The massive Wrexham AFC history thread (The sad case of a founding members and player of Wrexham...)

[rodg]

Good Morning,
It is strange how events take a turn for the better. Two months ago I knew nothing about the Wrexham AFC, now my great grandfather was involved in the opening game of the club. I now need to update myself with as much information on the club, its people and players. Is there a section I may visit to see who is whom in the club.
An interesting point I noted of the opening game. The Brigade won 2-1, indicating two tries to one. Did a conversion not count for any points at that time?
When I played rugby in the late 1950's a try was 3 points with the conversion adding another 1 point. It would be interesting to see comments on this point.
Please excuse if I am posting this in the wrong section of the forum.

[eastsussexred]

Good morning Rod
I think you are confusing football with rugby Rod.

You could take a look here for info about our current squad
Wrexham FC Team Page

BBC Sport - Football - Wrexham

and this gives a bit of a summary about our history
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wrexham_F.C.

And here is a link to us winning our last trophy after a penalty shoot out at Wembley Stadium in 2013.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOcdlAWK-js
Trust this helps Rod

[Inside Left]

Just to say I find this quite interesting and thanks to East Sussex for the initial digging and presenting a slice of the towns history. You just never know when the next nugget arises.

The time must have come for a separate section on RP for accurate historical content.

[eastsussexred]

Thanks Inside Left. I find that pretty much everyone (including myself) likes history. It has a kind of unknown mystery with sort of romantic notions and connotations that people universally find fascinating. There are lots of places where the history of the club has been explored, Wrexham.Com, Evening Leader, Daily Post, Penmon.org, BBC and the club historians etc.. but I feel that perhaps this history, in itself, is a way to a better future, by further raising the profile of the club. In addition to contacting Rod (who hopefully we can help by finding out more information about his own ancestors in Wrexham) I have also contacted the University in South Africa where Thomas Broster was an Honorary Life vice president, as well as contacting the newspapers and media in South Africa with a view to creating a link with the club. In addition, I have contacted newspapers and media at home. The founding of the club came at a time when Wrexham was evolving from a very poor town of just a few thousand people to a time when people were moving to the area for work that was being created and a time when the people of the town were starting to care for its poor and build an infrastructure for its people. While not everyone will agree, I also find the military history of the town very interesting and especially with the links between the club and the military in those early days.
I think that there may be more to be gained by the club by delving further into its history.
We are the Worlds third oldest professional football club who play the worlds most popular sport at the oldest international football stadium in the world. In any other situation, then that in itself is an advertisers dream, but when you add to this, the histories of the people who created the club more than 150 years ago, then it adds an additional depth which provides a much greater profile for the club.

[eastsussexred]

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

[eastsussexred]

Updated details regarding Edward Ephraim Knibbs (page 3 of thread).

Edward Ephraim Knibbs was born the son of Ephraim and Anne, in Chester, 1837, although the family moved to Wrexham and lived at number 8, The High street, where his father ran a grocers store.
Records suggest that Edward Ephraim Knibbs worked as a waiter in the town from a very early age, but later became a general dealer and auctioneer who worked from a toy shop which he owned at 12 High Street, Wrexham.
Edward married Emma Price from Birkenhead in 1863, and the Wrexham Advertiser reported that his wife gave birth to a daughter (Emma) on 12th March 1864. But his wife was to die, due to complications after giving birth to their 2nd daughter, who also died shortly afterwards in 1865.
Edward was a regular player in the Denbighshire County Cricket team and was a steward for several events at The Racecourse.
He also played in our first ever game on 22nd October 1864

Articles in The Wrexham Advertiser reported that his father, Ephraim, was a close friend of Thomas Hanmer (snr) landlord of The Coach and Horses and The Turf Hotel, and John Taylor (snr) landlord of The Swan Inn and Clerk for horseracing at The Racecourse.

The sons of all 3 men became founding players of Wrexham Football Club.

Edward died 23rd August 1872 and was buried at The Ruthin Road Cemetery

Edward Ephraim Knibbs 1837-1872

[rodg]

ESR, would you possibly be able to find out if Emma PRICE was related to Thomas PRICE. one of the founding players?

[eastsussexred]

Originally Posted by rodg

ESR, would you possibly be able to find out if Emma PRICE was related to Thomas PRICE. one of the founding players?

I will take a look rod. Thomas Price played for The Prince of Wales Fire Wales Fire Brigade, not Wrexham Football Club.
With Emma Price being from Birkenhead (Liverpool), it is likely that they were not related, as Price was a very common name in Wales at that time.
But I will see what I can find out.

[eastsussexred]

Times Media Group (SA), formerly known as Johnnic Communications, then Avusa. Avusa means "to rouse feelings" have expressed an interest in creating a media feature or newspaper article as part of their social write ups regarding the link between Thomas Broster and our club.
All information has been forwarded from the media groups head office to their social reporting editor.

Originally Posted by eastsussexred

Due to additional information received from Thomas Broster's great, great grandson, I have updated his details.

In the 1861 census Thomas Broster was listed as a teacher, and in 1867 he was appointed a trustee of The Old Meeting Baptist Church in Wrexham.
By the time of the 1871 census Thomas and his family were living with his father in law, Jonathan Owen, at 28 Lambpitt Street, and his occupation was recorded as a Senior Clerk at the post office.
Thomas and his family emigrated to South Africa aboard The Windsor Castle Steamer from London to The Cape of Good Hope on 23rd October 1874, although an article in The Wrexham Advertiser 31 October 1874 reported that the ship caught fire and had to return to port for repairs.
His family settled in Queenstown where he became the headmaster of an elementary school and where he also founded The Willows Cricket Club.
He would later serve as a member of staff at The Queenstown High School for Boys for 22 years and was made an Honorary Life Vice-President of the Old Boys Association on its inception in 1912.
Thomas’s wife, Harriet died in Queenstown 9th December 1894 and in June 1912, Thomas left Queenstown with his daughter, Gwladys, to live with his son Charles in Bethlehem in The Orange Free State, where he died on 29/06/1921.