John Hopgood | |||||||
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OVERALL STATISTICS | |||||||
| BIRTH | AGE | SIGNED ON | FROM | ||||
| DEBUT | LAST MATCH | LEFT | |||||
| CAREER | APPEARANCES (SUBS) | ||||||
| TRIES | GOALS | DGOALS | PTS | ||||
Biography of John Hopgood |
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 HERITAGE NO : John Thomas Hopgood RAINFORD CAPTAIN John Thomas Hopgood was born in Hubberston, Pembrokeshire, Wales in January 1858. His father, Thomas, was a mariner who hailed from Clovelly, Devon. John was at boarding school aged 13 in the 1871 census. The young man was well educated. By the age of 22 he had already married Maria Coughtry and was living in Rigby Street, St. Helens. At that stage he was working as a commercial traveller and doing very well. One of the “Originals” John made his debut for the Saints on the 6th of November 1875 against the splendidly named Rock Ferry Vipers. He played in the forwards that day. It should be noted that John took part in the first-ever rugby game involving St. Helens Recreation – a twenty a side affair at Boundary Road. His employment background and education meant that he undoubtedly moved in the social circles of the ‘well to do’ in St Helens. Later events reinforced this observation, when on the 26th of June 1893 he was initiated into the United Grand Lodge of English Freemasons’ Sonic Lodge in St. Helens. At the time his profession was recorded as a cashier. Quite a few of his Saints’ team-mates, including David Gamble, James Taylor, William Varley, Thomas Crooks, James Webb, Charles Wilson and John Lightfoot Wolfenden were in the same Lodge. Like many others from that Originals team his accumulated wealth resulted in him moving out of the town to the less polluted outlying areas. In this case John moved out to Rainford. By 1901 he was listed as a ‘representative of glassworks’ and a captain in the 2nd South Lancs.hire Regiment. His ultimate residence was at the substantial property of Edenhurst in Rainford. His estate of about £14 000 was inherited by his daughter Edith Minnie Hopgood. That amount translates as £550 000 in 2023. |
| Date | Match | Pos | Opponents | Comp | Venue | FT | FTO | T | G | DG | ||
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| 3rd Nov 1877 | 1 | N/K |
7 | Walton Flamingoes* | FR | A | VIEW |
| *Unofficial Match. **Non Playing Sub. |
| WINS : | LOSSES : | DRAWS : |
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