Andy W Posted January 7, 2020 Share Posted January 7, 2020 Sorry, this is a bit vague and hardly a trending topic, but hopefully someone with great knowledge of Barrow RL history can help me. Apparently one of my relations was the coach of Barrow when they beat New Zealand in 1907/8. I've not been able to find out much of the detail on this. Does anyone know anything about him/the match. His surname may well be Royle, but it's also possible he's down a different family branch. I'd appreciate any information. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Nutter Posted January 8, 2020 Share Posted January 8, 2020 14 hours ago, Andy W said: Sorry, this is a bit vague and hardly a trending topic, but hopefully someone with great knowledge of Barrow RL history can help me. Apparently one of my relations was the coach of Barrow when they beat New Zealand in 1907/8. I've not been able to find out much of the detail on this. Does anyone know anything about him/the match. His surname may well be Royle, but it's also possible he's down a different family branch. I'd appreciate any information. Andy The guy you are looking at is Tom Royle who was the club's trainer (now called coach) for a period up to the second world war. Tom was born Manchester in 1856 and died at Barrow in 1927. He married Mary (nee Wood) who also died at Barrow in 1927. The couple had TWELVE children though a number died young as was the norm back then. All their children were born at Manchester before Tom came to Barrow. By trade Tom was a Brush Maker. He came to Barrow when he joined the rugby club as trainer but I don't know how it came about. As well as trainer he was also the groundsman. I have easily found his parents and siblings on census records and I am sure with more detail from you we could prove your connection with a bit of work on ancestry site. I have a number of team photos with him on. Re the NZ match in 1907/08 Barrow won the game (at Cavendish Park) by 6-3 (att 7,500). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy W Posted January 8, 2020 Author Share Posted January 8, 2020 Thanks very much, that's more detail than I could have hoped for. Are your photos of him/the team on line at all? From what I can gather, there were a few Royles in Manchester involved in sports coaching. There's a family rumour that he killed a sailor in Barrow who was following him, his wife and daughter around and making unsavoury remarks. I'm sure we'll never find out if it's true! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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