THIS STONE
COMMEMORATES THE EXPLOIT OF
WILLIAM WEBB ELLIS
WHO WITH A FINE DISREGARD FOR THE RULES OF FOOTBALL
AS PLAYED IN HIS TIME
FIRST TOOK THE BALL IN HIS ARMS AND RAN WITH IT
THUS ORIGINATING THE DISTINCTIVE FEATURE OF
THE RUGBY GAME.
A.D. 1823

William Webb Ellis 1806 - 1872
The famous plaque at Rugby School


I'm afraid the story is, unequivocally, a myth.

William Webb Ellis was born in Manchester on 24 November 1806. When his father died, his mother moved to Rugby so that she could get her two sons an education as local foundationers. He attended the school from 1816 to 1825, and was successful both at sports and academically, winning an Exhibition to Brasenose, Oxford, where he gained a cricket Blue. He took Holy Orders, and at the time of the Crimean War was Rector of St Clement Danes in the Strand, when the Illustrated London News printed the picture above. He died on 24 January 1872 and is buried in Menton, France.

Nobody ever asked WWE about his exploit, since it first came to light in 1876. Mathew Bloxam, an enthusiastic Old Rugbeian, wrote to the school magazine with a description of the incident that he had recently obtained from an anonymous eye-witness.

When the Old Rugbeian Society began to research the history of the game in 1895, Bloxam also had died, some 7 years before. Naturally they had difficulty finding anyone who remembred WWE, and most of their correspondents, who had been at school during the 1830's, had never heard of him. In general they remembered running with the ball as being of dubious legality, and Thomas Hughes, author of Tom Brown's Schooldays, felt he had been responsible for legalising it as Captain of Bigside in 1841-42, enthused by the impressive skills of one Jem Mackie, "the Great Runner-in".

The exception was the Reverend Thomas Harris, who had been junior to WWE and thus never seen him play. He remembered him well, but he had never heard of the exploit and was adamant that in his playing days, just after WWE left Rugby, running with the ball was not allowed.

It seems clear that
(a) the historical evidence for the exploit is very shaky;
(b) even if it did take place, it did not affect the way the game was played subsequently.

Given the nature of the game and its organisation in those days, and comments from some of the correspondents, it is probable that many boys ran with the ball at one time or other. By chance one name has been thrown up, and the Old Rugbeian Society pulled a brilliant PR stroke in phrasing the famous plaque on the Headmaster's garden wall - their actual report is much more cautious. However the Rugby World Cup has probably ensured that many who know little else about this great game will continue to believe. After all, like any good myth, it is more entertaining than the historical facts.

This article was posted on 23-Aug-2005, 21:50 by Hugh Barrow.