Nursing home precursor of St Cross
A ...
Holy Trinity church was opened in 1854 as a Chapel-of-Ease to St. Andrew’s, building work having started in 1852. The total cost was £7,250. Designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott, ...
Today, Rupert Brooke is possibly best known as a War Poet and is included on the Poets of the First World War memorial in Poets’ Corner, Westminster Abbey, alongside fellow poets, Wilfred Owen, Edmund ...
The Brotherhood House in Gas Street Rugby has an interesting and varied history. It was built as a Particular Baptist Chapel around 1803 with a vestry and a 3-stalled stable; by ...
Early years
James Speight was born on 25th February 1879, the youngest son of Edward Hall Speight and Louisa Gulliver (m.1861). Edward Hall Speight was originally from Ambleside in Cumbria; he ...
Edward Hall Speight, Photographer
The Speights were a family of talented photographers. Edward Hall Speight (originally a Wesleyan schoolmaster) set up his photography business in Rugby around 1872. All of his ...