William Webb Ellis
William Webb Ellis (November 24th 1806 with Salford - January 24th 1872 with Chin, France) is the British inventor (supposed…) modern Rugby. It is acted in fact of a legend without bases.
William is the son of James Ellis, an officer of the dragons of the guard, and Ann Webb, whose marriage was celebrated in 1804 with Exeter. After the death of his/her father in 1811 at the time of the battle of Albufera, Ann Webb settles with his son with Rugby. This last attends the public school local, one of the most famous private colleges of England, between 1816 and 1825.
With the dires of one of his/her comrades (in fact, an anonymous testimony taken again by Matthew Bloxam in 1880), Ellis took the balloon with the hand in November 1823, with the contempt of the most elementary rules of football. It acts, for much, of the founding document of modern Rugby. A engraved stone and a monument commemorate this gesture on the campus of the school of Rugby while the trophy given to the winner of the World cup of Rugby is officially called William Webb Ellis Trophy .
Ellis continues its studies with the Université of Oxford and plays Cricket. It is thereafter ordered priest and becomes, in 1855, vice-chancellor with Laver Magdalen, in the Essex. He anonymously saw the end of his life with Menton where its tomb, always visible, was redécouverte by Ross McWhirter in 1958 (or 1959 according to the sources).
The “legend” of Ellis was questioned as of its appearance between 1876 and 1895, and today, no serious historian of the British sport holds account of it. This “legend” is largely recognized like having been forged by former students of Rugby… The anonymous testimony taken again by Bloxam is thus beaten in breach by other pupils of Rugby, indicating that the use of the hands was always completely prohibited more than one decade after the so-called gesture of Ellis.
To also note that the senior of the Belgian clubs, the RSCA-Rugby, is, with its in September 1931 creation, called William Ellis Rugby club .
Notes & references
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