Is there anyone who has access to a more advanced ancestry search website to help out complete a history on John Taylor, one of our founding players.
After searching for many weeks, I have found out the following, but he then seems to merge amongst numerous John Taylors in the area.
John Taylor was born the son of John and Anne in Wrexham in 1842
He had one brother- Thomas Buchanan (b 1847) and two sisters- Francis (b 1840) and Anne (b 1845).
His father John (snr) was a town councillor and the licensed victualler of The Swan Inn, Penybryn, where the family brewed their own ale. He also served as a clerk for the ponies and riders who needed to register at The Swan Inn before attending race meetings at The Racecourse. John Taylor (snr) was seriously injured in an accident in 1858, and few weeks later, while he was recovering, his wife Anne also died. Subsequently, John Taylor (jnr) and his brother, Thomas Buchanan would take a more active role in the running of the business.
In the 1861 census John Taylor (b 1842) was listed as the landlord of The Swan Inn, until 1868, when the licence was passed to his brother, Thomas Buchanan, who lived at the premises until The Swan Inn was sold by its owners in 1871.
Thomas Buchanan would earn much acclaim for his athletic prowess, winning many trophies during athletics events at The Racecourse, where he also received The Player of the Season Awards, twice, for Wrexham Football Club during the 1870’s; additionally, he served as the club secretary in the 1880’s through to the 90’s. Prior to this, his older brother John Taylor (b1842) had been involved in the sporting activities at The Racecourse, where he served as a steward for the Autumn sports events
WREXHAM AUTUMN SPORTS. )|1867-10-26|Wrexham and Denbighshire Advertiser and Cheshire Shropshire and North Wales Register - Welsh Newspapers Online and he may have been a member of The Gentlemen of Denbighshire County Cricket team who also represented North Wales against South Wales in 1867.
The Home of CricketArchive. However, of the two brothers, only
John would be old enough to play for the newly formed Wrexham Football Club in their first ever game on 22nd October 1864.
Thomas Buchanan would later follow in his fathers footsteps and serve as a town councillor for many years, while John Taylor .........................
There was a John Taylor who started to appear in the archives around 1870, an accountant, who may have been a secretary for Wrexham Athletic and or Victoria FC.
While another John Taylor was also an accountant and secretary for a number of organisations in the Town and later became Secretary to the Football association of Wales. This John Taylor was sentenced to 3 years penal servitude in 1898 for signing dodgy cheques, although at his time of sentence was only 39 years of age, so couldn't have played for WAFC's original team.
I have enough information on his brother Thomas Buchanan Taylor, who later played for WAFC and which I can update later.
Any help would be much appreciated
17th August 2016, 12.07:22
Re: The sad case of a founding members and player of Wrexham Football Club
