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Watford Loco Football Club, 1904-5 |
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This faded and creased view of a post card was recently advertised on ebay with the heading RP Vintage Football Team Photo Posted Abbots Langley Herts 1905 Needless to say I rose to the challenge and decided to see if I could find out more about the team. This is how I tackled the problem. |
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I cleaned up the Image The first stage (after having placed the winning bid) was to scan picture, repair the creases, and otherwise improve the image. Click on image to enlarge |
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Does the football carry the club name? To the naked eye the writing on the football is hard to read, but by adjusting the contrast it is possible to identify:
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Can I find any references to the Club? A search on the British Newspaper Archive failed to turn up any obvious reference to a football club called "Watford Loco" - around 1900-1905 but the coverage of the Hertfordshire area in the early 20th century is currently poor. |
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A search on came up with a single reference to a football club called "Watford Loco" - in the Lloyds Weekly News of Sunday 6th October, 1907 - on the American web site newspaperarchive.com. |
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I returned to the British Newspaper Archive - and found (1) Lloyd's Weekly News is currently only available online up to 1900 and (2) The Herts Advertiser (currently only available online for 1925) has regular reports on the Herts Junior Cup football matches - including references to the Watford Loco team. |
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As part of my 1990s research into Bernards Heath I have some unindexed photocopies from the Herts Advertiser from the early 1900s - which often include parts of other news items. There were several references to football matches with Watford school and junior teams - but not the Watford Loco team. |
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Clearly the team existed from about 1900 to at least 1925 - and a check of the Watford Observer (microfilm in the Watford Central Library could possibly identify the 1904-5 team - and the matches they played. |
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Who is named on the card? The card was posted by "Your Affect. Brother, Dave" from Abbots Langley to Mr H. Kimpton 112 Peckhan Road S. E. It turns out that this is sufficient to identify David Kimpton and his brother Henry. |
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Can we find a "Dave Kimpton" in the Abbots Langley circa 1904? The 1901 census shows David Kimpton (29, blacksmith, born Leavesden) living at Adrian Road, Abbots Langley, with his wife Elizabeth A Kimpton (29, dressmaker, born Bow, London) and their 3 year old son Joseph M Kimpton (born Watford.) |
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Can we find a "H. Kimpton"-in the Leavesdon area prior to 1904? The 1901 census shows the following family living at Leavesden Green, Leavesden
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Can we show that David and Henry were brothers The 1891 census shows the following family living at Leavesden
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Dear H. Have paid club 4 months 9/6. Thought you would not mind me sending word as the four months is misleading. Hope you are well as we are. Best wishes Happy New Year. Yours affect brother Dave |
What does the Message Mean? While the stamp and frank are missing the reference to "Happy New Year" suggests it was sent at the end of December - while the photograph was presumably taken in the Spring, at the end of the 1904-5 football season, so the card was old when it was sent. One cannot therefore be certain the word "club" refers to the football club. If it does could it be referring to the membership subscription? |
| February 2013 | Page Created |