William Robert Thomson | |||||||
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OVERALL STATISTICS | |||||||
| BIRTH | AGE | SIGNED ON | FROM | ||||
| DEBUT | LAST MATCH | LEFT | |||||
| CAREER | APPEARANCES (SUBS) | ||||||
| TRIES | GOALS | DGOALS | PTS | ||||
Biography of William Robert Thomson |
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 HERITAGE NO : William Robert Thompson ORIGINAL CLERK William was born in St. Helens on the 14th of May, 1853. His father William Wallace Thomson was a joiner. The family resided at living at 113, North Road in the town. He made his debut for the Saints in the very first fixture for St. Helens RFC. It was a twenty-a-side game against Liverpool Rifle Brigade, on 24th of January 1874 at Boundary Road, St. Helens. William was one of 13 forwards! St. Helens didn’t trouble the scorers on the day at all; the opposition that day made five touchdowns, but didn’t convert any so the result was ‘a draw in their favour’! The team that day were composed of mostly well-to-do residents of the town and their social or business contacts. William was described as a commercial clerk at Cowley Hill plate glassworks. By 1891, he had become the manager of the same glassworks and living at 167 North Road, also called Image house. He lived with his wife Jane Torney who was from Ardara in Donegal, Ireland. The couple went on to raise six children as they moved regularly from sone salubrious residence to another in the town. They lived for a spell at Carr Mill Fishing Cottage, next to Old Garswood Hall before settling down to live the rest of their days at Stone Leigh in Hard Lane, St. Helens. In the early 1880s he was inducted into the St. Helens Masonic Lodge of Loyalty. He was joined in that organisation by at least another 11 former Saints including David Gamble, William Farley, James Webb, Thomas Crooks and John Lightfoot Wolfenden. Despite his early appearance for the ‘Saints’ William also was instrumental in setting up the Recreation Club and was Chairman of the Recs’ Football Committee. He was also Honorary Major in the 5th South Lancs and Chairman of Windle Bowling Club. In tragic circumstances, William committed suicide on August the 25th August 1917. He left £12,390-14s-0d. By some calculations that amount was worth the equivalent of over £1million pounds oil 2023. He was buried Buried in St. Helens Cemetery. |
| Date | Match | Pos | Opponents | Comp | Venue | FT | FTO | T | G | DG | ||
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| 24th Jan 1874 | 1 | N/K |
17 | Liverpool Royal Infirmary* | FR | H | VIEW | |||||
| 7th Mar 1874 | 2 | N/K |
13 | Waterloo* | FR | A | VIEW | |||||
| 5th Dec 1874 | 3 | D |
14 | Wigan* | FR | H | 0 | 0 | VIEW | |||
| 3rd Nov 1877 | 4 | N/K |
15 | Walton Flamingoes* | FR | A | VIEW |
| *Unofficial Match. **Non Playing Sub. |
| WINS : | LOSSES : | DRAWS : 1 |
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