1878-1889 – Page 4 – Everton FC Heritage Society

Isaac Roberts: The Short Life of an Everton Blue

24

Aug

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1878-1889, Articles, History, Members Work, Players, Tony Onslow

Isaac Roberts: The Short Life of an Everton Blue

Standing at the rear of the tall buildings that today run along the thoroughfare of Dale Street are the remains of the uniquely named Ryleys Gardens. However, this once squalid and narrow court was inhabited by many destitute immigrants who had arrived in Victorian Liverpool hoping for a new start in life. Ryleys Gardens was also the birthplace of a man who played one competitive game for Everton – Isaac Roberts . The last remaining building in Ryleys Gardens contemporary with the court houses Isaac Roberts was born August 1868, the fourth child of Isaac, a mariner, and his wife…

29

Jul

By Tony Onslow

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1878-1889, Articles, History, Members Work, Players, Tony OnslowEverton FC, Kirkudbrightshire

Walter Brown: the Kirkcudbrightshire Blue

Most of the Scotsmen who played for Everton during their inaugural Football League season made their way to Liverpool having been recommended by agents who acted for the Anfield club north of the border. Walter Brown, however, appears to have arrived in the Mersey seaport with no knowledge whatsoever of the association game. He was born 11 June 1870 in the remote Kirkcudbrightshire community of Colvend, and was one of several children born to Thomas, a tinsmith, and his partner, Agnes. The 1881 census found the family still living in Kirkcudbrightshire before Agnes, on becoming a widow, moved with her…

28

Jun

By Tony Onslow

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1878-1889, Articles, History, Members Work, Players, Tony Onslow

Once a Blue (11)-William Orr, the Boy from Gwladys Street

At the time William Marr Orr made his only Football League appearance for Everton, he had just moved to live in a new row of terraced houses that had been constructed by the Walton Local Board. George Goodison, their Civil Engineer, had decided to name the thoroughfare Gwladys Street. c.1870 the streets around the future site of Goodison Park yet to be laid out c.1890 - Goodison Road and Gwladys Steet laid out, plus part of Bullens Road The parents of William, John and Jean, had married in the Ayrshire town of Kilbirnie, where their first child Jessie was…

02

Jun

By Tony Onslow

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1878-1889, History, Members Work, Players, Tony OnslowOswestry FC

James Morris, a Shropshire Lad

The Welsh Marches village of Trefonen in Shropshire was the birthplace of James Morris in April 1863, the third child of Anne and her Welsh husband, Robert. James made a most unusual appearance for Everton during their first season as members of the Football League. According to the 1881 census, the family were living in Oswestry, and James was working along with his father as a brickmaker. He began his football career with an Oswestry club who were founder members of the Shropshire FA in 1879. They shared a ground with the local cricket club at Victoria Road and lifted the Welsh & Border Counties FA Cup in…

John Turnbull Gibb – the first Irishman to score for Everton?

13

May

By Tony Onslow

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1878-1889, Articles, Latest, Players, Tony Onslow

John Turnbull Gibb – the first Irishman to score for Everton?

Official Football League records, started September 1888, appear to indicate that Wexford born Jack Kirwan was the first Irishman to score a league goal for Everton in 1898. However, on closer examination, this feat had in fact been achieved some eleven years earlier - all be it in a friendly - when the Toffees had first crossed the sea to play a game on the Emerald Isle. The player to do so was an Irish International from Belfast - John T. Gibb. Official records state the first Irishman to score a league for Everton was Jack Kirwan in a 5-5…

15

Apr

By Tony Onslow

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1878-1889, Articles, Members Work, Tony Onslow

The Andrew Watson Story

Now accepted as the world’s first black football player, Guyana-born Andrew Watson was to have a career that would bind him tightly to both Glasgow and Liverpool. He would also make a guest appearance in the colours of Everton. His father, Peter Miller Watson, was born 16 June 1805 in the Orkney Islands, and was the fourth son of James Watson, who acted as factor for a Scottish nobleman. His mother, née Christina Robertson, was Scottish and her family were sugar plantation owners in the colony of British Guyana. When Peter was just three years old his father died, and…

31

Oct

By Tony Onslow

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1878-1889, 1890-1899, Articles, History, Members Work, Tony Onslow

Only Once a Blue, William Rowley

When Everton began their first season at Goodison Park, they needed cover in the position of goalkeeper due to the tragic loss of John Angus following their Championship success at Anfield. Overtures were made to the Scottish international at the time, Jim Wilson, but he could not be lured away from his position at Vale of Leven. So Everton invited Stoke player William Rowley to join them on a visit to Scotland. Born in November 1865 in the Potteries town of Hanley, he was the child of Charles, a clerk, and his wife Sarah. By 1871 however, Sarah was no longer alive and William, along with his father, was living at the home of his grandparents in Hanley. By 1881 he'd moved in with his aunt…

07

May

By Tony Onslow

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1878-1889, Articles, History, Members Work, Players, Tony Onslow

Only Once a Blue (10) Charles McGoldrick

Charles McGoldrick was born on 30 November 1865 at 38 York Terrace in Everton and baptised at the church of Our Lady Immaculate. This being the case, his birth might well have been attended by the future director of Everton Football Club, Doctor James Baxter. He was the first child of Denis, an Irish born warehouse man, and his Preston born wife, Mary. McGoldrick was first reported to be playing football on Walton Stiles, for the Stanley club, but by September 1886 had signed for Oakfield Rovers. Formed by members of a Wesleyan Methodist community they had, that year, opened…

21

Feb

By Tony Onslow

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1878-1889, Articles, History, Members Work, Players, Tony OnslowEverton, Kilmarnock, Robert Stevenson, William George

Robert Stevenson and William George

Coming from dissimilar parts of the United Kingdom and completely different backgrounds, the paths of these aforementioned individuals crossed while they were playing football in Liverpool. Robert Stevenson was one of several young Scotsmen tempted to try his luck by an agent who covered the area around the Ayrshire coalfield. He was born on 24 May 1861 at 34 Ardeer Square in the coastal town of Stevenson where, along with his siblings, he spent his childhood. His father, George, was a coalminer while his mother, Margaret, had the maiden name of Strain. The 1881 census indicated that the family had…

John McPherson and the Kilmarnock Connection

19

Feb

By Tony Onslow

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1878-1889, Articles, History, Members Work, Players, Tony OnslowEverton, Glasgow Rangers, John McPherson, Kilmarnock, Rangers

John McPherson and the Kilmarnock Connection

The area around Glencairn Square in the Scottish town of Kilmarnock is nowadays mostly given over to a modern retail park which bears the same name. In the 1880s, however, it was surrounded by rows of tenement-style housing that sheltered this working-class community – many of whom were employed at nearby G & SWR Locomotive Works – from the elements. Living in Glencairn Square at that time was Alexander Dick and he would, unwittingly, form a close connection between this community and Everton Football Club. Always known as Sandy, he began playing 'fitba' in Kilmarnock before joining the Merseyside club…